Hi all! Just wondered what the general view on carbonation drops are, do they work as well as any other primer? I've got some ready for my next brew, but have never used them before. Drop some comments and let me know of your experiences guys!
Carbonation drops, good or bad?
- Thread starter Goddard69
- Start date
Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:
tschoolman
Member
I love 'em. If I'm not adding yeast for my longer lagers or spice for the holiday ales, I use them. Did my first 10 batches mixing priming sugar and siphoning to a bottling bucket. Was always worried about oxidation, and keeping the cooled priming solution sanitary. The carb drops are easy to use and quick. Munton's makes small carb drops that you can add different amounts to adjust the carbonation level. However, I've just stuck with Coopers carb drops. I'd recommend them.
Where did you get the 330 ml bottles?
rexbanner said:
A uk website>>> http://www.jbconline.co.uk/glass-bottles/beer-bottles
I'm from England so it's not bad for me, but I imagine the shipping cost will be pretty steep for the US!!
petey_c
Senior Member
rexbanner, 330 ml. bottles are a little under 12 oz. US (11.2 oz.)
The Cooper's drops work great, but I definitely would not bother with them if I was packaging more than about a dozen bottles. It's IMO easier and cheaper to bulk prime anything more than that.
Munton's tabs will put white floaty bits in your beer. Avoid!
Munton's tabs will put white floaty bits in your beer. Avoid!
tschoolman
Member
I don't know the exact number, but the packages I get easily have enough to fill a 20 liter batch in 12 oz (approx 350 mil) bottles.
As to the cost and ease - yes, bulk priming sugar may be cheaper, but I do feel this is much easier for my process to do the carb drops. Each brewer needs to evaluate what works best for their process.
I have heard about the 'floaties' as a result of the Munton's carb tabs. I've not used them; it was the potential for 'floaties' that caused me to go with the Coopers carb drops.
As to the cost and ease - yes, bulk priming sugar may be cheaper, but I do feel this is much easier for my process to do the carb drops. Each brewer needs to evaluate what works best for their process.
I have heard about the 'floaties' as a result of the Munton's carb tabs. I've not used them; it was the potential for 'floaties' that caused me to go with the Coopers carb drops.
We've used nothing but Coopers drops (our first batch was fermented in the bottling bucket) and no complaints. There's enough in a bag for a full batch and part of a second, no floaties whatsoever and carbing up nicely in 3-4 weeks. We're going to try bulk priming in the near future for comparison, maybe the holiday ale...
kyleobie
Well-Known Member
+1. Early on in brewing I forgot to prime and took an emergency trip to my LHBS to buy these. Beer turned out great. So they're fine, but also expensive. Corn sugar is cheap!
I tried the coopers this weekend since I had some troubles putting into ferm tank. Long story ended up with less than planned.
Checked bottles tonight and there are 'floaties'
Are these the tabs infecting the brew? This was a pumpkin ale that I brewed labor day. Would suck if it's ruined
Checked bottles tonight and there are 'floaties'
Are these the tabs infecting the brew? This was a pumpkin ale that I brewed labor day. Would suck if it's ruined
mikeysab
Well-Known Member
Carb drops wouldn't infect your beer, unless you're pulling them from your rectum, or played with your rectum before handling them. They also dont leave floaties (coopers), unless you pulled them from....well, you get it.
Coopers drops are great. True, bulk priming with corn sugar is less expensive and slightly less of a PITA. I bulk prime full batches, but if i'm doing a gallon or two experiment, i'll just use the drops. Keep in mind that one drop is for 12 oz, so if youre using bigger bottles, you may have to cut them, which usually isnt too bad, but your carb level won't be exact. When I use the tabs, I stick to 12 or 24 oz bottles
Coopers drops are great. True, bulk priming with corn sugar is less expensive and slightly less of a PITA. I bulk prime full batches, but if i'm doing a gallon or two experiment, i'll just use the drops. Keep in mind that one drop is for 12 oz, so if youre using bigger bottles, you may have to cut them, which usually isnt too bad, but your carb level won't be exact. When I use the tabs, I stick to 12 or 24 oz bottles
I was wrong on tabs, better beer brand.
Also pretty sure my hands weren't near my b-hole.
Also pretty sure my hands weren't near my b-hole.
Carb drops do work great, I've used them so far for all of my batches except for one that I bulk primed. Every batch comes out great. But there are some serious negatives of them:
1. They cost waaay too much. A bag full of sugar drops should NOT cost between $4.50 - $5.25. The markup on that is a slap in the face and significantly increases the price per batch of a brew.
2. They are a b*tch to use for bottles sized outside the intended range of 12oz and 22-24oz. I use 500ml (16.9oz) Franziskaner bottles so I've had to cut a bunch in half with a knife to get 1.5 drops per bottle.
3. You have to make sure to pay attention that you add them correctly to each bottle. If you put too many by accident you can get a bottle bomb. Accidentally skip a bottle when not paying attention and you can get a flat beer. Luckily neither of these two have happened to me. But with bulk priming you don't have to be concerned about that.
The one batch I bulk primed came out fine, but the carbonation bubbles felt a tad smaller and less zesty compared to the carb drops. My reason for using carb drops mainly though has been because I bottle straight from my Cooper's fermenters. Though the one time I bulk primed I did so right into the fermenter, stirred gently, and bottled and all was fine. I'm about to quit with the carb drops, just too pricey, but I'm looking to get a kegerator now and start kegging so I don't have to wait 3 weeks to start drinking my beer!
Rev.
1. They cost waaay too much. A bag full of sugar drops should NOT cost between $4.50 - $5.25. The markup on that is a slap in the face and significantly increases the price per batch of a brew.
2. They are a b*tch to use for bottles sized outside the intended range of 12oz and 22-24oz. I use 500ml (16.9oz) Franziskaner bottles so I've had to cut a bunch in half with a knife to get 1.5 drops per bottle.
3. You have to make sure to pay attention that you add them correctly to each bottle. If you put too many by accident you can get a bottle bomb. Accidentally skip a bottle when not paying attention and you can get a flat beer. Luckily neither of these two have happened to me. But with bulk priming you don't have to be concerned about that.
The one batch I bulk primed came out fine, but the carbonation bubbles felt a tad smaller and less zesty compared to the carb drops. My reason for using carb drops mainly though has been because I bottle straight from my Cooper's fermenters. Though the one time I bulk primed I did so right into the fermenter, stirred gently, and bottled and all was fine. I'm about to quit with the carb drops, just too pricey, but I'm looking to get a kegerator now and start kegging so I don't have to wait 3 weeks to start drinking my beer!
Rev.
petey_c
Senior Member
Rev, Why cut them? You can still dissolve them in 2 cups of water, then batch prime. 5 gals is about forty 16 oz.'ers. That's 60 tabs. The most you'd be off by is 1/2 a tab or so. But yeah, waaay too expensive. I only use them because they came with a Coopers kit.
scottland
Well-Known Member
Ditto. I've used them before, they work well. Stay away from the mutons.
aomagman78
Well-Known Member
I would guess that the 'floaties' are like corn starch or some other agent they use to hold things together to make the tabs. Probably cheaper than a process to compress the tabs or something. I doubt they're affecting your beer.
I hear ya, but at that point I would just bulk prime. I'm planning on going the keg route soon so after my current bags of carb drops are up I hope to have a kegerator and force carb. If I haven't gotten it yet I will switch to bulk priming.
Money isn't really an issue... but when I look at the price difference and how much is saved per 5 gallon batch getting away from carb drops I just can't resist stopping the use of them just on principle.
Rev.
Similar threads
