is it safe to bottle? how much priming sugar?

[thesalmon]

hi all,
so i have a couple of questions here... i have a brew going for the last two weeks that seems to have finished fermentation but has quite a high f.g 1.015. (o.g1.046)

i used the coopers wheat beer tin with 1.5kg lme and .5kg dme instead of the recommended sugar of .5kg dme and 300g dextrose.

fermentation seemed to stop after a week so i added more yeast of the same type as i had two of the same coopers kit. this kick started it but a week later the gravity aint budging.

it tastes ok so if i go ahead and bottle how likely am i to creat a bomb or two? how much priming sugar should i add? and can i use dextrose for this?


anyadvise would be greatly appreciated as i really want to avoid the auld beer bombs.

thanks

 

[twistr25]

1.015 is within a reasonable range. The better question is is it stable? Take another reading 2 days after the first and if it's the same you'll be fine. I like to use this site to calculate how much sugar to add, look at the corn sugar option.

 

[unionrdr]

Also keep in mind you added more LME & DME than the original recipe amounts you mentioned. So the FG can be a little higher. I've had rehydrated Cooper's ale yeast take 8%ABV before. That's about it's limit so far as I've experienced. It's likely that when you thought fermentation stopped in a week that only initial fermentation was done. It's then slowly,uneventfully creep down to FG. So the extra yeast likely wasn't needed. Patience is the one thing we all have to learn in the beginning.

 

[flatlanderHQ]

Wheat beer generally has a higher carb level. I would use a cup of dextrose to prime. As far as bombs, if the gravity is stable over readings (3) taken over the span of three or four days then and only then is the beer finished. Cheers!

 

[thesalmon]

thanks a lot,very helpful. it has been stable foe 3 days now so il go for it.

also i was going to prime each bottle separately with about 4g dextrose for 500ml bottles.do ye reckon thats ok?

 

[unionrdr]

Bulk priming in a bottling bucket is preferred. But 4-5g would be ok.

 

[twistr25]

Can you not batch prime? You will get much more consistent results that way. If not, I think 4g per bottle should be ok

 

[trbig]

Batch priming has always scared me a bit. First, you're supposed to stir/aerate it as little as possible. Second, I want that yeast cake on the bottom undisturbed. How do you all batch prime without disturbing the cake, yet getting fully mixed?

I've always primed each bottle separately as well with 1 1/2 tsp corn sugar per 22 oz bottle, wich would be roughly 1 tsp for a half liter bottle. Not sure how many grams that translates to for sugar?

 

[boydster]

Batch priming has always scared me a bit. First, you're supposed to stir/aerate it as little as possible. Second, I want that yeast cake on the bottom undisturbed. How do you all batch prime without disturbing the cake, yet getting fully mixed?

Use a bottling bucket. Siphon the beer from primary to the bottling bucket, on top of your priming sugar (after dissolving priming sugar in boiling or near-boiling water).

Also, weighing your sugar will result in more consistent results than measuring by volume.

 

[trbig]

OK, Thanks. I've just always used the siphon tube (Racking cane) that has the rubber piece on the end that keeps you from siphoning the yeast cake, and siphoned straight from my primary or secondary to the bottles.