Figuring Priming Sugar

[rodwha]

Usually my 5-6 gal batches are close enough to just right after conditioning, but my test batch of pale ale (2 gal) seems much more carbonated than the 2.4 vol I aimed for.

My conditioning temp stays fairly stable (~74*).

When you figure your priming sugar needs to you figure the volume of beer at pre or post transfer?

 

[flars]

When doing small batches it may be better to calculate priming sugar by volume post transfer. A quart error in volume on 5 gallons does not have as much effect as a quart error in a 2 gallon batch with amount of priming sugar to use.

 

[rodwha]

So should priming sugar always be figured by post transfer volume? I've always used pre transfer.

But that's what I'm thinking too. It's what makes the most sense. But then this pale tastes like bubblegum and I wonder if it has other problems as I used Nottingham and fermented in the low 60's.

 

[balrog]

I would *THINK* that the post transfer beer volume, being the volume that is being conditioned by the priming sugar, should be the volume used.

Related question is what temp to use if I fermented at 60° but transfer to bottling bucket at 75° in 75° room where it sits while I prepare bottles (prepare them first and StarSan might dry out?).

 

[rodwha]

I asked that question too, and was told it was fermentation temp. Later I was told that it's conditioning temp. i've also heard it's the last temp it was at before priming, which seems to be the consensus.

 

[ktrain]

I do a lot of small batch test batches between 1 and 2 gallons and i always calculate the priming sugar post transfer, since the small amount of hop matter and trub on the bottom can impact the total volume enough to throw you off. Also, with smaller amounts a more accurate scale to weigh the priming sugar becomes more important as well.

Cheers!

 

[balrog]

I asked that question too, and was told it was fermentation temp. Later I was told that it's conditioning temp. i've also heard it's the last temp it was at before priming, which seems to be the consensus.

Well, ok. I've long forgotten any chemistry I learned in college, but the whole idea is to figure the CO2 dissolved and to not add too much more through the use of fermenting the priming sugar. So I suppose you could figure the amount of CO2 dissolved in the beer's last, long term situation (fermV, secondary) and then calculate what will happen when it is brought from that temp to higher bottling room temp and sitting there for about an hour, how much might come out, but that's just too much to even think about.

 

[rodwha]

I certainly weigh my priming sugar, but it only registers tenths of an ounce, though I suppose grams would be a little more accurate...

 

[balrog]

I certainly weigh my priming sugar, but it only registers tenths of an ounce, though I suppose grams would be a little more accurate...

I moved to a gram scale pretty early on as I was trying to make English session ales which are way carbed less than typ American lagers. So many things to get for this new hobby!

 

[rodwha]

I just have kept it all standard for my recipes. No good reason not to use grams for such small amounts that have such a big impact.

 

[rodwha]

I used to use a qt to 3 pints for priming my 6 gal batches to help make up for trub loss, but I have since quit doing such as I don't want to water my beer down.

 

[flars]

Weighing priming sugar to a tenth of an ounce is close enough. Play with a calculator just to see how much difference one tenth volume of CO2 equates to in the weight of priming sugar to use.

I typically use 70°F as the temperature for calculating priming sugar. I never bottle before my hydrometer samples are free of CO2. This usually means three to four weeks in the primary. Without CO2 in solution in the primary solids are no longer suspended, the beer is clear.

I also use the same priming solution calculator for consistency. Not all calculators are the same. If a beer is over or under carbed I adjust from my notes without changing any of the other variables.

 

[rodwha]

I certainly agree with a larger volume beer, but maybe with the smaller volumes the differences become a bit more than subtle.

Are you saying there shouldn't be any CO2 in solution after 3-4 weeks?

I use Northern Brewer's calculator as it shows all sorts of sugars.

 

[flars]

I certainly agree with a larger volume beer, but maybe with the smaller volumes the differences become a bit more than subtle.

Are you saying there shouldn't be any CO2 in solution after 3-4 weeks?

I use Northern Brewer's calculator as it shows all sorts of sugars.

For what I am brewing there are no CO2 bubbles in my hydrometer sample before racking to the bottling bucket.

I also use NBs calculator. I prime with corn sugar.

 

[rodwha]

I bought corn sugar to try against table sugar, but as we were moving I preferred not to open it until I moved.

I don't use my hydrometer tube unless I have a low volume beer. otherwise I drop it in the fermentor.