How much priming sugar?

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Koryb

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 25, 2012
Messages
49
Reaction score
0
Location
Sedro-Woolley
I have only used kits in the past, and this last batch I put ingredients together, but now it is time to bottle, and I am not sure how much sugar to use for carbination, I want to use Cane Sugar, for priming , but I don't know how much to use. Any advise is appreciated
 
On normal priming sugar in a kit it is 1 oz, by weight, per gallon...so, 5 oz for 5 gallon. I think for cane sugar you would use 3.7 oz for 5 gallons. I boil it for a few minutes in 1/2 a cup of water, let it cool and dump into the bottom of my bottling bucket. Then, put your siphon tubing in the bottom of the bucket and transfer the beer on top trying not to splash. The swirling action will mix the sugar for you. Proceed to bottling.
 
In my opinion, very few bottles should have a big difference in carbonation levels. I like almost all of my beers at 2.4-2.5 volumes of co2 out of a bottle.

It's true that some beers traditionally have lower carb levels, and to be "to style" that is true. But the only was I like English beers flat like the style recommends is when it's on cask. Most bottle beers that are sold in the US are not flat like some of those style guidelines recommend. Also, some of those guidelines (I think weizens?) will cause bottle bombs or at least lots and lots of foaming in a bottle.

I almost always use .75-1 ounce of corn sugar per gallon of finished beer for priming. For table sugar, it'd be a tiny bit less. I'd use 4 ounces of table sugar for 5 gallons of beer when using table sugar.
 
I brewed a hefe recently and carbed it to darn near 4 vols and no bombs. More foam than an ale, sure, but I wanted to be true to style. I used a calculator online to help me determine my residual CO2 to be safe about it.
 
I usually use the ounce to gallon ratio although it may not make all brewed beers "to style". I have added the traditional 5 ounces priming to my batches and only had one issue of over carbonation. After boiling to dissolve it let it cool for 5-10 minutes before you add it to your bottlling bucket and adding your wort.
 
Both schools of thought are correct here IMO.. when I started brewing I did 1 oz corn sugar per batch.. then I started using the calculator and to be honest It didn't really matter to me...Now I am kegging with a single regulator so back to everything at the same carbonation level for now......Oh and when you put the priming sugar into the bottling bucket it is not really necessary to let it cool down.. the tiny volume in 5 gallons of beer will make a nominal difference in temp. You will scald some yeast at first but you will have plenty to bottle condition.. cooling is even more unnecessary if you cold crash your beers.
 
I use the tasty brew calculator that union posted above. I like my beers around 2 volumes, but I brew mostly English styles. It has served me very well so far. Also, if you don't have one, pick up a scale for weighing your sugar. I got a digital scale from Ross for 11 bucks and it has been awesome for hops and priming sugar.
 
Additional question: Is the amount of water boiled when making a syrup/pasteurizing the sugar really affect anything? I feel like I've seen differing reports. It seems to me that the amount of sugar is what's important, not the volume of liquid it's dissolved in.

Any insight?
 
Additional question: Is the amount of water boiled when making a syrup/pasteurizing the sugar really affect anything? I feel like I've seen differing reports. It seems to me that the amount of sugar is what's important, not the volume of liquid it's dissolved in.

Any insight?

The amount of water does not matter.
 
Using too little water will make the priming solution thicker & less easy to disolve in the bottling bucket when racking the beer. I start boiling 2C of water,then take it off the heat to stir in the priming sugar. Then cover & allow to cool while sanitizing everything getting ready to rack into the bottling bucket.
 
I always simply use 2/3 cup of table sugar per "How to Brew." Never had a problem with carbonation.
 
unionrdr said:
Using too little water will make the priming solution thicker & less easy to disolve in the bottling bucket when racking the beer. I start boiling 2C of water,then take it off the heat to stir in the priming sugar. Then cover & allow to cool while sanitizing everything getting ready to rack into the bottling bucket.

I agree... The two cups of water is perfect just make sure you are using a sauce pan that is small where when you add the sugar the sugar does not rise above the water... I haven't mastered this but I am learning with each brew.

Amy suggestions on a IPA recipe?
 
Back
Top