Coopers Carbonation Drops

[Mots]

so, received a german hefeweizen kit for xmas that came with coopers carb drops....previously i've only used sugar that was mixed & boiled before mixing with in the bucket prior to bottling....opinions on the drops?? makes bottling slightly easier i guess, so interested in the results

 

[david_42]

I keg, so when I do bottle a few, I use the drops. I've been happy with the results, but they seem like an expensive and time consuming way to do a whole batch.

 

[menschmaschine]

This may not help because I've never used Cooper's, but I have used Munton's carb tabs. They carbed just fine, but I wouldn't use them except out of necessity. On a 10 gallon batch, they were a pain to distribute into each bottle (with sanitized tweezers). Boiling up some dextrose is a lot easier. Also, they seemed to leave little white bits that didn't dissolve, floating in the beer. I would think Cooper's would be easier because it's just one per bottle (I think?) and maybe they wouldn't leave floaty bits in the beer.

 

[FlyGuy]

I have used them a number of times, and they work just fine. The biggest problem with them is that they are just one big drop, so you have no control over the level of carbonation. My experience has been that they over-carbonated my ales. But perhaps for a hefe, this amount would be fine.

You might also want to gently give those bottles a shake a few days after bottling to ensure that the sugar has dissolved evenly into the beer and is not just sitting at the bottom of the bottle.