Volumes of C02 by style - again!

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TheWeeb

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Experienced ones,

I am again fascinated by the huge difference in quantity of priming sugar recommendations based on style of beer. We NOOBs are taught to use 4 oz of priming sugar per 5 gallon batch; yet sites like this show a vast range depending on style:

http://www.tastybrew.com/calculators/priming.html

I am going to bottle both my Hefe and my English Old Ale next week; the hefe recommendation is 8.4 oz, the Old Ale, 2.7 oz. What a difference!

Yes, I am a bit afraid of using so much priming sugar with the Hefe (bottle bombs); and yes, wonder if using so little with the Old Ale will result in a flat beer.

Thoughts?
 
Have you had an old ale before? They're pretty flat by contemporary american standards.

I've read that the standard brown beer bottles aren't safe to use for volumes over 3, which is why a lot of breweries use the champagne style bottles with a cage and cork.
 
Yes, I am a bit afraid of using so much priming sugar with the Hefe (bottle bombs); and yes, wonder if using so little with the Old Ale will result in a flat beer.

Thoughts?

I've had a few highly carbonated beers, and the only bottle bombs I've had were from a 6 pack that got left and forgotten in a room that hit 85-90F for a week or two. Even then, only 2 broke, so it could have been old bottles rather than the pressure. Stored at 50-60F, they ought to be OK up to 3.5 volumes, at least.

As for the old ale, you want it a bit flat. Too much carbonation will mute the yeast flavors. Old ales are served like most good English beers: warm and flat. That's how they taste best.
 
Old ales are served like most good English beers: warm and flat. That's how they taste best.

"Warm" is a relative term. Ideally, you should serve them at "cellar temps" - 50-55F ... hardly something I would call warm
 
Thanks for all the great information. I will hold true to style, bottled the Old Ale yesterday using only what was recommended. The Hefe is still chugging away and will shoot for 3 volumes. Half of that batch is going into PET bottles that can get bounced around (hiking in the front range) and handle the carbonation.
 
From my personal experience - I have pretty strong (6.2%) dark ale coming along nicely in the bottles and I have made one mistake - overcarbed it - while its fizzy and cold, it tastes close to nothing - just slight hoppy aroma, after I let some CO2 escape and warm beer up to some 16-18C, it becomes fantastic - so many aromas and tastes get out of it. So, if if its something like strongish darkish brew, it will taste better with less carbonation and relatively warm.

Can someone please answer if that calculator's volume are in U.K or US gallons?
really puzzling.
 
From my personal experience - I have pretty strong (6.2%) dark ale coming along nicely in the bottles and I have made one mistake - overcarbed it - while its fizzy and cold, it tastes close to nothing - just slight hoppy aroma, after I let some CO2 escape and warm beer up to some 16-18C, it becomes fantastic - so many aromas and tastes get out of it. So, if if its something like strongish darkish brew, it will taste better with less carbonation and relatively warm.

Can someone please answer if that calculator's volume are in U.K or US gallons?
really puzzling.

It is a strong (8.2%) black bourbon old ale; thanks for sharing your experience!

Good question on the calculator. ..
 
I wrote a quick note to the site wrt US or UK gallons, answer: "calculations are in US gallons."
 
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