Cooling priming sugar?

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EricK The Red

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The instructions in my Brewer's Best kits don't mention anything about cooling the corn sugar/water mixture after the boil. When I bottled last week, the sugar mix may have been about 100 - 120Deg as I racked my beer into the bottling bucket.

Is it really important to cool the sugar mix down below 70F?
 
No, not really! I always cool it some, but even if a few of the yeasts are killed by the too-warm priming solution, by the time more of the beer racks into it, it's cooled down enough. Don't worry about it! You'll still have plenty of yeasts to carbonate.
 
I have always cool mine, however after reading about all the people that don't I think I will try that method on my next bottling day.
 
I cool enough to ensure that I don't damage the carboy, Better Bottle in my case. I wouldn't want to dump even a little boiling temp solution into a cold glass carboy either. Thermal shock could cause quite display.
 
I cool mine with a short water bath, but I don't bother measuring the temp. I do it more for peace of mind and not warping my bottling bucket more than out of necessity.
 
I'd suggest keeping it really hot. start racking the beer and once the bottom of the bucket is covered, gently pour the priming solution in. Why hot? you say. Well, mixing the priming solution thoroughly is quite important. That is why they tell you to put the solution in first and let the syphoning beer mix it in. The hotter solution has a lower viscosity and mixes much more readily than a syrupy cool mix.... In the end, I'm sure it makes little or no difference, but that's just the way I do it.
 
When I bottle, I start the day off by boiling my priming solution for 10 min. Then I cover the pot and move it to a cool burner, and just leave it covered while I sanitize my bottles, bottling bucket, etc. By the time I'm ready to bottle, it's cool enough.
 
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