How do you prime?

[capt82]

I saw the other active thread going in GT about stirring priming solution in to primary. What are some techniques to add priming solution to your bottling vessel?

 

[porterpounder]

Usually just add it to the bucket first then syphon into the vessel to let it mix as it fills. Have to bottle pretty quickly so it doesn't stratify, but then again who's going to wait?

 

[catdaddy66]

I prime with DME but almost any sugar will do. The easiest is corn or table sugar.

I use a bit less than the calculator tells me, by about 10%. Boil for ten minutes and place in my bottling bucket. Then I cover for 15 minutes as I get my equipment out, drain the primary and swirl a bit to mix well. Fill bottles and cap.

Viola!

 

[Aristotelian]

I add a Domino Dot sugar cube to the bottle. If I want a little extra carbonation I use a priming sugar calculator and make a syrup with enough sugar to make up an extra 0.5 vols or whatever.

 

[kh54s10]

I make up the priming solution to the desired amount, I use corn sugar, boil for about one minute, start the siphon in a vortex, add the priming solution and bottle.

 

[petrolSpice]

The standard method is to boil sugar in water and add this mix to the bottling bucket with the beer.

On my last 2 brews I used the Domino 2.5g sugar cubes with good success; 1 cube in a 12oz bottle, 2 in a 22oz bottle. Then bottle straight from the fermenter. This works well for standard carbonation. If you need an odd amount of carbonation you'll want to go with the standard method.

 

[capt82]

If you stir in your priming solution to beer, softly, is that going to oxygenate your beer enough to make a difference
vs
having your priming solution in bottling vessel, then adding your beer to mix as it's transferring?

 

[kristiismean]

I am going to try the domino dot, but they are showing up as 2.29g and not 2.5g, will it matter.

To the stirrer, I do that. but i add 1/2 the boiled sugar solution, then rack it into the bottling bucket, then start the whirlpool. Then when 1/2 i add the rest of the boiled sugar solution. then gently stir 1 or 2 times. when i hit the 1/2 mark, I gently stir again, being careful not to break the surface and or introduce oxygen.

 

[z-bob]

One Domino dot in a 12 oz bottle, or 2 dots in a 22 oz bomber gives a good carbonation level and it's easy. In a 1 liter PET bottle I use 2 of the larger CH sugar cubes. I'm not trying to match a particular style exactly; I'm not sure how many volumes that is.

I saw a tip recently to use an ammo reloading gunpowder measure to dispense exact amounts of sugar. I think that's brilliant, and I have an extra powder measure but I haven't tried it yet.

 

[kristiismean]

an ammo loaded. that's a very good idea!

make it out of stainless and market it?

 

[petrolSpice]

The ammo loader is a fantastic idea. I think it would work better with cane sugar than corn sugar due to the larger grains, less "sticking" between the grains.

 

[rhys333]

I like to transfer to the bottling bucket before preparing my priming mixture. I have the bucket marked in liters so I can figure out the exact volume I need to carbonate. I then measure and boil the required amount of corn sugar in a couple cups of water, add without splashing, and stir gently to incorporate (around as well as up and down). Perfect carbonation level every time.

 

[Gerry_P]

Here's the best priming method, hands down: 1. Place beer in keg. 2. Attach CO2 line to keg.
If you have the space and a little over 100 bucks for a keg setup, do it. You won't regret it, I promise.

As far as actual priming goes, the traditional method used by myself and many others is as follows:
1. Put your cooled (or not) priming solution into your bottling bucket. (Btw, DME, corn sugar, and table sugar all work and I can't tell a difference between them.) Cooling it to room temperature probably isn't necessary since you'll be dumping 5 gallons of 68 deg. (Fahrenheit) beer on top of it. If you're like me you'll do it anyway for irrational superstitious reasons and because that's how we did it in the 90s goddammit.
2. Add your beer to the bottling bucket using a siphon and/or hose configuration of some sort. If you want you can position the hose so that you create a neat little whirlpool that you can stare at while your beer transfers. This might help to mix the beer with the priming solution, maybe. Keep splashing to a minimum. This is actually the most important part, because now is not the time to be adding oxygen to your beer.
3. Now that the beer and the priming solution are together in the bottling bucket, you can take your spoon and gently stir. IMPORTANT: Pretend you're stirring 5 gallons of nitroglycerin that will blow you to smithereens if you create even a tiny splash. If you don't need that kind of stress in your life, don't stir it. There's a ton of anecdotal evidence which states that stirring may or may not produce more consistent carbonation, which is something you need to consider very carefully.