"fizz" From Carbonation Drops

[gumby0000]

Hey

Ive been using carbonation drops instead of sugar in my bottles before bottling and im in the middle of drinking my first brew and they arent very fizzy!?

I mean its not flat but its not as fizzed as a soft drink or pro beer...

would sugar be better? if it is what sort of sugar to beer ratio do you guys use...?


thanks

 

[Adamt]

How long has it been in the bottles and what temperature have the bottles been stored at?

I assume you used the right dosing rate.

 

[gumby0000]

stored at room temp(until in fridge) which is about 24deg

and one drop per 375ml as per packet

 

[Adamt]

How long has it been in the bottles...

 

[gumby0000]

its been 2 1/2 weeks

 

[macples]

Hi gumbybrew,

I have only been brewing for around 9-12 months now and have only used carb drops. I have found that when stored around room temp they will give a good carbonation after round 3 1/2- 4 weeks in the bottle. To speed it up put some in the fridge for 2-3 weeks and it will make a difference. Also after bottling turn the bottles upside down and rthen right way up 3 or 4 times. Then repeat this after 3-4 days as this will help the sugar mix better rather than sit on the bottom of the bottle.

 

[Adamt]

Yes, give it another week or so, you should notice a difference.

Putting them in the fridge won't help; it will encourage better sedimentation in the bottle but the yeast won't be actively fermenting the priming sugar (so no more fizz).

 

[RobboMC]

The good thing about using sugar AND bulk priming is that you can add slightly more sugar each time until you get it the way you want it. It's very hard to add 2-1/4 or 2-1/2 carb drops.

Use about 180g of dissolved sugar into a bottling bucket. Then increase each batch by about 20g until you get the result you're after.

 

[Pat Casey]

The carbonation drops take a while to dissolve in the bottle so you need to come back a few days later and gently invert each bottle a couple of times. If you don't, the drops end up as a syrup sitting on the bottom of the bottle and don't get fermented. The result is undercarbonated, sweet beer. And of course, none of the manufacturers tell you this in their instructions.

Pat
Absolute Homebrew, St Marys & Blue Mtns

 

[wambesi]

Just another thing I found, not each drop is always the same size, so sometimes you will get different carb rates across a batch.
Sometimes can be noticeable other times not, but another reason why I moved to batch priming.