Carbonation pills

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BeanPot Brewery

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Has anyone tried these. I came across them at the LHBS...looked like little sugar candies that, I assume, you would drop in bottles instead of adding priming sugar.
I was wondering if there were any benefits/ drawbacks? I haven't seen much mention on them in the posts, so I suspect they are not very popular.

Thanks
 
BeanPot Brewery said:
Has anyone tried these. I came across them at the LHBS...looked like little sugar candies that, I assume, you would drop in bottles instead of adding priming sugar.
I was wondering if there were any benefits/ drawbacks? I haven't seen much mention on them in the posts, so I suspect they are not very popular.

Thanks

I've never used them, but they would be a great addition to an "Emergency Brewing Kit". One of these days, I'll probably get too hammered while bottling and forget to add priming sugar. When that day comes, I'll break into the carb drops to salvage my batch; open, insert drop, re-cap.

-walker
 
are they made by Cooper's? I have some of these and have used them two or three times. One drop per 12 oz bottle didn't seem to work that great, though it's just a one batch experience. It's been about 9 days and still insufficient carbonation. ? Perhaps it just takes a little longer. The idea is great, though.
 
Ya, I forgot to add the priming sugar once and had to dump the beer back into the bottling bucket and do it all over...not fun.
I use 22-ounce bottles, so I'm not sure how the pills would work.
 
Monk said:
I have some of these and have used them two or three times. One drop per 12 oz bottle didn't seem to work that great, though it's just a one batch experience. It's been about 9 days and still insufficient carbonation. ? Perhaps it just takes a little longer. The idea is great, though.
If you've only used them once, and it's only been nine days, then you just haven't waited long enough...I have yet to have any batch carb properly in 9 days, even with corn sugar. Have you tried them just once...or have you tried them 2 or 3 times and came up short? Just curious. :)
 
El Pistolero said:
If you've only used them once, and it's only been nine days, then you just haven't waited long enough...I have yet to have any batch carb properly in 9 days, even with corn sugar. Have you tried them just once...or have you tried them 2 or 3 times and came up short? Just curious. :)

I've tried them three times. I didn't mention the first one because it was jacked up due to monk-incompetence, not product failure. One batch was bottled prematurely, so it was super carbed, but not cuz of the sugar pills. Then i tried it on about 10 pint bottles of a 5 gal batch. It has been in the bottle at room temp for 3 weeks and still very little carb. I think the pills are meant for 12 oz, not 16.

That leaves the last time. Nine days and barely any carb. I'm suprised about the time because I've only had one batch that ever took more than 5 days (that's when I check the first bottle) to carb to the point of a good head. That mystery batch was my first...and produced from a mr. beer system.

How long does your beer take to carbonate? Perhaps you leave your beer to condition longer in the secondary, and so there is less yeast in the bottled stuff. I go about 5-6 days in the primary, 12-15 in the secondary (usually). Or two weeks in the primary for simple stuff. Do you think that's too short? I make a lot of mistakes :(
 
Interesting...sounds like they are not so reliable...I may pick some up and test a few bottles. Sounds like two pills in a 22-ounce bottle may do the trick....although I'll put the test bottles in the bomb shelter just in case they have evil thoughts of redecorating my basement closet.
 
Since I keg, when I do bottle I'm only doing a few. I've used Cooper's drops and have been happy with the results. Even in cases where the ale has been on tap of a month, there has been enough yeast to carbonate.

They would be very expensive for anything other than rescuing a flat batch or one-offs.
 
Monk said:
How long does your beer take to carbonate? Perhaps you leave your beer to condition longer in the secondary, and so there is less yeast in the bottled stuff. I go about 5-6 days in the primary, 12-15 in the secondary (usually). Or two weeks in the primary for simple stuff. Do you think that's too short? I make a lot of mistakes :(
Mine generally have taken at least 3 weeks to get minimally bubbly, tho my last two batches were done in two weeks. Most of mine have gone closer to 2 weeks primary, 3 secondary, so I've attributed that to the slow carbonation, but still 9 days would be pretty quick in any case, IMHO. I just figure they're gonna be ready when they're ready...if it's two weeks or six weeks, I can wait.
 
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