Priming Advice

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Econwatson

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Hi guys! Me again.
Thanks to Pappa Joe, I've got my superautomatica capper ready to go and I'm looking at my FV longingly!
However, I've got some questions about priming my bottles. I did have a search but couldn't seem to find what I wanted to know.

I know the yanks use corn sugar for all their priming but I went into a tonne of shops today and they all looked at me like I was nuts!
So what do Aussies use the for their priming when they're not using carb drops?
Will cane sugar do the trick?
Just incase, I picked up the closest thing to corn sugar I could find which is glucose syrup. Has anybody had experience trying to bottle with that, or will it even work?

Thanks very much for the help guys!
 
Dextrose works fine, some even use DME but one can argue this will only add co2 and not much flavour at all.

Check around (beersmith, brewmate, online etc) for priming calculators and how to bulk prime - much more consistent results than using carb lollies
 
Corn sugar is generally known as dextrose here.

I use dextrose or caster sugar (If I've run out of dex). Many people use plain white sugar.

The glucose syrup might be a bit fiddly to get the right measure from bottle to bottle. Would certainly work though.

[EDIT: typo]
 
I can see the syrup being a pain to measure out if you are priming each bottle individually.

Cane sugar or dextrose are the normal things to use, in dry form. Corn sugar is the American term for dextrose AFAIK.

ed; I am a slow typer
 
White sugar will give a slightly cidery taste, but is ok for the small amount used in bottling. Even in the main brew you need to throw heaps in for it to overtake the kit's flavor.

Corn Sugar (dextrose) is more a clean neutral flavor, can also be used for a cleaner flavor.
Corn Syrup may also be used, but you will need to add more weight as there is a lot of water in it, I'm not sure of the ratio.

Even dried malt extract could be used for priming, giving a more malty taste. Once again I'm not sure how much more you would need to throw in.

QldKev

edit: Don't go chuck a pi55 when responding.. 100 people answer first :)
 
Thanks guys!

I will probably be transferring to another vessel first (probably my brew pot) before I bottle it up so I could feasibly add the glucose syrup in one go. I don;t really know how I would go about calculating how much to add though! Maybe I should just stick with white sugar for my first brew?
 
If you knew how much % of water was in the syrup, it would be easy to bulk prime with.
The nutritional information should say how much sugar is in a given weight/volume of the syrup so it shouldn't be a difficult calculation but I'd stick with dry stuff for sure.

Econwatson, what are you planning on bottling with if you use your kettle as a bulk priming vessel? It seems to me like the convenience of a bottling wand on your fermenter is going to outweigh the flexibility bulk-priming offers.
 
I'm afraid I don't have a bottling wand :(

Since this is my first brew I've done things on the cheap. I used a water cooler bottle (gave me my water as well) as my primary fermenter. So I'm going to have to siphon twice, once into another container, and once into my bottles. Somebody recommended doing it over the dishwasher door. I don't mind the first time because it's all very exciting but I think I will be buying a fermentation bucket next time!

To be honest, I didn't think I would get so involved and fascinated with brewing. I actually followed this http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-Beer/?ALLSTEPS initially, but I have learned a lot since! Wish I had looked around a bit first but the tutorial seems to have served me fairly well!

I'm a little confused with the priming calculators. It is asking me for the desired level of CO2. What sort of number am I looking for there?

EDIT:
Since my explanation might be a little confusing, here is my cheapo fermenter straight after brewing!
gm9I3.jpg


What do you think of her?!
 
White sugar will give a slightly cidery taste, but is ok for the small amount used in bottling. Even in the main brew you need to throw heaps in for it to overtake the kit's flavor.

Corn Sugar (dextrose) is more a clean neutral flavor, can also be used for a cleaner flavor.
Corn Syrup may also be used, but you will need to add more weight as there is a lot of water in it, I'm not sure of the ratio.

Even dried malt extract could be used for priming, giving a more malty taste. Once again I'm not sure how much more you would need to throw in.

QldKev

edit: Don't go chuck a pi55 when responding.. 100 people answer first :)

To make it more confusing, maltodextrin is also sometimes referred to as corn syrup but is not very fermentable and is different from the liquid glucose syrup.

Don't use maltodex for priming.
 
I'm a little confused with the priming calculators. It is asking me for the desired level of CO2. What sort of number am I looking for there?

When you start brewing a few different styles, you may want to adjust fizz level for different beers. The higher the CO2 volume, the fizzier the beer.

How fizzy do you like your beer? I don't like super fizzy so I generally aim for 2.2 or lower (down to 1.8/1.9 for some UK styles although many real ale enthusiasts would probably consider that high).

I would say aim for 2.5ish for your first batch which will give you an indication of whether to push up or down for your next.

Most calculators should give you an indication of what range suits what style although your preference is more important than style.
 
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