forgot to boil sugar!!!

[corpsman619]

So I just bottled a pale ale and while sitting and reading "How to Brew" I realized that I forgot to boil my priming sugar!!!! I just dumped the dextrose in the bottling bucket and stirred about 15 times and bottled. So now I'm worried about bottle bombs/inconsistent carbonation and infections. What do you guys think?

Thanks!

 

[Komocabo]

Boiling the sugar is done to avoid infection. Basically it will sanitize the priming sugar - so you could have an infection. It also may be just fine. Wait a week and try one.

I would not store the priming sugar into your wort in the bucket for that long as it Will introduce oxygen and you DO NOT want oxidation.

Next time, boil and cool the priming sugar (cool to about 70°) then add it about half way through racking to the bottling bucket. That should be fine. If you must, a few SLOW stirs are ok, but in my experience, not really necessary. I mean.like 10 Times around max... again, you don't want to introduce O2.

Sorry for the downer. However, consider it a lesson. Who knows, it might be just fine. RDWHAHB, right?

Cheers!

 

[highgravitybacon]

So I just bottled a pale ale and while sitting and reading "How to Brew" I realized that I forgot to boil my priming sugar!!!! I just dumped the dextrose in the bottling bucket and stirred about 15 times and bottled. So now I'm worried about bottle bombs/inconsistent carbonation and infections. What do you guys think?

Thanks!

Yep, you pretty much nailed it. But will worrying about it help?

 

[corpsman619]

Sui you think there is a pretty good chance of all three?
That's really disappointing...

 

[Math0]

I did a couple brews without boiling the priming sugar. If you can keep the humidity out of the bag you will be fine

 

[passedpawn]

Sui you think there is a pretty good chance of all three?
That's really disappointing...

Don't worry about it.

Dry sugar like dextrose is extremely hydroscopic, meaning it will suck in moisture from everywhere and will not give any up. Bacteria and any other microbial creature find pure dry sugar a terrible place to live. It is essentially a desiccant, pulling moisture from anything that touches it.

That doesn't mean it was sterile, but it's less danger than the open air above your kettle while chilling. Don't worry.

BTW, I live in FL and we keep a bowl of uncovered sugar in the middle of our kitchen island. I have never seen a fly or bug of any kind near it.

 

[ny101]

You'll be ok 9 times out of 10. Don't worry!

 

[BigFloyd]

Don't worry about it.

Dry sugar like dextrose is extremely hydroscopic, meaning it will suck in moisture from everywhere and will not give any up. Bacteria and any other microbial creature find pure dry sugar a terrible place to live. It is essentially a desiccant, pulling moisture from anything that touches it.

That doesn't mean it was sterile, but it's less danger than the open air above your kettle while chilling. Don't worry.

This^^^^^. If the sugar was dissolved in water that hadn't been boiled, any risk of bacterial infection is from the water, not the sugar.

 

[unionrdr]

I boil 2C of water for a couple minutes in a small ss saucepan. Then add the weighed amount of sugar & stir till the water goes clear again. cover & cool a bit before using. since the sugar is dry,it's quite an inhospitable place for nasties to survive. And since pasteurization happens in seconds @ 160F,the boiled water will be more than hot enough to achieve this without extra boiling.

 

[m3n00b]

My first few batches were bottle primed without boiling the sugar and they were all fine.

 

[NTXBrauer]

I do agree that boiling the priming sugar gives you that piece of mind knowing that the solution is most likely sanitized. In addition, the sugar is pre-dissolved which should help it distribute more evenly throughout the beer. I have also not boiled, with no ill effect.

 

[corpsman619]

That's really good to hear! Unfortunately I also got a lot of oxygen in my wort. It was my first batch and racking from a bucket with a bunch of hop cones and wayyyyy more trub than there should have been led to my siphon getting clogged and constant repositioning. I hit mostly pockets of CO2 but I did pump some 02 after cleaning out my siphon and repumping. I will be racking from kettle to primary next time to cut some of the sediment. I ended up losing about a gallon due to too much leaves and trub.... about 10 bombers less than I was shooting for =/

Maybe try a whirlpool

 

[unionrdr]

That's why I use a large fine mesh strainer when pouring the chilled wort into the fermenter. It also aerates it a little.

 

[corpsman619]

Do you just pour it by tipping the pot or do you rack it?

 

[unionrdr]

I prop the strainer on top of the open fermenter & slowly pour it through. when I get the gunk in the bottom in there,I use a long plastic spoon sprayed with starsan to fold the gunk over like a batter to get the remaining wort out of it. I get a lot less trub that way.

 

[biggmatt]

If your priming sugar was freshly opened like a new bag of sugar or a packet from a kit, it will be fine.
If not, as long as the sugar didn't get dusty in the cabinet, it will probable be fine.

15 stirs won't hurt as long as they weren't big swishes. The yeast will use up the oxygen when it eats the priming sugar.

You should be fine. Just remember next time