DeanMcMullen
Active Member
Sounds good, I'll PM you.Denobrew said:
Warning Regarding Big W PET Beer Bottles, and my Introduction to AHB
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DeanMcMullen
Active Member
Sorry, I should clarify. I meant having to dice up the carb drops for the 500ml grolsch bottles is difficult. I run the risk or under or over carbing.
My other concern with bulk priming is that although the calculations can be done by computer, but my biggest issue is not knowing how much pre-carb beer I have. I don't really have a measuring method. And I always over estimate the amount of bottles I need so I've got a spare or 2 clean when I do bottle.
My other concern with bulk priming is that although the calculations can be done by computer, but my biggest issue is not knowing how much pre-carb beer I have. I don't really have a measuring method. And I always over estimate the amount of bottles I need so I've got a spare or 2 clean when I do bottle.
sp0rk
Mayor of Pooptown
Just use 1DeanMcMullen said:
I find that carb drops always tend to overcarb a little, so 1 worked just fine in Grolsch bottles when I used to use them
DeanMcMullen
Active Member
Thanks. Good suggestion. I'm cool with taking the easy option.sp0rk said:
Coodgee
Well-Known Member
tl;dr
Dozer71
Well-Known Member
Or get the 3 scoop from your LHBS and use sugar - white or raw (small for 375ml, medium for 500 & large for 750ml). Much cheaper than carb drops.DeanMcMullen said:
I'm not 100% sure what you mean by "pre-carb beer" but my best guess is you don't know how much carbonation is in your beer from the fermentation process.DeanMcMullen said:
A proper 'bulk priming calculator' or the like should ask you to input a temperature. In general, you should input the temperature your beer finished fermenting at, prior to cold crashing (if you do that). Some people will tell you to put in the warmest temperature that the fermenting beer got to and that is also correct in a way. Choose either of those temperatures and you will get close enough anyway.
http://www.brewersfriend.com/beer-priming-calculator/
^^^^ That looks like a good calculator to use.
If you are using plain old white table sugar, it'd be worth mentioning it also has 2 other common names: sucrose and cane sugar.
It will also ask you how carbonated you want your beer. This is measured in volumes of co2. 2.5 is pretty standard for a lager or American style ale.
No need to worry about ending up with spare bottles; just calculate your bulk priming sugar amount based on the total volume of beer you transfer to your bulk priming vessel (spare fermentor or whatever).
Hope that helps.
Edit: I just re-read your post. Maybe you were talking about not knowing the volume of beer you have. If so, you could use a spare fermentor with volume markings on it or using a set of scales would get you close enough by weighing the beer. It'll be close enough to 1kg per 1L.
DeanMcMullen
Active Member
Wanted to say a big old thank you to Tim/denobrew. Absolute champion and great guy. Thanks for the capper and supplies.
Dane: Thanks. You are correct, I couldn't measure the beer prior to bottling. My fermenter does have the measurement on the side, but I wasn't sure how much was yeast cake and how much I'd lose as waste to make a proper calculation. Thanks to Tim I now have a second fermenter to rack to, so I will try my hand at batch carb now. Measuring based on weight is a good suggestion too, and would alleviate some of my concerns. Thank you.
Dane: Thanks. You are correct, I couldn't measure the beer prior to bottling. My fermenter does have the measurement on the side, but I wasn't sure how much was yeast cake and how much I'd lose as waste to make a proper calculation. Thanks to Tim I now have a second fermenter to rack to, so I will try my hand at batch carb now. Measuring based on weight is a good suggestion too, and would alleviate some of my concerns. Thank you.
Mr B
Well-Known Member
Another tip on bulk priming (or bottling in general). If you get a length of hose (few bucks from the brew shop) that fits on the tap, it will fit on the bottling wand using a bit of the smaller tubing that the brew shop will also have. Then just pop your bulk prime container on a bucket or something and wand your way through the bottles. Pop all the lids on when you finish, then cap them.
DeanMcMullen
Active Member
Alright, so Grass Clippings (Summer Ale) is almost finished fermentation. I Dry Hopped 20g of Cascade last night, and I'm aiming for Wednesday night to bottle. Here's my next question, I used 2 separate programs to calculate the quantity of Dextrose I would need to prime 21.5L (my estimation of total volume, possibly even 22L).
Brewers Friend Calculator (http://www.brewersfriend.com/beer-priming-calculator/) says that at a volume of 21.5L and CO2 of 2.5 and temp of 22°C I should be aiming for 213.1g of Dextrose.
Wort (Brewing App from Google Play store) says that with the same figures I should be putting in 264.2g of dextrose.
That's a significant difference, either being 24% too much, or being 19% less than I need.
How do I be more conclusive about priming dextrose quantities?
Brewers Friend Calculator (http://www.brewersfriend.com/beer-priming-calculator/) says that at a volume of 21.5L and CO2 of 2.5 and temp of 22°C I should be aiming for 213.1g of Dextrose.
Wort (Brewing App from Google Play store) says that with the same figures I should be putting in 264.2g of dextrose.
That's a significant difference, either being 24% too much, or being 19% less than I need.
How do I be more conclusive about priming dextrose quantities?
I used 4 calculators and got 145g, 146g, 146g, and 159g of dextrose/corn sugar.DeanMcMullen said:
I'm not sure what you did differently, but they are vastly different results.
Edit: I suspect you have looked at the DME quantities. White table sugar is sucrose or cane sugar, dextrose is corn sugar, DME is DME.
Lord Raja Goomba I
Prisoner of Sobriety
For 2.5 Vols, I generally go 7g per L of beer. It is a mental rule of thumb that works. If I want lower vols, it goes down to 5g/L - not scientific, but seems to be always spot on.
DeanMcMullen
Active Member
Good pickup. Yes, I was looking at DME (thinking D for Dextrose). But I took your calculations (and my own confirmation calcs) and primed at 146g of dextrose. Thanks Danestead.danestead said:
LRG1: Thanks Bro. I will note this for future ref.
If you are happy to wing it, then a typical 20-25l batch bulk primed with 150g of dextrose (aka sugar) will result in properly carbonated beer that won't explode (assuming the fermentation was complete). Doing it that way is actually a lot more accurate than carbonation drops and more importantly, consistent.
evoo4u
Well-Known Member
I've just had two PETs leak from the bottom, mess everywhere last night, and bottles near-empty but still pressurised. Which leads me to two questions:
After attending a few swaps, my stock of PETs is a mix. I bought Coopers ones initially, but how can I tell now the Coopers ones from the others? I think Coopers PETs have had more than one shape over the years. In other words - how can I tell which ones to ditch?
The immediate problem is that the two which failed yesterday leave me with just 22 for the Stanthorpe swap. When I bottled a month ago, I only had 24 caps, so bottled the remainder of the batch in glass tallies. Can I simply open the tallies, transfer the contents to good PETs and add 6g sugar to each? Or would I need to squirt in a bit more active yeast as well?
Geez I hate PETs!
Grott
Beer Embalmer
Transfer from the glass to the PET bottles will cause some oxygenation but you can dramatically reduce this by chilling the glass bottles and the empty PET bottles (both at same temp and will reduce foam). Then slowly pour from one to the other with the PET bottle on the largest angle possible as if pouring a beer. This allows for the liquid to “slide” down the bottle. When done I’d add half a sugar drop or half a level teaspoon of sugar.
I've just had two PETs leak from the bottom, mess everywhere last night, and bottles near-empty but still pressurised. Which leads me to two questions:
After attending a few swaps, my stock of PETs is a mix. I bought Coopers ones initially, but how can I tell now the Coopers ones from the others? I think Coopers PETs have had more than one shape over the years. In other words - how can I tell which ones to ditch?
The immediate problem is that the two which failed yesterday leave me with just 22 for the Stanthorpe swap. When I bottled a month ago, I only had 24 caps, so bottled the remainder of the batch in glass tallies. Can I simply open the tallies, transfer the contents to good PETs and add 6g sugar to each? Or would I need to squirt in a bit more active yeast as well?
Geez I hate PETs!
Had a problem with brewcraft bottles years ago the bottom of the bottle was not sealed had hole in a couple .
TwoCrows
Well-Known Member
I use PET bottles exclusively and have done for many years.
I had quite a few PET, coopers and Big W bottles explode over 2014- 2015 summer months. Since then when I fill the bottle I squeeze them slightly when filling and I also leave some oxygen in the bottle for the secondary fermentation. This stops the bottle over pressurizing, helps with bottle longevity when stored in non temp regulated storage.
I also store the bottles in a big black bin bag inside the original boxes, this helps me move them around and if they explode helps to contain all the liquid. I never EVER want to clean exploded beer bottles again.
If you want to check the health of your bottles look around the bottles base contours. If you see cracks or cracks appearing, mostly radiating from the inner circle to the feet. This is the down fall of PET bottles. If in doubt chuck it out.
I had quite a few PET, coopers and Big W bottles explode over 2014- 2015 summer months. Since then when I fill the bottle I squeeze them slightly when filling and I also leave some oxygen in the bottle for the secondary fermentation. This stops the bottle over pressurizing, helps with bottle longevity when stored in non temp regulated storage.
I also store the bottles in a big black bin bag inside the original boxes, this helps me move them around and if they explode helps to contain all the liquid. I never EVER want to clean exploded beer bottles again.
If you want to check the health of your bottles look around the bottles base contours. If you see cracks or cracks appearing, mostly radiating from the inner circle to the feet. This is the down fall of PET bottles. If in doubt chuck it out.
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