Bulk Prime, Single Prime And Racking Questions?

[Eugene]

Hello all,

First post, so please be nice.

I have just bottled brew 5 so far, all good I hope, still priming indavidualy, as I was too lazt to find out about bulk priming, so far I have used the carb drops but seem to get eratic carbonation, the "drops" seem to vary alot in size and one bottle is almost afizzer, the next a wet fart, so the for the last I primed with 6.5g of castor suger for each 750ml bottle, took ages as I used the wife electronc counter scales, never again.

Questions:

1: Is castor suger OK to use for priming?

2: I have been racking from brew one, I usually do primary ferm for 4 days, then rack for 7-10days depending upon my work schedule, (I do rotating 12.5 hr shifts), the SG get quite low, some times as low as 1.004, my last brew, a Porters fresh wort pack, extra hops, 400g of body brew, got down to 1.005 from a start of 1.046, it was racked for 16 days at 20 deg c, I primed with carb drops, but the beer is very low on carb, should I have increased the prime to suit the low SG?

the beer tastes great, it it ten times better than anything I have tasted from a comercial brewery, it just needs some more bubbles.

3: if I leave the above brew longer will it get more bubbles ot less, it has been three weeks in bottles at 20 deg c constant.

4: would pure dextrose be better for priming than regular sugar, seeing how it is 100% fermantable?

My beer is super clear, with almost no sediment, I drink it straight from the long neck most of the time, there is all but no sediment, not enough to worry me anyway, what should be my next step to brewing even better beer, I am saving for a chest frezer and keg setup, but it will be a few months off yet.

Thanks for any help, I love the site almost as much as I love MY beer, the down side of home brew is I can no longer grab a longneck for the trip home from work and enjoy it, New tastes like crap after having home brew.

 

[Steve]

Hello all,

First post, so please be nice.

I have just bottled brew 5 so far, all good I hope, still priming indavidualy, as I was too lazt to find out about bulk priming, so far I have used the carb drops but seem to get eratic carbonation, the "drops" seem to vary alot in size and one bottle is almost afizzer, the next a wet fart, so the for the last I primed with 6.5g of castor suger for each 750ml bottle, took ages as I used the wife electronc counter scales, never again.

Questions:

1: Is castor suger OK to use for priming?

2: I have been racking from brew one, I usually do primary ferm for 4 days, then rack for 7-10days depending upon my work schedule, (I do rotating 12.5 hr shifts), the SG get quite low, some times as low as 1.004, my last brew, a Porters fresh wort pack, extra hops, 400g of body brew, got down to 1.005 from a start of 1.046, it was racked for 16 days at 20 deg c, I primed with carb drops, but the beer is very low on carb, should I have increased the prime to suit the low SG?

the beer tastes great, it it ten times better than anything I have tasted from a comercial brewery, it just needs some more bubbles.

3: if I leave the above brew longer will it get more bubbles ot less, it has been three weeks in bottles at 20 deg c constant.

4: would pure dextrose be better for priming than regular sugar, seeing how it is 100% fermantable?

My beer is super clear, with almost no sediment, I drink it straight from the long neck most of the time, there is all but no sediment, not enough to worry me anyway, what should be my next step to brewing even better beer, I am saving for a chest frezer and keg setup, but it will be a few months off yet.

Thanks for any help, I love the site almost as much as I love MY beer, the down side of home brew is I can no longer grab a longneck for the trip home from work and enjoy it, New tastes like crap after having home brew.

Welcome to AHB eugene. I reckon first up by yourself a sugar scoop from your local HBS to prime the bottles individually. They have two scoops on them, one for longnecks and one for stubbies. Ive primed with everything from malt, dextrose, sugar, combinations of both and have settled for plain ole white sugar. Its the cheapest and the amounts are that small you cant really notice a difference. Better still get into bulk priming and use a priming calculator based on your FG and how many litres you have. And yes the longer you leave it the more carbonated it will be. Oh yeah, SG means starting gravity and FG means final gravity. You sound like you have them the wrong way round.
Cheers
Steve

 

[Eugene]

Welcome to AHB eugene. I reckon first up by yourself a sugar scoop from your local HBS to prime the bottles individually. They have two scoops on them, one for longnecks and one for stubbies. Ive primed with everything from malt, dextrose, sugar, combinations of both and have settled for plain ole white sugar. Its the cheapest and the amounts are that small you cant really notice a difference. Better still get into bulk priming and use a priming calculator based on your FG and how many litres you have. And yes the longer you leave it the more carbonated it will be. Oh yeah, SG means starting gravity and FG means final gravity. You sound like you have them the wrong way round.
Cheers
Steve

Thanks for that Steve,

I have seen the little scoops, but thought if "more" primer was needed it would be a pain, I think bulk prime is the way, I have two brews down now, due to be racked on friday, another corona clone and a drought.

I was refering to the SG as Specific gravity, given it is simply a hydrometer reading, reading density, hence Gravity, just like batteries etc, they are always refered to as SG- Specific Gravity.

Man, I cany wait for Christmas, 4 days off, and 60 long neck of home brew, Look Out.

 

[Screwtop]

quote Eugene

Questions:

1: Is castor suger OK to use for priming?
A: Yes

2: I have been racking from brew one, I usually do primary ferm for 4 days, then rack for 7-10days depending upon my work schedule, (I do rotating 12.5 hr shifts), the SG get quite low, some times as low as 1.004, my last brew, a Porters fresh wort pack, extra hops, 400g of body brew, got down to 1.005 from a start of 1.046, it was racked for 16 days at 20 deg c, I primed with carb drops, but the beer is very low on carb, should I have increased the prime to suit the low SG?
A: ??
Just check out a carbing calculator, using the Finishing Gravity and storage temp of the beer calculate the priming amount of sugar: THEN BULK PRIME! you'll never ever go back to one by one carbing. Do a search on bulk priming, heaps of info available.

3: if I leave the above brew longer will it get more bubbles ot less, it has been three weeks in bottles at 20 deg c constant.
A: Yes

4: would pure dextrose be better for priming than regular sugar, seeing how it is 100% fermantable?
A: NO

My beer is super clear, with almost no sediment, I drink it straight from the long neck most of the time, there is all but no sediment

Thats because your brewing practices are sound

I can no longer grab a longneck for the trip home from work and enjoy it, New tastes like crap after having home brew.

Same for most of us Eugene.

GOOD ON YOU, MAKING GOOD BEER BY NO.5 shite I didn't get a good one until about number 15.

Cheers
[/quote]

 

[Steve]

Thanks for that Steve,

I have seen the little scoops, but thought if "more" primer was needed it would be a pain, I think bulk prime is the way, I have two brews down now, due to be racked on friday, another corona clone and a drought.

I was refering to the SG as Specific gravity, given it is simply a hydrometer reading, reading density, hence Gravity, just like batteries etc, they are always refered to as SG- Specific Gravity.

Man, I cany wait for Christmas, 4 days off, and 60 long neck of home brew, Look Out.

Thats cool. Also I used to use a calculator for working out how much to use when bulk priming. Now I just use 100gms-140gms for dark ales/stouts. 140-160 for APAs and regular quaffers. 160-170 for lagers n pilseners. You'll get a feel for it.
Cheers
Steve

 

[Trough Lolly]

....snippety snip...
4: would pure dextrose be better for priming than regular sugar, seeing how it is 100% fermantable?
A: NO

:huh:
G'day Screwtop,
Given that we're talking about naturally carbonating bottled beer, why the no answer to this relatively new brewer? If we're talking about priming with a sugar that carbonates that beer AND adds something to the flavour profile, then I'd agree with a no response, but I'm interested in why you dismissed the use of dextrose as a bottle priming solution?

Cheers,
TL

 

[Screwtop]

:huh:
G'day Screwtop,
Given that we're talking about naturally carbonating bottled beer, why the no answer to this relatively new brewer? If we're talking about priming with a sugar that carbonates that beer AND adds something to the flavour profile, then I'd agree with a no response, but I'm interested in why you dismissed the use of dextrose as a bottle priming solution?

Cheers,
TL

Sorry if the reply upset you TL.

4: would pure dextrose be better for priming than regular sugar, seeing how it is 100% fermantable?

Just read the above question as it was written, is one better for priming than to other. Answer: No

 

[kfarrell]

hence Gravity, just like batteries etc, they are always refered to as SG- Specific Gravity.

Yes SG stands for Specific Gravity, which is the reading you take with your hydrometer regardless of when, it shits me no end that SG in home brew stands for starting gravity, yet we use terms like Krausen and Trub. We should either be calling it SSG and FSG, to be taken seriously.

 

[Steve]

Yes SG stands for Specific Gravity, which is the reading you take with your hydrometer regardless of when, it shits me no end that SG in home brew stands for starting gravity, yet we use terms like Krausen and Trub. We should either be calling it SSG and FSG, to be taken seriously.

yes sorry eugene and Kieren. OG is what I was thinking about as the original/starting gravity and yes SG is specific gravity. So it can be either OSG or SSG.... I think we all know what we mean. :blink:

 

[Steve Lacey]

I vote for OG, FG, and the generic SG...I didn't bat an eyelid at the original use because the context made it clear he was referring to FG. I therefore read SG as specific gravity.

 

[Trough Lolly]

Sorry if the reply upset you TL.

No - it didn't upset me, just got me curious.

Just read the above question as it was written, is one better for priming than to other. Answer: No

Ahhh, I see! B)

I find dextrose to be better suited to carbonating beer than sugar, due to the relative fermentability, but sugar is much cheaper and more readily available at night when you've discovered your larder is empty!

And FWIW, re the OG/SG/FG debate raging in this thread I'm lazy and just use SG as Starting Gravity and FG as Final Gravity, despite my understanding that I should really be quoting Original not Starting Gravity but as long as I know what I'm doing then that's fine for me!!

Cheers,
TL

 

[Screwtop]

Don't know where all this gravity bullshit has come from. The standard has always been Specifig Gravity for a gravity reading. OG and FG are a reference to fermentation gravities, OG for the SG reading taken prior to fermentation commencing and FG for the SG reading taken at the finish of fermentation. Where's the problem.

 

[Eugene]

Hi All,

Thanks for the replies guys, I thought I was on the right track with adjusting the primeing amount to suit the SFG.

Sounds like another lot of washing tubs for me, I only have three fermentors and do 2 brews at the same time so its, rack into one, wash it out, rack into it, thenn wash the next, and will be the same for the prime now, damn I hate washing up.

As long as the beer is beeter, all is worth it.

 

[RobboMC]

Isn't pure dextrose more difficult to dissolve than household sugar?

I found I needed water close to boiling to dissolve dextrose, does this make household sugar better for beginners.

Does a priming solution carbonate faster than solid crystals dropped in the top?

I found when I gave up the carbonation drops and went to other fermentables the head improved.

Hey Eugene,
you poor bugger measuring out 6.5 g for every bottle. I recommend getting a plastic syringe from the chemist, say a 10, 15 or 25 ml one. Dissolve your 195 g of sugar in EXACTLY 300 ml of boiling water, and squirt 10 ml into each one. Assumed 30 bottle batch ( 23 litre brew ). This is the lazy man's way to liquid prime every bottle. It's a bit fiddly, but easier than weighing 30 times.

 

[Screwtop]

Hi All,

Thanks for the replies guys, I thought I was on the right track with adjusting the primeing amount to suit the SFG.

Sounds like another lot of washing tubs for me, I only have three fermentors and do 2 brews at the same time so its, rack into one, wash it out, rack into it, thenn wash the next, and will be the same for the prime now, damn I hate washing up.

As long as the beer is beeter, all is worth it.

Eugene, grab a couple of 25 L pails from Bunnings to use as bottling buckets, you can fit through the wall type taps available from HBS, lot easier to wash out than fermenters, and cheaper just for bottling buckets.

 

[wobbly]

Screwtop (and others)

I would be interested in more details on where to find the "Carbonation Calculator" that links "Final Gravity" and "Storage Temperature" to the level of fermentables to be used when Bulk Priming.

Neither the bulk priming calculatiors at "Oz Craft Brewer" or "The Beer Recipator" make any mention of either of those, rather they do their calculatiuons of the required amount of fermentables based on the volume beer, Temperature of the fermented beer (to determine disolved levels of Co2 already in the wort) and the desired final vols of Co2 for the style of beer you are targeting.

My reason for requesting further details is I have had a couple of "under carbonated bottled beers" that I have no answer for using the above referenced calculators.

Cheers

Wobbly

 

[mikem108]

I read somewhere that dextrose was better as the yeast doesn't need any oxygen to fully utilise it.
re the calculator, download the demo version of Promash and use that.

 

[Steve Lacey]

... rather they do their calculatiuons of the required amount of fermentables based on the volume beer, Temperature of the fermented beer (to determine disolved levels of Co2 already in the wort) and the desired final vols of Co2 for the style of beer you are targeting.

Yes, those are the only parameters that are used as a rule. I don't know about "storage temperature" (maybe this refers to the fermentation temperature?), but I suppose it is true that higher FG beers will, over time, contribute to carbonation from slow breakdown and fermentation of the dextrins. I have never seen a calculator that tries to account for this. If the beer is to be consumed reasonably quickly, this isn't much of a factor. But for very high FG beers (1016 and above) that will be stored for a long while, then you could try to allow for it, but I'd suggest that it would be more art than science because you don't really know how much further attenuation there is going to be. Maybe this is where storage temperature comes in (in that cold storage will result in little further attenuation of a high FG beer).

Interesting.

Steve