A few ?'s on priming and secondary

flars said:

Priming sugar calculator according to style or your preference.
http://www.northernbrewer.com/priming-sugar-calculator/

Secondary fermentor is a misnomer. No fermentation should be occurring in the secondary vessel. A secondary vessel is for clearing a beer, which can be done just as well in the primary, or the secondary vessel is for additions such as fruit or wood chips.

The beer should be left in the primary until final gravity is reached.

Click to expand...

raptoid said:

Fairly new to all grain. First question is: Do recipes usually state the amount of priming sugar to use? I've seen conflicting amount additions for beer "styles". Is there a website thats reliable to use for that calculation? Also, from what I can gather the time to add the cooled priming sugar is in the bottling bucket/stir/bottle/cap...correct?

Second question is: When doing these higher gravity brews, I plan on running into the situation of utilizing a secondary fermenter. At this point does the initial yeast pitch keep on fermenting? Or will there be cases where I would need to add another pitch for the duration of the secondary to increase the ABV? To be specific, my goals are a few 10-12%+ Imperial stouts, Barleywines, strong (D)IPAs.

Click to expand...

flars said:

Priming sugar calculator according to style or your preference.
http://www.northernbrewer.com/priming-sugar-calculator/

Secondary fermentor is a misnomer. No fermentation should be occurring in the secondary vessel. A secondary vessel is for clearing a beer, which can be done just as well in the primary, or the secondary vessel is for additions such as fruit or wood chips.

The beer should be left in the primary until final gravity is reached.

Click to expand...

raptoid said:

If no fermentation is occurring, then do I need an airlock on the secondary? I've seen photos/videos of people using a secondary and they've still got a bubble or two flickering out of an airlock every min. Just trying to understand the process if I ever do decide to do that oak soaked stout, or fruit addition.

Click to expand...

Yooper said:

I HATE priming calculators, and will not use one. Here's why- they have you prime 'to style'. That sounds like a good idea- but most people who buy bottled commercial beer don't drink it carbed to style- they drink it at about 2.4-2.5 volumes of c02, regardless of style. While a great cask ale is very low carbed, that's out of a cask and not a bottle and if you prime "to style" with a priming calculator, an English bitter will be totally flat. Most people don't like to drink flat beer. Conversely, some beer styles, like weizens, will be bottle bombs if you prime to style with a calculator.

I use .75 oz of priming sugar per finished gallon of beer for lower carbed beers (but still carbed) and 1 oz priming sugar per finished gallon of beer for styles like light lagers and pale ales. That's it. Easy as can be, and never a flat beer or a bottle bomb in 300ish batches of beer.

Click to expand...

Yooper said:

I HATE priming calculators, and will not use one. Here's why- they have you prime 'to style'. That sounds like a good idea- but most people who buy bottled commercial beer don't drink it carbed to style- they drink it at about 2.4-2.5 volumes of c02, regardless of style. While a great cask ale is very low carbed, that's out of a cask and not a bottle and if you prime "to style" with a priming calculator, an English bitter will be totally flat. Most people don't like to drink flat beer. Conversely, some beer styles, like weizens, will be bottle bombs if you prime to style with a calculator.

I use .75 oz of priming sugar per finished gallon of beer for lower carbed beers (but still carbed) and 1 oz priming sugar per finished gallon of beer for styles like light lagers and pale ales. That's it. Easy as can be, and never a flat beer or a bottle bomb in 300ish batches of beer.

Click to expand...