Bulk Priming

[googe]

G'day all, just bottled a morgans lager. Had it down for about 7 days till the fg was right then trasfered it to a second fermenter for another 7-8 days. Mainy did this for a hopfully clearer beer. It smells,tastes and looks very yummy. Was at about 16-20c for the 2 weeks. I was looking up bulk priming so though ti'd give it a go. I've used raw sugar in my last 3 brews and must say it tastes better, hard to know really as they would differ from brew to brew. Im curious to know if bulk priming works as well cause its just to easy!!. How do yur brews come out compaired to just putting your priming sugars in the bottle?


Cheers Greg

 

[going down a hill]

It works just fine. You get a very consistent carb if you mix the sugar in properly. IE when you rack to secondary you get a whirlpool going and then give it a bit of a stir with something that is sanitized for good measure.

 

[MarkyMark]

I found bulk priming heaps easier and once I got the amount right, carbination was a lot more consistant.

It makes it really easy to use different sized bottles.

Cheers

Mark

 

[mwd]

You can use raw sugar if you like just dissolve it in about 200ml of boiling water.
Make sure you get it all mixed in the beer properly otherwise you get overcarbed bottles and undercarbed bottles.
The only drawback to bulk priming is you need a spare fermenter or bucket for bottling.

In my experience bulk priming is good for odd sized bottles but timewise I can prime bottles as fast or faster then preparing everything for bulk priming.

 

[googe]

I desolved the raw sugar in a cup of water. I thought it might be hit and miss like you say Tropical_brews. Do you put the prime sugar in when you do the second ferment going down a hill? Do you bottle straight away when you put in in the second fermenter?. Im confused, i thought the second ferment had to be in there a while?

Cheers Greg

 

[pimpsqueak]

I desolved the raw sugar in a cup of water. I thought it might be hit and miss like you say Tropical_brews. Do you put the prime sugar in when you do the second ferment going down a hill? Do you bottle straight away when you put in in the second fermenter?. Im confused, i thought the second ferment had to be in there a while?

Cheers Greg

When you're bulk priming, you transfer your beer from wherever it is to a sanitised container that you will be bottling from. You can put your sugar in first and the transfer your beer in on top of it, mixing in the sugar as the beer swirls around, or you can gently tip it in after you transfer your beer and gently stir it with a sanitised paddle/spoon to mix it through.
I suppose if your secondary vessel has little or no sediment on the bottom, you could just add the sugar, mix gently and bottle, but I prefer to go to a nice new clean vessel and leave behind as much sediment as I can (even if it's only a tiny bit)

 

[googe]

Thanks pimpsqueak. I added the sugar into the second fermenter that had been there for a week, mixed it gently. There was bugger all sediment in there which is good.

Cheers Greg

 

[bretto-1]

Thanks pimpsqueak. I added the sugar into the second fermenter that had been there for a week, mixed it gently. There was bugger all sediment in there which is good.

Cheers Greg

ok so i get this right . put the sugar in the secound fermenter drain beer on top , then do you let it sit for another week ?
i put my stout down a week ago and dont want to rush to bottle it . will it be ok to leave it for another week before i bulk prime ?
cheers bretto

 

[mwd]

ok so i get this right . put the sugar in the secound fermenter drain beer on top , then do you let it sit for another week ?
i put my stout down a week ago and dont want to rush to bottle it . will it be ok to leave it for another week before i bulk prime ?
cheers bretto

No mate you put the sugar in just before bottling. The sugar is used up fermenting in the bottle to give carbonation in the bottles.

You can rack into the secondary and leave for a week for 'conditioning' if you like but I would just leave it in the Primary for the extra week then drain onto the sugar solution when you are ready.

The reason I say that is you should keep the CO2 blanket in the Primary during conditioning keeping nasties away and minimizing the chances of oxidisation by pouring from one vessel to the other.

I have a brew sitting conditioning in primary for 3 weeks now just haven't had the time to get around to bottling it yet.

Edit: There is a Wiki on bulkpriming you may find handy LINKY

 

[bretto-1]

ok i get it cheers for that hey ! so rack straight into sugar / dextros , then bottle .

so you have a primary on for three weeks , wow i just was not sure if it would do it harm or not the longer it was left . in saying that would it do it andy good ? like clear a little more

regards