Priming with Pepsi???

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ski36t

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I have seen that people priming there bottles with all kinds of things, but I haven't heard of anybody trying pepsi. I am doing a stout and I thought that the caramelly flavor of pepsi and the corn sugar that it is mostly comprised of might give it an interesting (and good) flavor.

If anybody has given it a try I would love to know how it turned out and how much you think I should prime with.
Thanks
 
Well, I've never heard of it either. A couple things come to mind for me- the sugar in pepsi is high fructose corn syrup, not dextrose. I have no idea what kind of carbonation you'd get from that. Maybe someone else who knows a bit of chemistry could give you some ideas.

For flavor, take a bit of your flat beer from the carboy and add a splash of pepsi. That would give you an inkling of how it might taste. I like stouts- milk stouts, oatmeal stouts, coffee stouts. But IMHO, I think pepsi stout would be pretty gross. If you decide to try it, let me know how it is- I hope it's better than I think.
 
Also, Pepsi contains phosphoric acid, which can act as a sanitizer. It could potentially kill some of your yeast in high enough concentration.
 
Believe it or not, 50/50 sprite/7up and beer is a common drink outside the US, commonly called a "beer shandy". I've heard about pepsi and beer as well, but never thought about priming w/ it. The sweetness of the pepsi would go away as the yeast ate the sugar (considering they are still alive). Give it a try...
 
Why...just...why?
druge.gif
 
sirsloop said:
Believe it or not, 50/50 sprite/7up and beer is a common drink outside the US, commonly called a "beer shandy". I've heard about pepsi and beer as well, but never thought about priming w/ it. The sweetness of the pepsi would go away as the yeast ate the sugar (considering they are still alive). Give it a try...
50/50 beer and Fanta (Sprite-like) is called a Radler in Germany. Also 50/50 beer and cola is called a Russian...

Incidently, I had a Bock that was a little over the top that I blended it with Dr Pepper and it tasted pretty good. I saved the batch that way.:D
 
yeh... come to think I've done dr pepper and beer before as well. Strange how well these sodas and beer go together!!
 
Yooper Chick said:
Well, I've never heard of it either. A couple things come to mind for me- the sugar in pepsi is high fructose corn syrup, not dextrose. I have no idea what kind of carbonation you'd get from that. Maybe someone else who knows a bit of chemistry could give you some ideas.

After reading some on wikipedia I found this...

"Honey
Honey is a mixture of different types of sugars, water, and small amounts of other compounds. Honey typically has a fructose/glucose ratio similar to HFCS 55, as well as containing some sucrose and other sugars. Honey, HFCS and sucrose have the same number of calories having approximately 4 kcal per gram of solid."

I have heard of people priming with honey so I doubt this would be much different. I think the yeast will know what to do with it.

As far as the phosphoric acid and the low pH I think that the small amount of pepsi that I might use to prime would be low enough that it wouldn't significantly effect the total pH of a 5 gallon batch.

Thanks for the feedback. I think I might do half the batch with and half without. I just need to figure out the right amount to put in it now.
 
As to the fermentation question, I know that Dude did a whacked-out brew with Mountain Dew, and it fermented out fine. I'm not inclined to ask to sample a Pepsi Stout, but it *should* work as a priming agent if you can get the quantity right.
 
anybody know what concentration of corn sugar you use in a 5 gallon batch.. ie 3/4 cup of corn sugar into 5 gallons

heck if you knew how much 3/4 cup of corn sugar weighs I could figure it out
 
use the nutritional facts on the back....

well ok here's what I would do:

use this http://tastybrew.com/calculators/priming.html to figure out how much sugar you would need to prime with (i guess either glucose or sucrose...i just did a quick calc and they are .1oz away from each other so not a big deal I guess)

then look at the back of the can and see how much sugar is in one serving size (which should be 1 can) or i found this http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts-C00001-01c21qu.html

it says there are 41 grams of sugar per 12 oz and we need about 28 grams (based on my simple calc with the above link.....you man need more) so for 2.5 gallons you'd need like 8 oz of pepsi



hope this works and tell us how it turns out!

take it easy
 
Pepsi will ferment. I fermented a 2-liter bottle of coke to see what would happen... it pretty much fermented all of it! I was left with a nearly water clear drink that tasted like **** ... good carbonation though...
 
greenhornet said:
it says there are 41 grams of sugar per 12 oz and we need about 28 grams (based on my simple calc with the above link.....you man need more) so for 2.5 gallons you'd need like 8 oz of pepsi

hmmm....I am getting that you would need about 51 g of sugar for a 2.5 gallon batch.

1.8oz corn sugar = ~51 g

So just over 12 ounces of pepsi.
 
Buford said:
Apparently yeast is more tolerant of phosphoric acid than I thought.

Yes, that's what I thougt as well. They design the stuff to make sure it won't spoil (i.e. ferment). That's why I never thought of fermenting it just for the fun of it.

Kai
 
ski36t said:
hmmm....I am getting that you would need about 51 g of sugar for a 2.5 gallon batch.

1.8oz corn sugar = ~51 g

So just over 12 ounces of pepsi.

Well, I prime beer with 4 ounces of corn sugar per 5 gallons (for "regular" carbonation, which is pretty carbonated) I don't know how many cups that is, but it must be 2/3 or 3/4 or thereabouts. So, for 2.5 gallons of beer, I'd use 2 ounces of priming sugar. You're pretty close there, I guess.
 
Ahhhh, after going and making a wonderful home brewed creation, why would you ruin it by adding something so full of chemicals and poop? I know you're probably more curious than serious here but I would have to say that my traditional sensibilities tell me to run in the other direction.
 
The deed is done. I used on 12 ounce pepsi can and put it in a 3-liter bottle. If my calculations were correct, that is about the right amount of fermentable sugar...being as about 55% of the sugar is non-fermentable fructose.

I will let you know how it turns out!
 
ski36t said:
...being as about 55% of the sugar is non-fermentable fructose.!

wrong! The sugar in a pepsi is pretty much 100% fermentable. I fermented a 2-litre bottle of coke and it's FG was below 1. Fructose is a monosacharride that yeasties will have no problem eating. Careful with bottle bombs there...
 
omniscientomar said:
wrong! The sugar in a pepsi is pretty much 100% fermentable. I fermented a 2-litre bottle of coke and it's FG was below 1. Fructose is a monosacharride that yeasties will have no problem eating. Careful with bottle bombs there...

MOOOTHHHER!! I confused lactose for fructose...and I was a biochemistry major.
Well I guess I will just crack the lid of the 3-liter a few days in.
 
the verdict is in...

It carbonated just fine, but tasted terrible as many of you so wisely told me. Oh well, I am stubborn. Curiousity satified.
 
It is rather disturbing to think that the sugar in 12 oz of pepsi is equal to 3/4 cup of corn sugar. Seems like alot to me. I'm sure coke has the same amount if not more, but just something I never thought about before.
 
homebrewer_99 said:
50/50 beer and Fanta (Sprite-like) is called a Radler in Germany. Also 50/50 beer and cola is called a Russian...

Incidently, I had a Bock that was a little over the top that I blended it with Dr Pepper and it tasted pretty good. I saved the batch that way.:D

Radler is actually an alright ... beverage? At like 2% you cannot get a buzz from it. Good tho. Like a pils and sprite 50/50.
 
ski36t said:
the verdict is in...

It carbonated just fine, but tasted terrible as many of you so wisely told me. Oh well, I am stubborn. Curiousity satified.

I HATE to say "I told you so". I was hoping you'd come back and say it was great and we missed the boat on this one.

Well, nothing ventured, nothing gained. At least you were adventurous and tried something new. I'm too much of a scaredy-cat to do something like that. Nice try!
 
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