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joshld

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Almost ready to bottle my second brew... Within the next couple days..My first brew I used carbonation drops, as it seemed an easy option. Have not yet tasted thy brew yet as its only been about 10 days.
But I've been reading on here that a lot of people don't recommend the drops as they are a bit inconsistent..?
I just wanted to know are you able to use dextrose to prime your bottles or use normal sugar?
Any tips would be greatly appreciated!
Cheers
 
You can use any sugar but the amounts required for the same level of fizz will differ.

Here is a good article on priming which includes a discussion on types of sugar: http://hbd.org/brewery/library/YPrimerMH.html

Dex is certainly fine (close to 100% fermentable) sucrose (table sugar) is also fine and is close to 95% fermentable so they may be considered almost interchangeable.

Raw sugar, malt extract, honey and even actively fermenting wort can be used but again, all these require accurate calculation of amounts (and I wouldn't worry about using actively fermenting wort - I mention it out of interest).
 
I had the first taste of my first brew yesterday. It'd only had a week in the bottle (a K&K Coopers Wheat), but I was keen to understand what 'under conditioned' beer tastes like anyway...and more than a little impatient as i'm sure you can understand. Anyway...i'd used carb drops, 2 for my 750ml glass and 1 for my 330ml stubbies. I was a bit paranoid on the 330ml stubbies given the drops are meant for anything up to 375ml.....

The beer tasted quite good, even after only a week, must admit I was surprised how drinkable it was. It was certainly a little over-carbonated, brought on the belch pretty quickly and consistently, but not to the point where you wouldn't want to drink a heap of it. Will try another stubby next week and report back.

Don't be afraid to give your beer a whirl after 10 days...given you're new to it it's all part of the learning experience. Chuck one in the fridge for a few hours then give it a try and report back here on how you went!
 
I had the first taste of my first brew yesterday. It'd only had a week in the bottle (a K&K Coopers Wheat), but I was keen to understand what 'under conditioned' beer tastes like anyway...and more than a little impatient as i'm sure you can understand. Anyway...i'd used carb drops, 2 for my 750ml glass and 1 for my 330ml stubbies. I was a bit paranoid on the 330ml stubbies given the drops are meant for anything up to 375ml.....

The beer tasted quite good, even after only a week, must admit I was surprised how drinkable it was. It was certainly a little over-carbonated, brought on the belch pretty quickly and consistently, but not to the point where you wouldn't want to drink a heap of it. Will try another stubby next week and report back.

Don't be afraid to give your beer a whirl after 10 days...given you're new to it it's all part of the learning experience. Chuck one in the fridge for a few hours then give it a try and report back here on how you went!

Assuming the first and second paragraph are someone else's quotes....when you remove the quote markers in a reply to post, it makes your third paragraph sound like your in third person mode. ;)
 
Assuming the first and second paragraph are someone else's quotes....when you remove the quote markers in a reply to post, it makes your third paragraph sound like your in third person mode. ;)
Sorry but you've lost me. I wasn't quoting anyone in any of my paragraphs. It was all just little ol' me.
 
Sorry but you've lost me. I wasn't quoting anyone in any of my paragraphs. It was all just little ol' me.

You don't reckon it sounds like you're talking to yourself in the third paragraph? :)
 
You don't reckon it sounds like you're talking to yourself in the third paragraph? :)
I suppose it could, but I was trying to tell the OP (who'd said he hadn't tasted his beer yet 'coz it was only 10 days old) that he should give it a ping.

But I wanna know why i'm getting in trouble for my english when the OP gets away with "Have not yet tasted thy brew yet"??! <_<
 
I suppose it could, but I was trying to tell the OP (who'd said he hadn't tasted his beer yet 'coz it was only 10 days old) that he should give it a ping.

But I wanna know why i'm getting in trouble for my english when the OP gets away with "Have not yet tasted thy brew yet"??! <_<

No trouble champ.... just having a friendly dig at ya.

Cheers,

Nath
 
OT. I find Wheats turn around a lot quicker than other ales. Probably due to more yeast in suspension at bottling (?).
 
OT. I find Wheats turn around a lot quicker than other ales. Probably due to more yeast in suspension at bottling (?).
I reckon you're right. Here's a snippet from the BJCP Style Guide regarding Weizen:

"These are refreshing, fast-maturing beers that are lightly hopped and show a unique banana-and-clove yeast character. These beers often dont age well and are best enjoyed while young and fresh."
 
I'll throw a couple in the fridge today and see how they go.For this second brew, I reckon I'll give the dextrose a go to prime my bottles.
It's all about trial and error isn't it..?
 
I'll throw a couple in the fridge today and see how they go.For this second brew, I reckon I'll give the dextrose a go to prime my bottles.
It's all about trial and error isn't it..?
Yep, the bloke I bought my starter kit from told me "Treat the whole thing as a big chemistry set", which is why I started with the absolute basic K&K brew as my first.

Really enjoying the Kit & Extract Beer Designer spreadsheet for this too, makes understanding the impacts of your changes that much easier.
 
I have always bottled, never saw the need for a keg set up. It would be a great show piece but not practicle for me.
I orignally had a sugar measure spoon and used castor sugar, worked well 2 teaspoons for a 750 and one for a 375/330

I moved on to carbonation drops for 2 brews as they were easy and quick but found them to be inconsistent and didnt like the amount of handling required. The less you touch your ingridents the less chance of infection.

I have now moved to bulk priming and wont ever prime in any other way. Its easy super clean and you can collect any bottles and not worry about flat beer or beer rockets. Bulk priming does expose the beer to infection but I have never had an infected brew, just keep it all clean!
 
I have always bottled, never saw the need for a keg set up. It would be a great show piece but not practicle for me.
I orignally had a sugar measure spoon and used castor sugar, worked well 2 teaspoons for a 750 and one for a 375/330

I moved on to carbonation drops for 2 brews as they were easy and quick but found them to be inconsistent and didnt like the amount of handling required. The less you touch your ingridents the less chance of infection.

I have now moved to bulk priming and wont ever prime in any other way. Its easy super clean and you can collect any bottles and not worry about flat beer or beer rockets. Bulk priming does expose the beer to infection but I have never had an infected brew, just keep it all clean!


I reckon I will have a go at bulk priming after another brew or 2...Just want to get the basics down first!
Any information on bulk priming would be great though!
 
Bottling.JPG

Just three things:

1. Bottles
2. Bottle tops
3. Priming medium

Listen to what others have told you so far. It's not rocket science. Good luck on your brewing journey.

I still bottle, even after 6 years HB this time round.

I prefer to use caster sugar, and use one of those sugar measures, but cut down to about 2/3rd capacity. Works fine for me. I use a small funnel to get the sugar into the bottles before filling and capping.
 
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