How much priming sugar? Rule of thumb vs calculator

[homebrewdad]

I did a little article on this. I weigh the two options, and go into how to properly use a priming calculator (since this is subject that is so often misunderstood).

Priming sugar article here.

 

[ktblunden]

Nice article. I always did wonder which temperature was being referred to.

 

[homebrewdad]

Thanks. I find that this a frequently misunderstood topic.

 

[unionrdr]

The highest ferment temp is what should be used. But by bottling time,my primary is lower & the current temp sometimes works better.

 

[homebrewdad]

Honestly, temperature has a relatively small effect unless you are talking about the difference between cold crashing and warmer fermentation temps. That being said...

Highest fermentation temp gets you very close, as odds are by the time fermentation slows down, there's probably not enough CO2 being produced to replace that which was lost due to the high temps.

But if, say, you spike an early warm temp, get it under control, and still have a day or two of controlled fermentation - that high temp won't be valid, and you'll end up slightly overcarbing your beer, since you underestimated how much CO2 is in solution (your cooler fermentation was still producing CO2 to make up for what was lost when the beer was warmer).

The absolute most accurate number to use is the highest temp achieved post fermentation.