Bottling this weekend and am unsure of volume of beer

[gratefulfloyd]

There was a loss of volume during my brewing process and I am not quite sure how many gallons I'm going to have for bottling. I'm guessing that the amount of liquid is between 3.5 and 4.5 gallons. So my question is how should I go about adding priming sugar to my bottling bucket without having a definite answer? I have two solutions I've come up with:

1. Dump water in my bottling bucket 1 at a time and draw lines, sanitize, add beer, add priming sugar on top and slowly mix, bottle

2. Add 1/2 cup of boiled priming sugar, add beer with auto siphon to ensure even mixing of the sugars, bottle.

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

 

[TheHopfather]

You can add water to the bottling bucket (I like 1/2 gal increments) and then measure/mark a spoon with the volume measurements. Rack the beer into the bucket, measure the volume and then prepare the proper amount of priming sugar. Add the sugar and mix well, bottle.

The only problem with this would be the consensus seems to be that the beer mixes with the sugar better if the beer is racked on top of the sugar solution. As long as you gently mixed the beer and sugar solution you should be okay.

 

[mrgrimm101]

The only problem with this would be the consensus seems to be that the beer mixes with the sugar better if the beer is racked on top of the sugar solution. As long as you gently mixed the beer and sugar solution you should be okay.

Yea it's way easier go be sure that the beer and priming solution mix evenly when the priming solution is added first and the beer is racked on top of it.

However, if you can't do it this way, then do your best to mix it well and avoid introducing too much oxygen..avoid bubbles and foam at this point!

 

[gratefulfloyd]

Yea it's way easier go be sure that the beer and priming solution mix evenly when the priming solution is added first and the beer is racked on top of it.

However, if you can't do it this way, then do your best to mix it well and avoid introducing too much oxygen..avoid bubbles and foam at this point!

It is probably more important that I use the right amount of priming sugar rather than just make a guess right?

 

[FloppyKnockers]

You could weigh it. Knowing that a gallon of beer weighs (8.33lbs. x OG)

Let y equal gallons of beer
We'll assume your OG was 1.050

y(8.33 * 1.050) first multiply the weight of water by your OG to find the weight of your beer per gallon.
8.7465y

Now you weigh your beer and let's just say the scale says 48.1 lbs.

8.7465y = 48.1
8.7465 8.7465 divide both sides by 8.7465 to isolate y

8.7465 divided by itself is 1, but since we already have y, we can drop the one.

y = 5.5 gallons





If this doesn't make sense just post your OG and weight of beer (minus carboy/bucket, of course) and I'll plug it in for you.

 

[ncbrewer]

Can you check the liquid level and figure the volume? If you can't tell the level because it's in a bucket, you can darken the room and shine a flashlight down on the lid - you can see the level. You should be able to make a reasonable guess at the amount of trub that will be left behind.

 

[gratefulfloyd]

I can check the liquid level since it is in a 6.5 gallon carboy, but I really don't think I can make an accurate judgement as to what the exact number is. I jsut don't want to add to much sugar to it, I should've marked my carboy before brewing.

 

[TheHappyHopper]

The weight idea from above is a good one.

You could also buy one of these and convert it to a bottling bucket:
5 Gallon Plastic Bucket with Measurements

They don't show it in the photo, but there are liter markings on the side of the bucket that let you easily see your volume. The only downside is that you would have to transfer the beer to the bottling bucket, take your reading, and then add your sugar.

 

[GrogNerd]

get one of those aluminum yardsticks, measure how deep your actual beer is, measure the diameter of your ferment vessel, do the math and curse yourself for saying you would never use geometry outside of high school.

or

go with the average of your guess of the volume of beer you have(3.5 to 4.5 gallons), shoot for the middle of the range of volume of CO2 for the style of beer you're brewing, calculate the amount of priming sugar you need (suggest you go by weight, not by volume) and don't worry about bottle bombs.

I carbed my Grodziskie to 3.5 volumes in a regular 12-oz bottle and haven't had a problem with bottle bombs at all.

 

[C-Rider]

There was a loss of volume during my brewing process and I am not quite sure how many gallons I'm going to have for bottling. I'm guessing that the amount of liquid is between 3.5 and 4.5 gallons. So my question is how should I go about adding priming sugar to my bottling bucket without having a definite answer? I have two solutions I've come up with:

1. Dump water in my bottling bucket 1 at a time and draw lines, sanitize, add beer, add priming sugar on top and slowly mix, bottle


Thank you!

All my fermenting and bottling 2 gallon buckets have been marked from 1/2 gal to 2 gal in 1/4 gal marks.

 

[LandoLincoln]

Personally, I'd go with calibrating the bottling bucket, then finding out the volume, then making up the sugar solution then adding that gently to the top and gently stirring. The only real concern with this method is introducing oxygen into the beer and oxidation is only going to show up once the beer is aged a while. If you're planning on drinking this batch of beer relatively fast then it won't be a problem.

Even when you are able to rack the beer onto the priming solution you should still gently stir the beer up before bottling to ensure proper distribution of the priming sugar. I've had a batch of beer that didn't get distributed evenly. Some beers were totally flat and some beers were way too carbonated. I switched over to kegging shortly after that fiasco.