How Do You Bulk Prime?

[brotom7]

My plan for bulk priming is to boil an amount of suger in water according to what Beersmith tells me, let it cool and lightly swirl it into the secondary with a large spoon.
My worry is that I might get the sediment into suspension and then into the bottles where I don't want it.
Do you just poor it into the secondary and swirl it around lightly with a large spoo or is there a better way to not disturb the sediment?
Another question is how long can I wait before bottling, obviously it has to be bottled quite soon after adding the suger but could one give it an hour or two or four to let some of the sediment to settle back?

 

[barls]

i rack in to another container just before bottling which has my sugars for bulk priming in liquid form already

 

[schooey]

+1... I rack into a sanitised fermenter. I usually put the dextrose/water mixture in first and run the beer from the fermenter onto it. Give it a gentle stir and bottle it.

 

[stevenk]

+1... I rack into a sanitised fermenter. I usually put the dextrose/water mixture in first and run the beer from the fermenter onto it. Give it a gentle stir and bottle it.

Hi, much sugar and water would you disolve for a normal 23 litre brew ??
bulk prime sounds like the better option then adding sugar to each bottle befor hand.

cheers.

 

[brotom7]

Racking to another container makes sense, I will do that.

Hi, much sugar and water would you disolve for a normal 23 litre brew ??

I'll just let Beersmith calculate the amount of sugar, there are some online calculators if you do a search.

 

[beernography]

+2. I usually add roughly 180g sugar for 23l and 160g for 21l. I don't use beersmith or anything just guess based on experience.

I dissolve and boil the sugar into water then dump it in the fermenter. Put the beer on the table, have a hose running from the spout and coiling around the bottom of the priming fermenter, then let her go and drain all the beer out. I am too paranoid of oxidation to stir it with a spoon. Usually it whirlpools nicely with the hose and I'm happy with that. I find racking takes the beer longer to carbonate, but takes away some of that muddy yeast flavour.

 

[Screwtop]

I don't use beersmith or anything just guess based on experience.

Don't do that.

Use a calc, there are variables like volume, gravity (SG) and storage temp that need to be taken into account.

Screwy

 

[Luka]

i rack in to another container just before bottling which has my sugars for bulk priming in liquid form already

Ditto, works best I feel.

Cheers

 

[schooey]

Hi, much sugar and water would you disolve for a normal 23 litre brew ??
bulk prime sounds like the better option then adding sugar to each bottle befor hand.

cheers.

This link has been quoted many times here before, Steve. I've found it very useful.

 

[warra48]

With all due respect to the bulkers and rackers, I couln't be arsed going to all that trouble.

Takes me very litttle time to use my sugar measure, a small funnel, and pour caster sugar into the bottles after they've been sanitised. Works for me, and no cleaning of an additional container.

The one time I tried bulk priming it was a pain in the royal to me.

 

[rich_lamb]

It's a good move to go to bulk priming - on balance it's only a bit less work than measuring sugar into each and every bottle (c'mon, how hard is it to sanitise a bucket...) but I found it gives you some very nice advanatges in terms of more consistent - and possibly faster - carbonation.

Here's my 2 cents, though everybody's experience varies in this.
1) Rack into a bottling bucket or spare fermenter. You can put your pre-boiled sugar syrup in first or last and you don't need to cool it too much as it's only 250ml into 20L or so. You definitely want to score the clarity bonus so don't be stirring up your fermenter: even a few hours would probably not be enough to resettle it.

2) It's a bit scary having your beer open to the air like that, but don't panic. Good sanitation as usual and you should be fine

3) I use an autosiphon - one of those siphons you can pump to start. Magic. Never looked back. I also judiciously siphon up a few puffs of yeast from the bottom, and this becomes well mixed into the beer in the bucket (one of the keys to reliable and rapid carbonation).

4) You can, and absolutely should, measure your sugar load by mass. This is one of the big advantages and provides consistency over measuring by volume. Get some decent scales. You can use calcs but the problem I find is there are some variables like storage temp or whatever that make it pretty imprecise anyway. I don't have an unlimted amount of controlled temp stoarge for bottled beers.
I tend to use 120g / 20L for average carbonation, 100g for a Mild and maybe 140-160 for a hefe. YMMV

5) No need to futz around adjusting your measure for different bottle sizes. You can bottle with as many different sizes as you like!

6) When it's all siphoned you should give it a very gentle stir to make sure it's all well mixed. I actually just use the siphon to do this. Don't just rely on the swirling during siphoning to do this for you - it's not reliable.

Like I say, you'll get lots of different suggestions so you just pick what works for you; balancing risk vs. equipment vs. benefits. I found my carbonation was really patchy before I started doing this.

 

[barls]

i use this link to decide how much i use depending on the carbonation level required
http://oz.craftbrewer.org/Library/Methods/...mpleGuide.shtml

 

[Barramundi]

ive just started to use an excel thingy which calculates according to volume and quantity , was sent to me by someone a while ago and works well and is simple, pm with your email if youd like it

 

[MattC]

[Brotom, I recently started bulk priming as the alternative method of measuring sugar into bottles or putting in carbonation drops was a little too labour intensive for me. I used the information on the link below to create my own priming calculator. You have to take certain variables into account such as the temp at which your fermentation was at (this will effect the amount of C0₂ already in your beer (saturation). You will also have to add in your batch size and your desired carbonation level, the calculator will work the rest out for you. I will be more than happy to pass this onto you. The more we help each other the better the beer will become right?? LOL

http://oz.craftbrewer.org/Library/Methods/...icalGuide.shtml

edit- the link above has a basic guide of desired carbonation levels for different beer styles

Regards

 

[MattC]

edit - so just send me a pesonal message and I will send you the details.

 

[Barramundi]

any chance you could email that through to me as well matt ??

 

[MattC]

no probs what your details?

 

[barls]

hey matt look 2 post above your first one i posted it already mate

 

[MattC]

thanks barls but i was offering brotom a caculator I created in excel, the link was just a reference. Thanks though!! the last thing we want to do is re-invent the wheel! B)

 

[ford-ute]

just thought could you mot just siphon off the sludge at the bottom to prevent it form getting into the you beer if you dont have a second fermentor you probably would not get it all and you would waste a little beer but on the plus side you would get some of the high floculant yeast in your bottles so you can culture some yeast for your next brew