priming sugar substitute

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joe6pack

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I was planning on bottling my brown ale today, but my LHBS changed their hours and is not open today, and I have no priming sugar.

Is there anything I can sub for the priming sugar that they sell that I could get at the grocery store that won't cause off tastes?
 
You can sometimes find dextrose at health food/suppliment stores or bulk food stores that sell things like flour and seasonings by the pound. You'll probably have to call around.
 
Just use white table sugar. There are no worries about flavor with the small quantities needed for priming.
 
I do have some brown sugar. How much would I need to use for my anticipated 4.25 gallon yield? Will it leave any off flavors?
 
I know someone who uses plain white cane sugar for priming. It works fine, and he recently took 1st place BOS with his cane sugar primed American Pale Ale in St. Louis.
 
It shouldn't- I'm not a fan of brown sugar but I don't think you'll even notice any flavor from it at all.

As far as the amount, I think it'd be the same by weight as corn sugar.
 
Awesome!

Thanks.

Now... how do I measure out 5 ounces of brown sugar? Any way to convert that to a volume? I don't have a scale.
 
YooperBrew said:
It shouldn't- I'm not a fan of brown sugar but I don't think you'll even notice any flavor from it at all.

As far as the amount, I think it'd be the same by weight as corn sugar.
Click to expand...

Not corn...treat it as white table sugar in terms of how much you use.


The unfermentables that make up the brown sugar leave, to me, a nice taste of brown sugar behind. I've used it in dark pumpkin beers before and it was nice.
 
BigEd said:
Just use white table sugar. There are no worries about flavor with the small quantities needed for priming.
Click to expand...

Yup....and here's a nice graph to assist you in selecting the proper amount:

f65.gif

How to Brew - By John Palmer - Priming Solutions
 
Revvy said:
If your doing a brown ale, you might want to consider brown sugar if you have any on hand.
Click to expand...

That's interesting. I am making a brown ale. So why the brown sugar? What are the benefits? does it improve the taste? How much would you need to put for say 5 Gallons? Well, I'm not even sure how much I have because I forgot to mark my carboy.

IMG_1273.jpg


I'm saying 4.75 - 5.0
 
earthad1 said:
That's interesting. I am making a brown ale. So why the brown sugar? What are the benefits? does it improve the taste? How much would you need to put for say 5 Gallons? Well, I'm not even sure how much I have because I forgot to mark my carboy.
Click to expand...

Becuse it's going to leave a lingering taste like brown sugar...:D

and sa to how much, look up the difference between using corn sugar vs white table sugar, and use the amount it says for white table sugar.
 
Revvy said:
Becuse it's going to leave a lingering taste like brown sugar...:D

and sa to how much, look up the difference between using corn sugar vs white table sugar, and use the amount it says for white table sugar.
Click to expand...

heheh, Cool will do . Thanks Revvy


I can't really tell from that Graph, but I'm assuming Beersmith will be able to tell me how much table sugar to use with the amount I have.
Based on that photo, would you lean more towards 4.75? or about 5.0?
 
earthad1 said:
heheh, Cool will do . Thanks Revvy


I can't really tell from that Graph, but I'm assuming Beersmith will be able to tell me how much table sugar to use with the amount I have.
Based on that photo, would you lean more towards 4.75? or about 5.0?
Click to expand...

Try beersmith...I've been racking my brain to recall what the difference between corn and table is...I THINK you use less WHITE than corn....

That chart looks like it just says corn sugar on it...
 
Revvy said:
Try beersmith...I've been racking my brain to recall what the difference between corn and table is...I THINK you use less WHITE than corn....

That chart looks like it just says corn sugar on it...
Click to expand...

Yup, I think you're right on both counts. Beersmith is installed on one of my other PCs so I'll go check later.

Thanks again. :mug:
 
To use the nemograph:

Draw a line from your beer temp on the left column through the desired vols of CO2 and where it crosses the last column tells you how much corn sugar (on the left side of the column in ounces) or table sugar (on the right side of the column in ounces) to use.
 
i used 2tsp (half tsp/pint) ordinary table sugar for each 2L bottle of my dry irish stout. turned out perfik! was hoping to save the lot til xmas but 4L gone already (1x2L after 1 week bottled, another after 2 weeks)
 
brewt00l said:
To use the nemograph:

Draw a line from your beer temp on the left column through the desired vols of CO2 and where it crosses the last column tells you how much corn sugar (on the left side of the column in ounces) or table sugar (on the right side of the column in ounces) to use.
Click to expand...


My eyes are bad, I couldn't tell that the word on the right was cane sugar... looked the same as the word on the left. :D
 
I'm glad BeerSmith has a temperature converter...:)

So how do you know the ideal Temperature/CO2 levels? What I mean is, say I have a temp in my basement of 64.4F (18C) at time of bottling, how would I determine that is too high/low and then, how do I find out how much Co2 I want for that particular brew?

EDIT: Ok, nm, I think I have it... So right now, its 15c down there (59F) so, base on that graph, drawing a line from 59 goes to 2.2 volume of C02 so I would need to use 2.8 ounces of Cane sugar...
 
I use table sugar for priming exclusively now, and have been happy with it. I use about 5% less sucrose than dextrose by weight.

Beersmith doesn't know about table sugar for priming (at least mine doesn't). I select cornsugar then subtract 5% and put that in the beersmith notes.
 
Freelancer said:
i used 2tsp (half tsp/pint) ordinary table sugar for each 2L bottle of my dry irish stout. turned out perfik! was hoping to save the lot til xmas but 4L gone already (1x2L after 1 week bottled, another after 2 weeks)
Click to expand...

I'm confused by this. Do you take 2 tsp sugar, add a bit of water, boil, cool, and then add that for EACH bottle???? Surely you don't mean you add un sanitized poorly measured sugar to each bottle. That would be like playing russian roulette. That was the primary cause of bottle bombs before brewers learned better.
 
earthad1 said:
That's interesting. I am making a brown ale. So why the brown sugar? What are the benefits? does it improve the taste? How much would you need to put for say 5 Gallons? Well, I'm not even sure how much I have because I forgot to mark my carboy.

IMG_1273.jpg


I'm saying 4.75 - 5.0
Click to expand...

I'm still like a kid with brewing. When I see my carboy look like this it is like an hourglass counting down. I love that.
 
s3n8 said:
Uh... That looks like it needs another week or two prior to bottling. wait until the color above the highest rib moves all the way down :D
Click to expand...

No worries, that photo is rather old now... I racked it in secondary on Dec. 14 , so its been in there almost a month now.
 
brewt00l said:
Yup....and here's a nice graph to assist you in selecting the proper amount:

f65.gif

How to Brew - By John Palmer - Priming Solutions
Click to expand...


So am I reading this graph properly?

its currently 51.8F down there... so if I draw a straight line from say 52F I need 3.6 fluid Ounces of Priming sugar?

3.60 fluid Ounces = 0.45 Cups...so basically half a cup of sugar? That can't be right

This is what I pulled in Beersmith

Carbonation.jpg


But that is for corn sugar... So I take it you need more table sugar than corn sugar...
 
Anyone know this? I used the search tool to find the answer but came up empty handed. I don't want to bottle and risk over/under carbonating until someone with more experience than me can advise...

Thanks.:)
 
Ok here is some of how it is. The top chart is a ref chart but it does not allow for style so since you have beersmith, use it.

Priming sugar is measure by WEIGHT. Do not confuse this with fluid ounces or volumetric measures. If a recipe calls for 4 oz it is not calling for 1/2 cup. Also, the top chart does show that you would use LESS table sugar by a smooch than corn sugar, not more.

With Beersmith, make sure you type in the coreect CO2 volume you want for your style. For most styles I use between 2.6 and 3.0 volumes. (Your example has 2.2 volumes. This is on the lower of most styles I should think.) Also I use 70 degrees as my temp since this will be my conditioning temp for all of my beers.

And yes I realize I am in disagreement with the Palmer chart that says the lower the temp the lower the carb needed. I disagree. Unless that is referring to serving temp. In thatcase there might be a kernel of truth. Until you get experience with the resultant carb level just pick a mid ground carb level like 2.6 volumes and Beersmith will tell the weight of the sugar to use.

Since you don't have a scale, get one. JK a little. Use 3/4 cup of table sugar and get a scale.
 
dontman said:
Ok here is some of how it is. The top chart is a ref chart but it does not allow for style so since you have beersmith, use it.

Priming sugar is measure by WEIGHT. Do not confuse this with fluid ounces or volumetric measures. If a recipe calls for 4 oz it is not calling for 1/2 cup. Also, the top chart does show that you would use LESS table sugar by a smooch than corn sugar, not more.

With Beersmith, make sure you type in the coreect CO2 volume you want for your style. For most styles I use between 2.6 and 3.0 volumes. (Your example has 2.2 volumes. This is on the lower of most styles I should think.) Also I use 70 degrees as my temp since this will be my conditioning temp for all of my beers.

And yes I realize I am in disagreement with the Palmer chart that says the lower the temp the lower the carb needed. I disagree. Unless that is referring to serving temp. In thatcase there might be a kernel of truth. Until you get experience with the resultant carb level just pick a mid ground carb level like 2.6 volumes and Beersmith will tell the weight of the sugar to use.

Since you don't have a scale, get one. JK a little. Use 3/4 cup of table sugar and get a scale.
Click to expand...

Yea, I used about 3/4 cup of sugar.... Thanks for the info... :mug:
 

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