Bottling First 2 batches - a couple of questions.

[bce22]

Good Day HBTers:

On Saturday, I will be bottling my first 2 batches of beer. They are a Wee Heavy Scotch Ale and an Irish Red Ale. My first question is in regards to the amount of priming sugar (corn sugar).

I used the tastybrew.com priming sugar calculator and I am thinking of using 2.0 volumes of CO2 for the scotch ale and 2.5 volumes of CO2 for the red ale. By my calculations this comes out to 3.1oz and 4.4 oz of priming sugar respectively.

Both of these amounts are less than the standard 5 oz. which is provided with all recipe purchases by my LHBS. Should I go with the my above calculations or use the full 5 oz provided by the store?

Also, I will be bottling relatively early on Saturday morning. Is there any reason why I shouldn't create my sugar water mix on Friday night and allow to cool to room temp overnight instead of creating my sugar water mix on Saturday morning? I'm thinking that putting the mixtures into sanitized jars and allowing to cool would be better than pitching the mixtures at a high temperature in the morning and then siphoning the beer into the bottling bucket.

Any info is greatly appreciated.

 

[Clonefarmer]

Good Day HBTers:

On Saturday, I will be bottling my first 2 batches of beer. They are a Wee Heavy Scotch Ale and an Irish Red Ale. My first question is in regards to the amount of priming sugar (corn sugar).

I used the tastybrew.com priming sugar calculator and I am thinking of using 2.0 volumes of CO2 for the scotch ale and 2.5 volumes of CO2 for the red ale. By my calculations this comes out to 3.1oz and 4.4 oz of priming sugar respectively.

Both of these amounts are less than what was provided to me by my LHBS. Both of these calculations are less than the standard 5 oz. of priming sugar provided by my LHBS. Should I go with the above weights or with the full 5 oz.?

Also, I will be bottling relatively early on Saturday morning. Is there any reason why I shouldn't create my sugar water mix on Friday night and allow to cool to room temp overnight instead of creating my sugar water mix on saturday morning? I'm thinking that putting the mixtures into sanitized jars and allowing to cool would be better than pitching the mixtures at a high temperature in the morning and then siphoning the beer into the bottling bucket.

Any info is greatly appreciated.

I go for 2.5 volumes of CO2 and adjust sugar accordingly. I personally never liked bottle beer carbed any lower.

The sugar solution cools down very fast in an ice bath so you can do it right before bottling.

 

[bce22]

The sugar solution cools down very fast in an ice bath so you can do it right before bottling.

Thanks Clonefarmer for the quick response. I have an immersion wort chiller that I use, so no ice baths for me. If I use cold water from the tap for a "bath" should it cool down quickly enough for use?

I also respect your opinion about carbonation levels, however especially with a scotch ale which is supposed to be relatively low in carbonation, you would use the full amount of corn sugar?

 

[Clonefarmer]

Thanks Clonefarmer for the quick response. I have an immersion wort chiller that I use, so no ice baths for me. If I use cold water from the tap for a "bath" should it cool down quickly enough for use?

I also respect your opinion about carbonation levels, however especially with a scotch ale which is supposed to be relatively low in carbonation, you would use the full amount of corn sugar?

A mixing bowl with cold water and ice is what I use. If you have no ice you can use cold water. Put the pot in a container and run cold water through it to cool.

I tried to under carb to style, but never liked the results. However over carbing to style works well. Try carbing to style to see if you like it. Your tastes may be different.

 

[mc_eric]

I always just add the priming solution to the bottling bucket while it's still hot, works just fine. If you think about it, the temp will even out w/ the beer within a few seconds anyway.

 

[DrinkNoH2O]

I usually boil the 5oz. priming sugar with about 1 1/2 cups of water in a small sauce pan, then just set the sauce pan in my freezer for a few minutes to rapidly chill it. We're talking about a very small volume of liquid so you should have a small pan - shouldn't take much room in your freezer. Ice bath seems like more trouble than needed.

 

[kanzimonson]

1) I like to carbonate according to style. Try it and see if you like it.

2) I bring the sugar to boil in 8-12oz of water, let sit for a few minutes, and then pour the hot liquid into the batch. I'm not worried about the small amount of hot liquid going into the huge batch.

3) Even though you brewed a 5 gallon batch, you almost certainly won't have 5 gallons in the bottling bucket. This will alter the amount of priming sugar needed. So what I do is rack to a bottling bucket, take note of the volume, use a priming calculator to figure out how much I need, and the proportionally adjust for my volume of beer being bottled.

I had a few early batches where I ended up with overly carbonated beer (but not bottle bombs) because I calculated priming sugar from the amount in the carboy, not the amount I got out. Too much carbonation really dries a beer out.