How Much Dextrose Should I Use For Priming?

[jackmc]

Hey guys, I usually prime with regular sugar, but this time I tried dextrose. Normally I use a teaspoon per bottle. I did that with dextrose and it didn't seem to work

So what is your dextrose priming rate, compared to if you use normal sugar?

Thanks in advance.

 

[buttersd70]

Approximately 9% more dextrose is required by weight.

edit.
A quick check of metric measuring spoons shows (surprisingly) that 1 level spoon of dex = 4g, 1 level spoon of regular sugar = 5g. This is actually the opposite to what I would have thought, because dextrose is a finer powder, so I thought a teaspoon of dex would weigh more, because it's more compacted. Live and learn.

Either way, bulk priming ftw. It's much easier (and less prone to error) to measure 100g of something once, than it is to measure 5g of something 20 times. ^_^

 

[Adamt]

1 teaspoon is fine...

If just one bottle was completely flat, you may have either a dud capping job, or a bottle you forgot to prime.

If the whole batch is flat, it may just be you haven't given it enough time to carbonate.

 

[jackmc]

Yeah it's still pretty young, so hopefully that's it. I think for the batch that is fermenting now we'll give bulk priming a go as well, it is a bit of a pain doing it for each bottle.

Butters, that is so weird that regular sugar weighs more. I would have thought there was more air in a teaspoon of that than a teaspoon of fine powder.. Strange.

Thanks for the tips guys.

 

[buttersd70]

Butters, that is so weird that regular sugar weighs more. I would have thought there was more air in a teaspoon of that than a teaspoon of fine powder.. Strange.

Very strange indeed. Logic states this to be the case....I measured it twice. I increased it to a couple of spoons of each (to get more weight, thinking that it was just the low amount causing the digital scales to do weird things), and got the same result.....as I said, exactly the opposite of what I expected. The only thing I can think of is that the regular sugar was out of the sugar bowl used for coffee, and might have bits of coffe and crap in there. Repeat when sober, with fresh sugar, perhaps? :lol:

 

[Dazza_devil]

Very strange indeed. Logic states this to be the case....I measured it twice. I increased it to a couple of spoons of each (to get more weight, thinking that it was just the low amount causing the digital scales to do weird things), and got the same result.....as I said, exactly the opposite of what I expected. The only thing I can think of is that the regular sugar was out of the sugar bowl used for coffee, and might have bits of coffe and crap in there. Repeat when sober, with fresh sugar, perhaps? :lol:

Sugar or Sucrose - C12H22O11- Molecular mass 342.29648g/mol - density 1.587g/cm3 - interestingly has a solubility in water of 203g/100ml in water at 20 C and melts at 186 degrees C .

Dextrose or Glucose - C6H12O6 - molecular mass 180.156g/mol - density 1.54 g/cm3 - it has isomers and anomers of these (it's beyond me) alpha(melting point 146 degrees C.) and beta (melting point 150 degrees C.)
I think it has a solubility of 91g in 100ml of water at 25C and 240g/100ml water at 40C, interesting.

Hope that helps. Fixed my hangover anyway.

 

[alford_j]

I have also been scratching my head over this issue after trying to prime with dextrose.

On the second last batch I used dextrose and found 1 scoop of dextrose per stubbie does not give the same level of carbonation as the same volume of sugar.

On my last batch I tried a bulk priming link (http://oz.craftbrewer.org/Library/Methods/BulkPriming/SimpleGuide.shtml) I found here and still came out under carbonated. I used 6.3G dextrose/L. I secondary fermented in a temp controlled fridge @ 20C so temp shouldn't be the issue (Yes, I have measured temp). The beer has had 3 weeks since bottling- from past experience this would be ok. As far as I can see, my remaining causes are:

Dodgey scales? (Yes, I did allow for the weight of the container)
Damp (heavy) dextrose?
My idea of "medium carbonation" is higher than the bulk priming guide?

Any ideas anyone?

Alfie

 

[buttersd70]

My idea of "medium carbonation" is higher than the bulk priming guide?

most likely culprit. If I gave you one of my beers, you would likely say that it is flat.

 

[alford_j]

Thanks Butters,

I've done some more weighing and calculating and 1 scoop per stubbie comes out to around 5.3G/L. This wasn't a tragedy in the English bitter, but the 6.3G/L in my extract DrSmurto's GA was a bit under what I was after.


Have to adjust next time.

Alfie

 

[flattop]

I've noticed my last batch of dex is more "gluggy" than the earlier ones, i wonder if it is damp, it's the first time i bought it in a 5k bag, it sort of sticks together a bit like icing sugar.
Earlier 1k packs were fine and flowed freely like fine sand. Thus priming with the bottling scoop is hard because
a) sometimes i get air pockets inside the scoop
B) sometimes it doesn't all fall out of the scoop despite tapping.

I have taken to bulk priming to get around this problem until the 5k is used up.
Now i may not go back as i find it easier, not all my bottles are the same size, shape or neck diameter as some of my bottles are very old.
Anyhow now i'm going AG i will probably not buy it in such large quantities again.

 

[Trav]

http://www.geocities.com/lesjudith/Alcohol...Calculator.html

Heres the one we use at Kooinda and it works a treat.
Let me know how ya go
Cheers Trav

 

[manticle]

@trav

"Hi there, If you like have a look at our brewery Pics in our Gallery. We have custom built a HERMS Microbrewery in Rosanna, Melbourne and recently released our Pale ALe on the Market. We were homebrewers who took it to the next level. Would love some feedback!
Cheers, The boys at HAPPY PLACE BREWING PTY LTD, Kooinda Boutique Brewery."

I'd love to look at your gallery and brewery set-up. Have you thought about providing a link in your signature?

 

[buttersd70]

manticle
google is your friend. :lol:
link to main page

links to pics at the bottom.

 

[manticle]

manticle
google is your friend. :lol:
link to main page

links to pics at the bottom.

I wasn't suggesting I couldn't find it. It was a subtle suggestion to trav that s/he should include the link in his/her signature to get more hits. Considering the suggestion to visit the homepage is in the signature, why not make it a link? Simply done and effective.

I agree, google is my friend and I love her for it.

Love.

 

[buttersd70]

It was a subtle suggestion to trav that s/he should include the link in his/her signature to get more hits. Considering the suggestion to visit the homepage is in the signature, why not make it a link? Simply done and effective.

Ah, point taken. I'm slow tonight...