Bulk priming amount?

[rglnz]

Hi guys,

Am about to have my first go at bulk priming as opposed to bottle priming. Will be using Dextrose, and just have a few questions:

- is dextrose a suitable option?

- I have seen a few different online calculators for figuring out how much to use, but I get varying results between different calculators. Any ideas on a good way to figure out a safe amount?

- what is the best way to prepare my dextrose - boil it in a small amount of water? If so, how much water?

- I will then have it in a second barrel which I will then gently pour my brew into from my fermenter, but because of this I am unsure exactly how much I will be transferring into it as I don't want to empty the whole lot and risk getting the trub in. This makes it hard for me to use the calculator. How much margin of error is safe when putting the brew volume into the calculator?

Cheers

- oh also, going to dry hop straight into my fermenter shortly, and have some previously used but clean (will boil and sanitise) stockings (skin colour) is this an ok thing to use for the hops?

 

[Yob]

>THIS< is the one I always used. For the temperature, input the highest temp the beer got to while fermenting.

Cheers

 

[Maxt]

The other trick is to keep notes on the carbonation and adjust what the calculator says on the next brew accordingly.

 

[Black Devil Dog]

Hi guys,

Am about to have my first go at bulk priming as opposed to bottle priming. Will be using Dextrose, and just have a few questions:

- is dextrose a suitable option? Yes

- I have seen a few different online calculators for figuring out how much to use, but I get varying results between different calculators. Any ideas on a good way to figure out a safe amount? I use Beersmith, haven't used any other.

- what is the best way to prepare my dextrose - boil it in a small amount of water? If so, how much water? Just enough to dissolve the dextrose. 100ml of boiling water poured into a sanitised jug containing the dextrose, stir with a sanitised spoon until dissolved.

- I will then have it in a second barrel which I will then gently pour my brew into from my fermenter, but because of this I am unsure exactly how much I will be transferring into it as I don't want to empty the whole lot and risk getting the trub in. This makes it hard for me to use the calculator. How much margin of error is safe when putting the brew volume into the calculator? Transfer using a silicone hose, make sure there is no splashing. Depends how much trub you have in your fermenter, but I usually only have about 500ml .

Cheers

- oh also, going to dry hop straight into my fermenter shortly, and have some previously used but clean (will boil and sanitise) stockings (skin colour) is this an ok thing to use for the hops? Yes.

 

[rglnz]

Great, thanks for all the help - super quick replies too. Brew is almost finished fermenting - so almost time to do my first dry hop.. Brew tastes a little sharp/metallic, but tastes more like beer than my last (first) one… so ill take it. Hoping it comes right with the remainder of fermentation, dry hops, and nice long conditioning..

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Grr...just answerd this in another thread.

As a starting point use 5g sugar per 1L of wort.

This is the rate Coppers use for their Pale Ale.

Keep records because you may like different beers with different levels of carbonation

 

[Alex.Tas]

Yep as ducatiboy stu statess above, different styles of beer have more bubbles. for example Bavarian wheat beers are typically produced with a larger head than say a English bitter.
Use of Ian H's spreadhseet (pinned to the top of this kit forum) should help you out. it gives you guides as to how much bulk priming sugar you should use for a batch (dependant on style of your choosing). It also lets you choose between white table sugar and dextrose, depending on which you plan to use. Personally i find that using LDME gives the smallest sized bubbles (Note: not quantity), followed by dex, then table sugar.
Up to you which you go with though. Just use what you have on hand.

 

[Odysseym]

Have just bulk primed Coopers Australian Lager yesterday brewed at a consistent 21C.
The amount of Dextrose I used was 210gm for 23 Litres wort.
Bottled in 5 L PET Kegs and put in fridge laying down...noticed beer leaking from one of them so decided to open and reseal with new O ring.....whooossssshh.......foam and beer everywere...obviously too much dextrose in bulk prime.
Any way of fixing this for this batch??Or do I just discard the lot?

 

[burrster]

My experience so far, is that I need about 180g of dextrose for my 23L brews, to get the carbonation I like. 150g in 23L has given me what I perceive to be under carbonated. This is taking into account the max temp of 20 degrees.