Munton's CarbTabs (Not a fan)

I mostly keg. But I tend to bottle about 18 from each batch. I save 6 for long term storage and the other 12 are for those occasions where nothing you have on tap looks good to you.

In the past I have used Cooper's Carbonation Drops which have worked great for me. No complaints about the Cooper's.

Link to Cooper's:
Cooper's Carbonation Drops :: Midwest Supplies Homebrewing and Winemaking Supplies

Then I noticed that my LHBS had Munton's CarbTabs and they were cheaper.

Link to Munton's:
Munton's CarbTabs :: Midwest Supplies Homebrewing and Winemaking Supplies

Munton's CarbTabs suck! I thought that having small tabs would be a plus. I thought, "Hey i can really dial in the level of carbonation very easily."

But once you start counting out the 2-5 tabs you notice that fully half of them have are missing large chunks. Thus making your exact "dialing in" very difficult.

But the biggest problem is they take forever to prime your beer. The Honey American Pale Ale i bottled on 12/13/08 still has solids floating on the top a month and a half later. I have several other beers with the same problem but they were bottled 2 weeks later.

These solids, which are clearly little white pieces of the priming tabs, they may be the heading powder that comes in the Munton's that has yet to dissolve. I do not know anything about heading powder.

Either I am switching back to Cooper's or I am going to have to measure out about 2 gallons of beer and measure out the right amount of sugar.

Lots of people have had good luck with:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/we-no-need-no-stinking-beer-gun-24678/

Jif said:

Lots of people have had good luck with:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/we-no-need-no-stinking-beer-gun-24678/

Click to expand...

I second this since you're already kegging. Cheaper than carb tabs!

Jif said:

Lots of people have had good luck with:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/we-no-need-no-stinking-beer-gun-24678/

Click to expand...

Oh I love the BMBF, but it hurts my hands to do more than a few. (I know that makes me sound like I am 75 years old.) You know they get all cold and you have to do all of that fine motor movement.

Maybe I should get back into the habit of using it though. It is free.

I have not tried it with my new setup. I use a coldplate that is inside a mini fridge.

I use something very similar to the beer gun. Instead of just using a racking cane I have a bottling wand that has the pressure tip on the end. It also fits just snug into the end of a picnic tap. I just dial down my PSI so it doesn't come out too fast. Even if the picnic tap is in the open position it will not fill until I press the wand tip to the bottom of the bottle. I filled a couple growlers just yesterday using this method.

They still are having mixed results. Some of the beers turn out to be fine and others almost completely flat. Some still have solids and others do not. This is stupid.

Did anyone test these before releasing them to the public?

I emailed the company and I got no response.

I've used the Munton's tabs in the past and the only issue I had was under/overcarbing based on their suggested tabs/volume (5 tabs for a 12'er!).

After a couple of weeks, I'll tip the bottles upside down quickly to shake the sediment up. I don't know if that really helps, though.

It has been 5 more months. I still have solids in an extra stout. It is also undercarbed still.

Still no reply from the company.

BMBG rocks (I use it for filling growlers mainly), but the reason i use coopers is, sometimes i have an extra 1/2-1gal ov beer after the keg is full, and want to bottle the rest...

coopers for the win...

Wish I'd read this a month ago. At the time I liked the CarbTabs better than boiling the water and sugar but if it's gonna take months and months for my beer to get carbed... Not worth it...