Carbonation drops ? 2 Per 750 ml....?

[trustyrusty]

Hi I was doing some investigation...

Coopers carb. drops 250 g / 60 in pack....= 4.1 g each....

According to brewersfriend calculator

------------------------
750 ml bottle
2.2 co2
21 deg storage (avg)


Table Sugar: 4.1 g
Corn Sugar: 4.5 g
DME: 6.0 g
------------------------

It does not mention dextrose (is that corn sugar?)...I assume that is what drops are.... but all I ever read is 2 drops per bottle....nothing different...

so that would make it about 8.2 g

To me this double...? My beers always a bit over- carbed I think, sometimes more..

Thanks

 

[Yob]

I used to prefer 1 drop in a Coopers Longie.

I use 4 for a 2000ml Growler.. I should probably weigh out some dex but I'm lazy..

 

[mtb]

I think carbonation drops are sucrose actually

 

[mtb]

I single-drop in my 375ml bottles and they're generally pretty well carbed. Over-carbed if I bottle too early. Are you getting 48hrs consistent reading on the hydrometer before bottling to make sure fermentation has finished?

 

[trustyrusty]

Urgghhhh ..... probably coopers just trying to sell more.....same is expiring dates ....if says 2 weeks, go 4 weeks... they just want you buy more ...

At MTB yes generally but could sometimes be a bit premature bottling ....


But if sucrose...then this is exactly double needed....I have a batch that used one drop....will check that later...

 

[welly2]

I've used two in 750ml bottles in beers in the past and found for certain styles (English bitters, pale ales), two is one too many for me and it's ended up really fizzy. I guess it differs from style to style. I think carb drops are basically last resort for me if I'm in a rush. Otherwise, bulk priming is the way forward and you can prime exactly (more or less) to style.

 

[Rocker1986]

I often found there are more than 60 carb drops in those packets. They're supposed to be about 3g each which would give you 6g in a tallie, or 8g/L priming rate, which probably is too high really. In any case I much prefer bulk priming because it is much easier to tailor it to style.

 

[Gigantorus]

I have always used 2 carb drops per 750ml bottle and will continue to do so. Tried 1 drop and 1.5 drops and never quite enough. 3 def way too much.

Cheers,

Pete

 

[Parks]

Guys - you're probably forgetting to ferment at 30 degrees which leaves very little residual CO2 in your beer!

h34r: h34r: h34r:

 

[Dan Pratt]

I've tried 2 drops for a 750ml longy, overcarbed! Tried 1 for a 750ml longu, still overcarboanted!!

Then I read somewhere that the beer absorbs co2 during cold crashing from the air/co2 in the fermented headspace which explains to over carbonation.

Without a bottling bucket, I now need to fine tune the dextrose additions to get that tight mousey head on the beer, unless its a wheat...lol

 

[Rocker1986]

Then I read somewhere that the beer absorbs co2 during cold crashing from the air/co2 in the fermented headspace which explains to over carbonation.

While it may indeed absorb some of this headspace CO2, it is not under pressure since the FV is not sealed, and there is certainly not enough of it in the headspace to create overcarbonation in a 750mL bottle with one carb drop added. I worked it out once that it would contribute about 0.2 of a volume tops. The temp that should be used in priming calculations is the highest temperature the beer reached post-fermentation.

 

[Dan Pratt]

^ ^ so the temp the beer will be at during that carbonation period is the one to use...hmmmm. All my beers are fully fermented and just 1 drop is overcarbonated, average temp is in the bulters pantry around 25c but when bottled at 4c.

 

[Rocker1986]

Well, the highest temp post fermentation while it's still in the fermenter. Obviously more CO2 will escape at this temp, but since most of it ends up being pushed out of the fermenter there isn't really any pressure inside the fermenter, so what is left in the headspace is just sitting there not pressurised. Even though some of this probably ends up back in the beer when it is chilled, the amount is very small and I can't see it contributing to over carbonated bottles, based on my experience anyway. Sort of like purging a keg with CO2 then filling it with beer. There's some CO2 in the headspace but it is not under any pressure, and will contribute virtually no carbonation to the beer. Obviously the headspace is much smaller, but say you've got 25 litres in the fermenter and 5 litres worth of CO2 in the headspace under no pressure.. it's about 0.2 volumes if it even all gets re-absorbed.

When I was bottling entire batches I used to add about 180-200g dextrose for a 25 litre batch, bottled cold, and this gave me the carbonation level I liked. I've looked at those priming calculators before and if I went with the bottling temp of 0C or so, I'd be adding about 90-100g dextrose which would see the beers not very carbonated at all. This experience backs up the idea of using the highest temp post fermentation as the guide for sugar levels.

 

[trustyrusty]

Hi checked my beer with one drop, is perfect... I bottle at room temp and is normally 21/22 deg...night is a little less... but a insulated room ....... so pretty constant....

cheers