Anyone ever individual bottle prime?

[Grizz]

Today I bottled up my blind pig beer and I wasn't exactly sure how much beer I had in the fermenter. So I bottle primed each 12 oz bottle with 1/2 tsp of corn sugar. Now do I need to swirl each bottle to mix the sugar up or will the yeast eat it just fine while it is piled up on the bottom of the bottle?

 

[brew_darrymore]

Yeast will find it and eat it. No need to swirl.

 

[Pkrd]

It'll dissolve on its own.
RDWHAHB

 

[deadwolfbones]

I did this with my last APA, worked great

 

[Lefou]

Domino sugar cubes go in my bottles. One per 12oz and two per 22oz bottle.
Yep, I prime each bottle individually and find the cube dissolves quickly in the presence of room temperature beer. Yeast will settle into the bottom as the sugar dissolves.
If the wort is clear enough you might see a light distortion as the sugar mixes in. I've never really bothered with swirling and the yeast carbs the bottle just fine.

 

[adixon3]

It really depends on the style but, I've always used 1/4 tsp of corn sugar per 12oz bottle, 1/2 tsp per 22oz

 

[toxdoc49]

That's interesting, using Domino sugar cubes. I used those fizz drops on one recipe from NB and those did not seem to work for me. Flat beer.

 

[madscientist451]

I've gone to the sugar cube method, I figure it maybe reduces oxidation since I don't transfer the beer to a bottling bucket with the priming solution in it, also I don't have to measure, sanitize, mix and allow the priming solution to cool so its less time and effort.

 

[Boomer]

How long is it taking to carb up 22oz bottles using sugar cubes?

 

[AZBeer]

Yep, I use sugar cubes as well. In arizona we get C&H, which are a little bigger than the Domino cubes. I use the C&H if I want something more carbed, and the Domino for a little less/ normal carbed. Super scientific...I know.

@toxdoc49 I used those fizz drops from NB on my first 2 batches. They didn't seem to carb up the beer very well. Could've been that I didn't know what I was doing, but as soon as I switched to sugar cubes, I immediately had better results.

 

[toxdoc49]

Yep, I use sugar cubes as well. In arizonawe get C&H, which are a little bigger than the Domino cubes. I use the C&H if I want something more carbed, and the Domino for a little less/ normal carbed. Super scientific...I know.

@toxdoc49 I used those fizz drops from NB on my first 2 batches. They didn't seem to carb up the beer very well. Could've been that I didn't know what I was doing, but as soon as I switched to sugar cubes, I immediately had better results.

Thank you AZbeer; seems to be the case for me and those fizz drops. I felt as though I was careful enough in the brewing directions. Oh well, we have all had bad batches.

Regarding the priming sugar, it does seem cubes are more convenient. I was thinking that the reason they ask you to boil the priming solution is to sterilize it; i may be naive, I was wondering if using cubes out of the box created any contamination problems.

 

[AZBeer]

General consensus is there isn't much risk with the cubes. Surface isn't really all that conducive to growing nasties, and there is alcohol present. Make sure your hands are clean and you should be good to go.

 

[z-bob]

I use 2 of the big C&H sugar cubes per 1 liter bottle, or 1 of the little Domino Dots cubes per 11 or 12 ounce bottle. For in-between sizes, I use a measuring spoon and a little stainless steel funnel to add sugar to each bottle (I don't remember offhand how much because I mostly use 12 oz and 1 L's)

I buy the Domino cubes when I go down to Houston because they don't sell 'em up here.

There's no need to swirl the bottles, but I often do it anyway

 

[NGD]

That's interesting, using Domino sugar cubes. I used those fizz drops on one recipe from NB and those did not seem to work for me. Flat beer.

Just tried the carbonation drops from the LHBS on my last batch and a half. I have to say I’m pretty unimpressed. For what they consider moderate carbonation, I prefer probably another drop or two. Never had any issue with corn sugar and a gentle swirl.

Those sugar cubes sound like a great idea!

 

[jbraaten]

It should be fine with what you added without swirling.

 

[Lefou]

Table sugar is a disaccharide - glucose and fructose.
As soon as the sugar dissolves it's immediately digestible by yeast.

Dextrose is glucose from corn.
It should be eaten right away, too, so I have no idea why a priming of that wouldn't properly carb a bottle unless the yeast was weak or all the bottles had bad cap seals.

 

[Lefou]

How long is it taking to carb up 22oz bottles using sugar cubes?

No more than 2-4 weeks depending on the temperature your bottles are sitting at. Like I said, table sugar is a disaccharide, so it takes the yeast an extra step to break down and digest, but you'd never notice that.
Shorter carbing time is why people go to kegging with CO2. You get to drink your beer faster which is always a bonus.

Me, I'm still bottle carbing.
So far, I have everything I need to keg except the CO2 canister and a reliable source of food grade gas.

 

[SleepyCreekBrews]

I routinely use the little carbonation tabs for carbonating the extra beer after fillin kegs, it takes 7tabs per 22oz bomber, and it works well, takes about 2weeks at room temp

 

[toxdoc49]

So here is a question: I was thinking of re-carbonating. Take the beer out of the bottles, make a priming sugar solution and start over. Since no carbonation occurred using those fizz drops. Is that a waste of time? or is it possible?

 

[ncbrewer]

So here is a question: I was thinking of re-carbonating. Take the beer out of the bottles, make a priming sugar solution and start over. Since no carbonation occurred using those fizz drops. Is that a waste of time? or is it possible?

If you're thinking of bulk priming in a bottling bucket, pouring the beer from the bottles into the bucket would oxidize the beer. Another concern - the first carbonation step might have left some additional CO2 in the beer that hasn't degassed - you might over carbonate. I don't know how fast the CO2 reaches equilibrium - just a thought. Maybe somebody knows if this would be a problem. You don't want bottle bombs.

 

[TwistedGray]

I have tried re-carbonating and have yet to figure out how. I am not sure you can take a bottle, open it, let all the Co2 out, let the beer flatten, and re-carbonate. I've tried, and tried, and tried, and I threw in the towel. Let me know if you figure it out though or have better luck.

NOTE: What I did not try is adding both yeast and sugar which might solve the problem. Sugar alone didn't work for me.

 

[toxdoc49]

Thank you. This beer is quite flat. Those fizz drops didn't do anything. Outside of something else having gone wrong (quite possible), I might take some of the bottles and try re-carbonation with priming sugar solution. I may keep some still in the bottle longer and see if anything happens (it is a porter).

 

[z-bob]

I have tried re-carbonating and have yet to figure out how. I am not sure you can take a bottle, open it, let all the Co2 out, let the beer flatten, and re-carbonate. I've tried, and tried, and tried, and I threw in the towel. Let me know if you figure it out though or have better luck.

NOTE: What I did not try is adding both yeast and sugar which might solve the problem. Sugar alone didn't work for me.

If it didn't carbonate the first time, the sugar you added might still be there. Add yeast and more sugar and you might have bottle bombs. Or not. (be careful)

Buy a commercial beer with similar character as your homebrew was supposed to be (or a highly-carbonated macro-brew with no character) and mix them 1:1 with your flat homebrew. And as a plus, you get to drink a double each time I use brands like Milwaukee's Best Ice or Natural Ice to mix with flat beers; they will mix with anything and not water it down too much. This also works to thin-down really heavy "imperial" beers when I got carried away brewing them and they are too thick or sweet or boozy to enjoy. I tend to have more of those than I do flat beers.

 

[TwistedGray]

If it didn't carbonate the first time, the sugar you added might still be there. Add yeast and more sugar and you might have bottle bombs. Or not. (be careful)

Buy a commercial beer with similar character as your homebrew was supposed to be (or a highly-carbonated macro-brew with no character) and mix them 1:1 with your flat homebrew. And as a plus, you get to drink a double each time I use brands like Milwaukee's Best Ice or Natural Ice to mix with flat beers; they will mix with anything and not water it down too much. This also works to thin-down really heavy "imperial" beers when I got carried away brewing them and they are too thick or sweet or boozy to enjoy. I tend to have more of those than I do flat beers.

I have never had issues carb'ing my own beer, but I was trying to do something creative and re-carbing a commercial brew. I think the issue there was no yeast to eat the sugars in the commercial brew...should've recognized that in hindsight.

 

[TasunkaWitko]

I'm a big fan of these:

http://a.co/bljDwHy

They work consistently - can't ask for much more than that!

 

[TwistedGray]

By the way, if you just use the 1/2tsp of regular ole white sugar your costs should be $0.006 per carbonated bottle. You are looking at $0.09-0.15 with those tablets @TasunkaWitko. I am a penny pincher, what can I say

 

[Lefou]

Thrifty is knowing how to manage your money properly.
Cheap is taking your date to lunch at Costco.
Miserliness is pinching pennies hard enough to makes Abe Lincoln wail so loudly even Ebenezer Scrooge would beg you to stop.

... now why is it I waste my time and money with beer?

Hmmm, never mind. Let's have another one.

 

[TwistedGray]

Thrifty is knowing how to manage your money properly.
Cheap is taking your date to lunch at Costco.
Miserliness is pinching pennies hard enough to makes Abe Lincoln wail so loudly even Ebenezer Scrooge would beg you to stop.

... now why is it I waste my time and money with beer?

Hmmm, never mind. Let's have another one.

My wife loves dogs from Costco though, and I love it when she says let's go do lunch. That's usually my first go to

 

[toxdoc49]

This was supposed to be a bourbon barrel porter (NB 2 gallon recipe). I didn't have their brew demon fermentor (which to me in some way seems to be related to this recipe, using this particular fermentor), but I didn't have that, so I used two two-gallon buckets with lid and airlock. I did see trub in both fermentors and assumed (perhaps incorrectly) that fermentation had occurred, although one was more vigorous than the other. Anyway, mixed those two together when bottling.
I suppose if the characteristics don't change too much I could mix in a highly carbonated commercial beer with no characteristics as suggested. If so, can I re-bottle?

 

[z-bob]

This was supposed to be a bourbon barrel porter (NB 2 gallon recipe). I didn't have their brew demon fermentor (which to me in some way seems to be related to this recipe, using this particular fermentor), but I didn't have that, so I used two two-gallon buckets with lid and airlock. I did see trub in both fermentors and assumed (perhaps incorrectly) that fermentation had occurred, although one was more vigorous than the other. Anyway, mixed those two together when bottling.
I suppose if the characteristics don't change too much I could mix in a highly carbonated commercial beer with no characteristics as suggested. If so, can I re-bottle?

No, you mix them at serving time. If you try to rebottle it you will lose most of the carbonation.

 

[toxdoc49]

Maybe this is a stupid question, but as a source of just CO2, would using seltzer water be a viable option? Especially if it is a heavier beer like porter. Or will that just ruin the taste? I guess I have to experiment with that or using the mass produced no-taste lite beers to get some carbonation as well

 

[Lefou]

Maybe this is a stupid question, but as a source of just CO2, would using seltzer water be a viable option? Especially if it is a heavier beer like porter. Or will that just ruin the taste? I guess I have to experiment with that or using the mass produced no-taste lite beers to get some carbonation as well

There are other options but they're more expensive.

I've looked at carbonation alternatives using growlers, both glass and steel. Northern Brewer is one source of heavy glass flip-tops and there's another company called GrowlerWerks that sells something called a uKeg.

 

[z-bob]

Maybe this is a stupid question, but as a source of just CO2, would using seltzer water be a viable option? Especially if it is a heavier beer like porter. Or will that just ruin the taste? I guess I have to experiment with that or using the mass produced no-taste lite beers to get some carbonation as well

Seltzer will ruin the taste, unless the beer is way to heavy and boozy to begin with and that's what you're trying to fix. Don't even think about using club soda Macro "ice" beers work well for this, but they will lighten the beer somewhat. Malt liquor probably works too but I haven't tried that.

 

[Boomer]

Tried the sugar cube method on some beer I decided to bottle last night and I can tell you that whoever suggested that and whoever else uses it has much stronger thumbs than I do. It took an act of god to get the cubes through the opening in the bottle and today my right thumb is swollen and purple from doing it 60 times. Pretty sure that's both the first and last time I'll be using that method.

 

[z-bob]

Tried the sugar cube method on some beer I decided to bottle last night and I can tell you that whoever suggested that and whoever else uses it has much stronger thumbs than I do. It took an act of god to get the cubes through the opening in the bottle and today my right thumb is swollen and purple from doing it 60 times. Pretty sure that's both the first and last time I'll be using that method.

You used the wrong size sugar cubes. Should be 190-something cubes per pound ("Domino Dots") not the 120-something cubes. The right ones just fit, although they are not perfect cubes so you might have to turn them.

 

[Boomer]

Sounds like I might have some bottle bombs on my hands, then.

 

[z-bob]

Perhaps. Give them a few days, then move to a fridge. The cold will reduce the pressure. They will still eventually be overcarbed but shouldn't explode.

 

[Boomer]

Perhaps. Give them a few days, then move to a fridge. The cold will reduce the pressure. They will still eventually be overcarbed but shouldn't explode.

Yeah, I'm familiar with the process. I'm going to treat them like kimchi. I'll only bring a handful in at a time and leave the rest in the beer fridge so they aren't carbing up, yet. Once I figure out how many days it's taking to get them where I want them, I'll bring them all in, wait, and then put them in the fridge after the time has passed.

 

[TwistedGray]

@Boomer use measured scoops of table sugar, 1/2tsp

 

[bruce_the_loon]

Us South Africans, and it looks like the Aussies too, have measuring scoops on the market that give fixed measures of sugar and that fits neatly into the mouth of the bottle too. https://www.beerlab.co.za/products/sugar-scoop

It is a fixed carbonation amount though, same as with the sugar cubes or fizz drops. Used it for a few batches before heading to priming in the bottling bucket for exact effect.