Boiling bottling sugar...

I was wondering, when I go to bottle and boil my sugar in water, do I need to let it cool before I siphon my beer in it?

Not really, its such a small volume relative to the beer you're mixing it with. I never let it cool and don't have any adverse effects. I usually start it before I do anything else so it can cool a little while I'm prepping the rest of my stuff.

Yes let it cool down to close to room temp (like 80 or 90) and you'll be good. While it won't drastically change your beer, it could change it a little. When it comes to beer I always err to the side of caution.

I don't cool it. Two cups vs 5.5 gallons I don't worry about.

Rick

+1 I boil it to be sure theres no crud lingering on the sugar. And I cool it before adding to the beer I have been taking care of for weeks. Seems like steps that are well worth the effort.

Although, it probably isnt really required when you consider the process of bottle priming where you simply add sugar to the bottle. Since I batch prime it's a different story since I need to be sure of an even mixture. Boiling the sugar also helps is disolve completley.

I don't cool it...never had a problem.

wilsojos said:

Not really, its such a small volume relative to the beer you're mixing it with. I never let it cool and don't have any adverse effects. I usually start it before I do anything else so it can cool a little while I'm prepping the rest of my stuff.

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+1
Exactly how I do it, no problems

I boil mine as soon as I get up on bottling day, spray the lid to the pot with star-san and cover it until I'm ready to get started. By that time it has cooled plenty that there won't be a risk of infection.

Cool, thanks guys. I guess I'll just let mine cool down a bit then.

I usually boiled mine before I started, through a lid on it and put it in the fridge while I sanitized bottles, bottling bucket etc then dumped it in, never had a problem

I let it cool for a few minutes while I finish sanitizing everything, but then I dump it in the bottling bucket, never had any problems. I would imagine that boiling temp isn't enough to hurt the bucket, and pouring it into the bucket cools it down quite a bit anyhow.

I've always dumped mine into my bucket boiling hot, then racked the beer into it.

Not only have I never had a problem, but I think the "thinner" syrup (because it's hot) dissolved into the beer better.

I lay the tubing in a circle at the bottom of the bottling bucket, so the beer swirls as it fills from the bottom. It works out great!

Thanks for the input guys. One last question; once I rack my beer in the bottling bucket with the sugar, should I stir it up? Or is that a bad idea?

You can stir it a bit but not too much...this is the time when you don't want to let any oxygen in. Be gentle with it.

Pelican521 said:

Thanks for the input guys. One last question; once I rack my beer in the bottling bucket with the sugar, should I stir it up? Or is that a bad idea?

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You can gently stir, be careful not to splash. But I don't think it's necessary, I've not had any carbing issues incorporating the sugar water in the method Yooper described.

Rick

If you let your siphon tube coil a little at the bottom of the bucket it will cause a whirl pool affect. I think the beer and sugar mixes just fine with that method.

It really doesn't matter, it's really about what works for you.

Yooper said:

I've always dumped mine into my bucket boiling hot, then racked the beer into it.

Not only have I never had a problem, but I think the "thinner" syrup (because it's hot) dissolved into the beer better.

I lay the tubing in a circle at the bottom of the bottling bucket, so the beer swirls as it fills from the bottom. It works out great!

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This is exactly how I do it. That small of a volume has already cooled a bit, anyway, from being racked to a ~70 degree bucket and spread so thin; by the time my siphon hose is in and the siphone has started, it has lost a noticeable chunk of temperature. No need to stir, as the siphone swirling does a nice job of this.

I've never had a batch do anything but carb up beautifully.

On the question of stirring or not, I have personally experienced uneven carbonation with not stirring. So I believe a gentle stir is worth it to ensure an even mixture. You do want to be careful not to aerate though...

Nagorg said:

On the question of stirring or not, I have personally experienced uneven carbonation with not stirring. So I believe a gentle stir is worth it to ensure an even mixture. You do want to be careful not to aerate though...

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While everyone has different experiences I've never had carb issues with letting it whirlpooling it's a liquid solution, like adding water to a sugar and tea mixture it may not blend 100% perfect but it will be right around 99%

Sounds good, thanks for the tips. As far as the beer oxidizing, how bad is it for the beer?

I had an "incident" when I was racking to my secondary. My secondary, wasn't low enough and I had to stop my siphon to move it. So I had to restart my auto siphon. Needless to say, it reminded me of my college days...

Oxidation will kick in at some point eventually in almost all home brews But honestly as long as you don't have excessive splashing you should be good.

Cooling it as opposed to adding it hot is really only giving your beer another contact point for a problem. As said above, the volume is miniscule. Take it off the burner, into the bottling vessel, siphon over the tasty flat beer, and bottle away. Never give the nasties a chance to build condos in your homebrew!

On the OP of boiling, it was mentioned on this thread that dry sugar wouldn't harbor any nasty's. While I'm not sure if that's true or not, it occurred to me that the water it's mixed with should also be considered a potential entry point. That said, I personally will continue to boil my priming sugar solution before adding it (cooled) to my beer and giving it a gentle stir...

At this point in the brewing process there is enough alcohol in the beer to not worry so much about infection. The chances are very low IMO however I am still a rookie at home brewing. Would anybody else agree with this concept?

BansheeRider said:

At this point in the brewing process there is enough alcohol in the beer to not worry so much about infection. The chances are very low IMO however I am still a rookie at home brewing. Would anybody else agree with this concept?

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Until you reach about 18-20% alcohol, there is plenty of worry about infection. Also, there is bacteria that feeds on alcohol and turns it into vinegar. If you ever get an acetobacter infection (what causes vinegar) in your homebrewery, it can be sometimes be impossible to get rid of it, as the bacteria doesn't need oxygen or any nutrient source to survive for very long periods.