How long should I wait before bottling after I have added the priming solution ?

[jerrylotto]

I pre-charge individual bottles when I'm doing that. I target 1 tsp of sugar per bottle and dissolve it in enough water to make up 5 ml per teaspoon. After boiling that solution to sanitize it, I put five ml into each sanitized bottle before filling.

 

[Ninoid]

I use measuring spoons of 3, 4, or 5 grams (depending on the required level of carbonation for the particular style) and put table sugar in the bottles just before bottling. That turned out to be the best and cheapest way for me.

 

[Miraculix]

I use measuring spoons of 3, 4, or 5 grams (depending on the required level of carbonation for the particular style) and put table sugar in the bottles just before bottling. That turned out to be the best and cheapest way for me.

Same for me.

 

[jerrylotto]

I use measuring spoons of 3, 4, or 5 grams (depending on the required level of carbonation for the particular style) and put table sugar in the bottles just before bottling. That turned out to be the best and cheapest way for me.

grams are a measure of weight not volume but either way, I would definitely recommend making a solution and using a pipette in order to measure out the amount of sugar to add to each bottle because you can boil/sanitize that. PS - a teaspoon of sugar weighs about 4.2 g

 

[Miraculix]

grams are a measure of weight not volume but either way, I would definitely recommend making a solution and using a pipette in order to measure out the amount of sugar to add to each bottle because you can boil/sanitize that. PS - a teaspoon of sugar weighs about 4.2 g

I do not know of anything that can live on pure sugar that can harm beer.

 

[ncbrewer]

I am a bit afraid of doing so because of contamination and oxygenation contingencies.

I got a surprise a few months ago. I started to rack to the bottling bucket, but the auto siphon wouldn't work. Tried everything. Finally I got a 2 cup measuring cup and dipped from the fermenter and gently poured into the bottling bucket. I felt pretty sure it would be ruined from oxidation. But the resulting beer didn't have any signs of being oxidized. It didn't stay around long - finished it about 8 weeks after bottling. But I think the active yeast, eating the priming sugar, did a good job of scavenging the oxygen that I put into it by dipping and pouring. I still take care, but I feel much better about the whole oxidation while bottling issue.

 

[Miraculix]

I got a surprise a few months ago. I started to rack to the bottling bucket, but the auto siphon wouldn't work. Tried everything. Finally I got a 2 cup measuring cup and dipped from the fermenter and gently poured into the bottling bucket. I felt pretty sure it would be ruined from oxidation. But the resulting beer didn't have any signs of being oxidized. It didn't stay around long - finished it about 8 weeks after bottling. But I think the active yeast, eating the priming sugar, did a good job of scavenging the oxygen that I put into it by dipping and pouring. I still take care, but I feel much better about the whole oxidation while bottling issue.

When bottle carbing, the real issue is the oxygen in the headspace. The oxygen in solution gets quickly used up by the yeast metabolizing the priming sugar. I think the lodo guys did measurements that showed active yeast can get rid of nearly all the dissolved oxygen in as little as 30 minutes.

But the yeast cannot reach the oxygen in the air in the headspace and that oxygen is slowly being dissolved into the beer after the priming sugar is gone. That's when the damage is being done.

So keep the headspace small!

 

[pcdiver]

I invert my bottles for 2-3 days after bottling. This way I check for seepage/leaks and when placing them upright for storage seems to aid in the elimination of O2.

 

[Ninoid]

I invert my bottles for 2-3 days after bottling. This way I check for seepage/leaks and when placing them upright for storage seems to aid in the elimination of O2.

Not a bad idea, but I don't think that bottle headspace oxygen is that influential for the beer if is consumed within a few months and if it sits in the fridge most of the time.

 

[Miraculix]

Not a bad idea, but I don't think that bottle headspace oxygen is that influential for the beer if is consumed within a few months and if it sits in the fridge most of the time.

I've made side by side comparisons, the difference is significant.

Obviously the hoppier the bigger the difference, but still, it is very significant.

 

[Miraculix]

I invert my bottles for 2-3 days after bottling. This way I check for seepage/leaks and when placing them upright for storage seems to aid in the elimination of O2.

I don't think that this contributes anything to the elimination of 02 from the headspace.

 

[Ninoid]

I invert my bottles for 2-3 days after bottling. This way I check for seepage/leaks and when placing them upright for storage seems to aid in the elimination of O2.

I haven't tried this, but it would be logical for the oxygen trapped in the headspace to dissolve in the beer, so the yeast can consume it more easily.

I used to shake each bottle upside down immediately after filling, not for oxygen in the headspace but for easier dissolution of the sugar for carbonation. But I didn't notice any difference even without it, so I haven't been doing it for a long time. Maybe that would be enough to dissolve all the oxygen in the bottle in the beer?

 

[Miraculix]

I haven't tried this, but it would be logical for the oxygen trapped in the headspace to dissolve in the beer, so the yeast can consume it more easily.

I used to shake each bottle upside down immediately after filling, not for oxygen in the headspace but for easier dissolution of the sugar for carbonation. But I didn't notice any difference even without it, so I haven't been doing it for a long time. Maybe that would be enough to dissolve all the oxygen in the bottle in the beer?

No it's not. You need an heavily increased surface area of the liquid to speed up the solution process. And it must be that bigger surface area for a prolonged time. Just turning it once doesn't do the job. If you would be shaking the bottle for a few days, that would probably help.

 

[Ninoid]

No it's not. You need an heavily increased surface area of the liquid to speed up the solution process. And it must be that bigger surface area for a prolonged time. Just turning it once doesn't do the job. If you would be shaking the bottle for a few days, that would probably help.

You have more experience than me, and you even say that you have tested it and that the beer is better the smaller the headspace is, so I believe it is so. This is just some of my thinking.
I just bottled a batch of beer and I made a difference in the headspace for two bottles so that one is twice as big and I shaking it up and down well, and the other is very small (just so the bottle doesn't explode during the carbonation process). I am interested in one three or four weeks, what will it be like compared to all the others that have a head space of about 3 cm to the cap.

 

[Miraculix]

You have more experience than me, and you even say that you have tested it and that the beer is better the smaller the headspace is, so I believe it is so. This is just some of my thinking.
I just bottled a batch of beer and I made a difference in the headspace for two bottles so that one is twice as big and I shaking it up and down well, and the other is very small (just so the bottle doesn't explode during the carbonation process). I am interested in one three or four weeks, what will it be like compared to all the others that have a head space of about 3 cm to the cap.

Great! What type of beer is it? Very hoppy?

 

[Ninoid]

Great! What type of beer is it? Very hoppy?

It's not. Saison with slightly more Magnum hops at the beginning.

 

[Miraculix]

It's not. Saison with slightly more Magnum hops at the beginning.

Might be that the effect won't be that noticable with that type of beer in only a few weeks. But it can be, maybe make 2 bottles of each and then check again after 2 months?