HELP with carbonation bottles

[robbo007]

Hi everyone.

After doing various batches of all grain brewing and fermenting in bottles I'm still not sure what is the best type of sugar for carbonation?

I've tried normal caster (white) sugar and dextrose brewing sugar. Someone mentioned corn sugar but here in Spain I can't seem to locate it.

I've had mixed results with both and still not happy with my process. What do the Micro breweries use? Caster sugar or dextrose brewing sugar?

My room temp for the bottles (second fermentation) is a fixed 22 degrees Celsius. I normally leave them for 1-1.5 months. Bottles are well sanitised but the carbonisation seems to vary each bottle. I've even had a few duds. No gas at all.

Any suggestion most appreciated as I'm trying to perfect the process to move to the next level and create a nano brewery.

Thanks,
Rob

 

[BCBrewer]

Dextrose is another term for corn sugar. I use it as it has a neutral effect on the final flavor of your beer. It is the the standard for bottle carbing unless you are going for a unique flavor.

 

[cooldood]

Are you bulk priming or adding the sugar to every bottle?

 

[robbo007]

At present I'm adding sugar to every bottle. But I suspect when I do a bigger batch this process will be too time consuming. What are your thoughts?

 

[robbo007]

Ok, Just looking into bulk priming with another fermentor. Does this calculation sound right for a Pale Ale? Room temp is:22 degrees.

Desired C02 Saturation: 2 volumes
Amount of Liquid: 22 liters
Amount of Priming Sugar: 116.38 grams of corn sugar (dextrose)

 

[robbo007]

I've just tried 5 different online calculators with the same numbers and each calculator displays a different value. hmmmm Now I'm confused. Is there a well tested calculator out there that everyone uses? Or is it a trial and error thing?

 

[Travestian]

I usually use between 4-5 oz (113.2-141.5g) for a 5 gallon (~19L) batch. Works out to be great carbonation each time.

 

[smyrnaquince]

I've used this calculator. Have you been taking the temperature of the beer into account when calculating the amount of sugar?

Also, dissolve the sugar in boiled water, add it to your bottling bucket, and stir. This way you will be sure the amount of sugar is the same in each bottle. You are dealing with small amounts of sugar on a per-bottle basis and it is very easy to get a lot of bottle-to-bottle variation by adding sugar to individual bottles.

Can you be more specific about the "mixed results" you've been having?

 

[ajf]

If you use the TastyBrew calculator to brew English style beers, be warned. The volumes of CO2 may be suitable for draught beers, but are very low for bottled beers. This may be true for other styles as well, but I've not investigated this.
You say you wanted a carbonation level of 2.0 volumes of CO2 for a pale ale. This sounds very low to me. I would try for 2.5 volumes (even for English Pale Ales) for a bottled beer.
You say you have got different results from different calculators. Did any of the calculators originate from the UK? In which case gallons would be assumed to be imperial gallons where 1 imperial gallon =~ 1.2 US gallons. Even if the calculator is expressed in metric units, there is a good chance that they started in gallons (either US, or imperial), and that they were translated, possibly incorrectly.
Bulk priming is undoubtedly better than adding the priming sugar to individual bottles. It's much faster, and about 50 times more accurate.

-a.

 

[Yooper]

I've just tried 5 different online calculators with the same numbers and each calculator displays a different value. hmmmm Now I'm confused. Is there a well tested calculator out there that everyone uses? Or is it a trial and error thing?

I don't like the calculators I see. As ajf said, often priming "to style" means undercarbed beer. Also, it can mean way overcarbed beer as well.

Most commercial bottled beers are 2.4-2.6 volumes of c02. For me, I use .75 -1 ounce corn sugar per 1 gallon of beer (the lower amount for lower carbonation, the higher amount for more carb level).

That is 21.26- 28 grams per 3.79 liters. If you want a beer that is carbed like bottled beer, but not too spritzy, use the lower amount. If you want something more like a Belgian beer level of carb, use the larger amount of priming sugar.

 

[robbo007]

Ok thanks guys. Just to answer the questions:

I was taking into account the correct metric system when calculating.

My mixed results (now I know) seem to be from carbonating per bottle and not really controlling the c02 level correctly as you have all indicated. Also I was using normal caster sugar which I see now is not the best. I'll be bulk priming and using dextrox from now on.