Bottle carbonation

[BobtheBrewer]

I have not bottled for some years because kegging is easier. Also I dry hop in the keg. But now I want to bottle a brew which does not need dry hopping. I am using 500ml bottles and I will be using dextrose. How much of it will I need per bottle? Old age is a bummer. Any advice appreciated,

Bob

 

[xmd]

Depends on the style. Best bet is look at a calculator. There are plenty, I use the one on brewersfriend.com. Ballpark guess would be about 5g per bottle. Or roughly one teaspoon.

 

[Tahoose]

Do not use 5g per bottle!!! In a 500ml bottle that is a ratio of 10g/litre.This is way too high, if your bottles don't explode they will gush for sure.

I normally work on a 4-5g/litre ratio and thats pretty good. Do you have a spare fermenter? If so dissolve your total amount of sugar/dextrose in water and bulk prime. This will give you consistent carbonation levels across all of the bottles and reduce the risk of overcarbing.

 

[yum beer]

Stick around the low 5's per litre. 5.1/5.2 gives a nice lively carb for lagers and pales drop back to 4.9/5.0 for a lighter effect.

 

[superstock]

Coopers call for 2 carb drops in 750ml bottles for all their kit cans. 2 carb drops = 6gms dextrose =8gms dextrose per litre. Cane sugar will be just a little bit fizzier.

 

[BobtheBrewer]

Thanks for the replies. I had forgotten how much I used to use in a 750ml bottle!

 

[Matplat]

Dissolve 130g of table sugar in 450ml of boiling water, then use a syringe to add 10ml of this mixture to each of your 500ml bottles before filling. This will give approx 5g/l....

 

[Reman]

Dissolve 130g of table sugar in 450ml of boiling water, then use a syringe to add 10ml of this mixture to each of your 500ml bottles before filling. This will give approx 5g/l....

Or even easier, bulk prime by pouring it into the fermenter and give it a gentle stir! No muss no fuss

 

[xmd]

Do not use 5g per bottle!!! In a 500ml bottle that is a ratio of 10g/litre.This is way too high, if your bottles don't explode they will gush for sure.

Apologies, you are quite right. The last beer I measured sugar for was a hefe, so that skewed my guess
It'd give you a bit over 3 vols CO2, which is too much for most styles but from my experience shouldn't explode your bottles... 5g/L is a much better way to go.

 

[tavas]

Or even easier, bulk prime by pouring it into the fermenter and give it a gentle stir! No muss no fuss

You mean into a secondary fermenter right? Cos into the fermenter and stir means all of the yeast and crap ends up in your bottles

 

[Gnomebrewer]

Dissolve 130g of table sugar in 450ml of boiling water, then use a syringe to add 10ml of this mixture to each of your 500ml bottles before filling. This will give approx 5g/l....

^^This. (I use about 140g though - my wife likes her beer fizzy).

 

[Reman]

You mean into a secondary fermenter right? Cos into the fermenter and stir means all of the yeast and crap ends up in your bottles

Well I'm a little naughty and do it all in the primary. After 2 weeks fermenting the yeast cake is pretty sludgy and if you only gently stir making sure not to go too deep and leave for half an hour I find it makes no difference in the bottle. My Dr Smurtos GA is crystal clear using this technique. I also avoid any issues with oxygenation when racking to a secondary.

 

[SergeMarx]

View attachment Optimal Prime v3 - Bulk Prime with Syringe.xlsxI usually use my own syringe calc spreadsheet to work out sugar amount - has worked well for the last 10 brews

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Coopers carbonate at 5g/1Ltr. Dr Tim told me that.

 

[Blind Dog]

Well I'm a little naughty and do it all in the primary. After 2 weeks fermenting the yeast cake is pretty sludgy and if you only gently stir making sure not to go too deep and leave for half an hour I find it makes no difference in the bottle. My Dr Smurtos GA is crystal clear using this technique. I also avoid any issues with oxygenation when racking to a secondary.

Ditto. Although I rarely bottle these days, I never had an issue with either too much crap being transferred or uneven carbing just bulk priming in primary and leaving it half an hour or so to settle as I cleaned and sterlised the bottles.

 

[panzerd18]

Home brew stores sell sugar scoops. They're three in one, a 375ml, 500ml and 750ml.

 

[Tahoose]

BULK PRIME!!!

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Yep. Bulk prime . FTW