Bottle Priming Calculator

[MartinOC]

There's more than one way to divest the moggie of it's coat. Whatever floats your boat is the way that's right for YOU.

I haven't bottled for years, but if I was to do it again, bulk-priming would be the way to go for me (irrespective of the fluffing-about variables of temperature, uneven mixing & pre-dissolved CO2).

 

[SergeMarx]

If anyone is interested, here's the updated version with bulk prime calculator (including syringe option)

View attachment Optimal Prime v2 - Bulk Prime with Syringe.xlsx

 

[fletcher]

There's a chap in Daylesford, VIC, who brews a lot of English style numbers and sells them around the local farmers markets. He has some pretty great brews, but the interesting thing to me was he doesn't prime at all, but calculates the finishing CO2 based on gravity drop. I think he said he lets it 3/4 ferment then bottles without priming sugar. Personally I reckon that is crazy talk, but if you could nail down the variables (and guarantee the final gravity)...

i've done that for a cider. 7 gravity points in a 750mL bottle for me was perfect carbonation. way too variable and risky for me for all brews though. but yeah, if you knew for certain, it'd be tops

 

[carniebrew]

I'm afraid I've put myself off bulk priming for the present because of my own stupidity.

The other day I opened a 700ml bottle of stout, only the bottle wasn't quite full. Even after prying the lid a little, a huge amount of CO2 started venting out of the bottle. Later on after I opened it, it started gushing out the top. I was worried I had an infection but I tasted the beer and it was fine. I then remembered the bottle had only been maybe 3/4 so I figured it must have been some of the last stuff in the fermenter. This led me to deduce that lots of my sugar had sank to the bottom and made these last few bottles into potential hand grenades.

I think I need to do some more reading on the subject!

I think it was Manticle who first put me onto the idea of putting a dot (.) on the lid of the last few stubbies I fill after bulk priming, because these do seem to get a little extra of the sugar solution in them. It does give you the opportunity to try your beer early though, as I find those last few stubbies carbonate more quickly, so I usually crack one with a dot on it 5-6 days after bottling. If it's fully carbed, I fridge the rest of the ones with dots.

That being said, I've had bottles with dots sit in my cupboard conditioning for many weeks, along with the non dot bottles, and they haven't exploded, so I don't think they're massively over-primed. It might be the something like priming at 3.2 vols instead of my usual 2.6 on a pale ale.

 

[yum beer]

I rack very similar to carniebrew for bulk priming, the swirling motion created mixes the sugar through pretty well but just to be sure i put a sanitised stirring spoon in as well and after about 8-10 botles I give it a gentle swirl to ensure any sugar that is settling gets back into suspension.
I get fairly consistent results across the whole batch.

 

[carniebrew]

The settling bit is interesting, my last brew I bulk primed as normal, but then the missus reminded me we had an appointment at my kid's school, so I had to leave it for two hours before bottling. I didn't stir it when I got back, just went ahead and bottled.

I opened the first bottle (one of the last bottled) after only 5 days conditioning, and it frothed up big time, so I quickly put the other two dotted bottles in the fridge. What will be interesting is if the rest carb up as expected now. I won't know for sure for another week or so, as this beer's only 11 days old. I cracked one last night and it was carbed, but maybe only 3/4. They might just take a little longer, which is ok given this is a big-hopped pale ale that'll benefit from some age anyway. Mind you that first one was a cracker, nothing like the 5 day old smell of dry hopped Citra & Galaxy to bring a smile to your face....tropical fruit city. Would have been a fun brew to keg & force carb.

 

[emnpaul]

I'm just not sure why people think it's necessary to cool their bulk priming solution before adding it to their brew. I just can't see how raising the temperature of my brew by adding 1 cup of near boiling sugar solution to 20 litres of beer at bottling time (having already cold crashed it to remove yeast) is going to do anything harmful.

 

[carniebrew]

You're right I'm sure, and I can't even recall why I bother cooling it, just became habit I think? I agree there's no need to do it, and I promise I'll stop...sorry!

But I don't cold crash, just for the record. And lately I've been doing a lot of 10-12 litre brews while working on style experiments. But still...even 10 litres of ~19C beer onto maybe 200ml of ~70C sugar solution...beer wins.

 

[emnpaul]

^ I wasn't trying to bag you out Carnie.

Although I read about cooling your priming charge in an earlier post of yours I didn't mean you specifically. I've read it elsewhere too. You just jogged my memory.

 

[carniebrew]

Nah mate, never thought you were, just taking the piss.

 

[Rocker1986]

I let mine cool down, though it's not intentional. It's just, usually the first thing I do when I wake up is go to the kitchen and make a coffee, so I just boil a bit of extra water as well and make up my priming solution at the same time in a pyrex jug and cover with glad wrap until I've had brekky or whatever and set up for bottling day. Depending on how long this takes it'll be anywhere from room temp to 60C ish when it goes into the bottling FV.

 

[SergeMarx]

Anyone know how to replace the original file with the new one in the top post?

 

[carniebrew]

I think you have to be a pro member to edit posts older than a few hours or so. You could ask a friendly admin to do it for you perhaps?

 

[nicktron]

hi guys,

im going to have a go at bulk priming and want to know if i should rack the beer first and leave the 2 Ltrs or so of trub in the primary vat and then use the calculator to work out how much sugar to add to the racking bin which would probably have around 21 Ltrs. or should i just add sugar to the 23Ltrs in the primary vat with all the trub and then rack?

 

[carniebrew]

nicktron, all you need to do is pour your bulk priming solution into your empty fermenter, then rack your beer on top of it, leaving the trub behind in your primary.

You don't have to be too specific about the exact volume you think you'll get out of your primary (after trub loss), as it won't make more than a few grams difference to your priming solution. e.g. if you determine you need 150 grams of dex for 21 litres, and you end up with 20 or 22 litres of beer, it won't matter much. For each litre it's about 0.1 of a difference to the vols of co2.

 

[nicktron]

Thanks for that carniebrew, your input is much appreciated!

 

[SergeMarx]

I finally had a chance a few weeks back to use the v2 syringe priming spreadsheet and it worked, I am happy to say, a bloody charm. Carbonation exactly where i wanted it. Very pleased - if anyone else has some success with it, do let me know, would be nice to see someone else making use of it. Don't get v1 from the lead topic, but v2 on page 2.

I might try working out a v3 with different priming sugars - including priming with the wort. that should be a challenge.

 

[damoninja]

People seem to scald me when I say things like this on here - but I can't find a good one that gives you calculations for DME.

Everyone keeps saying Hah! DME? You *****! (maybe I'm making it sound 10 times worse )

But I've tried a 2 of a batch of the same porter right next to each other only difference being 1 primed with dex 1 primed with DME.
DME won hands down, for this type of beer

Having said that, I primed my first stout with DME and it's a pain in the *** priming individual bottles because it clumps up and sticks to whatever you're using to measure, small amounts of it might not go into the bottle.

I'm going insane waiting for this stout to condition so I can drink it... I'm giving it 6 weeks.

 

[manticle]

http://hbd.org/cgi-bin/recipator/recipator/carbonation.html

Has options for dex, cane sugar, dme and honey.

For temp at bottling put highest temp reached during either fermentation or conditioning, ignoring short spikes.

 

[DJ_L3ThAL]

@Truman - I think I should remove or edit that note - both are factors, but essentially temperature determines the readiness of the beer to absorb CO2 (as I understand it) - which I'm guessing is why when you have a jug of water in the fridge, then bring it out to the warm, you get little bubbles on the vessel wall.

@Yob and Truman: I just can't be assed, after already moving the beer once to a secondary, to then clean and sanitize yet another vessel, cook up the priming liquid, wait for it to cool, mix it with the beer and hope I've a. measured the liquid volume correctly (my fermenters don't all have awesome markings) and b. distributed the primer thoroughly enough.

Should make clear I don't intend weighing each time, but weighing once for the amount I need than making a measuring spoon of some kind - probably a thin plastic tube, cut to the exact height the measured sugar volume, then glue a handle on it. I would say once that's done, priming will be bloody quick.

http://www.liquorcraft.com.au/afawcs0133827/CATID=0/SUBID=447/ID=56/SID=134350272/productdetails.html

I've used one of these since day dot and simply "heap" or have slightly less in the scoop for a bottle size depending on the beer style and while it's not accurate to the macro-scale, I haven't been disappointed in any carbonation of a brew yet. Horses for courses though I guess!