Two "Newbie" Questions.

[craftbeercodes]

1... I've read some posts about people leaning away from using the traditional sugar before bottling in Mr. Beer Kits, what's a better alternative?

2... I live in So Cal where it's super hot and it's hassle enough to keep my fermenter cold in an ice bath every day. When I bottle, should I just store them in a fridge to finish that fermentation process? Help!

 

[madman960]

As a newbie myself, I say stick with table sugar for now. Changing to honey, molasses, or other sugar types impacts flavor and other areas. Until you understand all the aspects I would not change it. I bottled with regular sugar and bottles are already firm after 48 hours.

You will want a dedicated beer fridge as you will need to raise the temps. However, I believe you would need to use lager yeast to ferment at lower temps or the yeast will stall or die once they are too cold. An ice bath is probably your best bet.

Bill

 

[Dabbers]

Generally, the priming sugar provided in a kit is not table sugar (sucrose). It is usually corn sugar (fructose) and ferments differently than sucrose. If you experiment with different priming sugars, consult this tool for the proper amounts. Failure to do so could result in a nice little mess! http://www.northernbrewer.com/priming-sugar-calculator/

 

[Unibrow]

Generally, the priming sugar provided in a kit is not table sugar (sucrose). It is usually corn sugar (fructose) and ferments differently than sucrose. If you experiment with different priming sugars, consult this tool for the proper amounts. Failure to do so could result in a nice little mess! http://www.northernbrewer.com/priming-sugar-calculator/

Corn sugar is dextrose, not fructose

 

[chickypad]

Are you asking in your second question if you should bottle carb in the fridge? The answer to that is no, or you won't get any carbonation. 3 weeks at 70 degrees is the general rule of thumb, longer for lower temps, bigger beers, etc.

 

[Dabbers]

Corn sugar is dextrose, not fructose

Yep, sorry. And it's even written on the darn bags :-(

 

[craftbeercodes]

Are you asking in your second question if you should bottle carb in the fridge? The answer to that is no, or you won't get any carbonation. 3 weeks at 70 degrees is the general rule of thumb, longer for lower temps, bigger beers, etc.

Yeah, I'm leaving to Seattle three days after bottling and with the temps being so hot in So. Cal. I won't be able to keep it at a steady temp (I guess I should have planned this prior to going to Seattle) we don't really have a "cool" room in the house either

 

[inhousebrew]

If it's in the bottles a higher temp will accelerate the carbonation process and won't kill your beer so long as it's not kept that way for a very long time. They will only ferment out the sugar that is available and then stop. So if your fermentation is finished before bottling you're good

 

[Unibrow]

Yep, sorry. And it's even written on the darn bags :-(

No big thang! I only learned the real differences from making invert sugar for my Belgian ales