Is priming sugar always needed?

[TheMarkWhite]

Hello!

I just started brewing and completed my first all grain batch this past weekend, a Nutella Stout. It's been sitting in primary now since Saturday night. Airlock slowed so much that I pulled a sample and took the gravity and gave it a taste. Tastes awesome so far! Super smooth and a good amount of chocolate taste already.

Anyways, on to my question. Is priming sugar always needed?

Below are my ingredients.

• 11.5lb 2 Row
• 1lb chocolate
• .5# Roasted Barley
• 16 oz Lactose last 20 min of boil
• 5oz cocoa powder last 15 min of boil
• 1 oz Target hops - 75 minute boil
• Safale S-04
• 8 oz cacao nibs secondary
• Hazelnut extract at bottle

It's sitting at 64 degrees.

When I tasted it, there was already a small amount of carbonation in it. So once again, my question, how important is it to use priming sugars? Are these always used? And how much should I add?

Thanks!

 

[Yooper]

If you want beer to carbonate, then priming sugar is needed.

The reason the beer seems carbonated already is because fermentation produces co2. Those bubbles dissipate by coming out of the airlock as fermentation proceeds and then ends.

To produce new c02 in the bottle, priming sugar is added and then the bottle is capped. Then, the c02 can't leave like it does through the airlock or during the bottling process.

For a lower carbed beer, .75 ounces of corn sugar (by weight) per finished gallon is a good amount. It's enough to produce carbonation and be like a commercial bottle of beer without being too spritzy.

 

[pwnshop]

Hello!

I just started brewing and completed my first all grain batch this past weekend, a Nutella Stout. It's been sitting in primary now since Saturday night. Airlock slowed so much that I pulled a sample and took the gravity and gave it a taste. Tastes awesome so far! Super smooth and a good amount of chocolate taste already.

Anyways, on to my question. Is priming sugar always needed?

Below are my ingredients.

• 11.5lb 2 Row
• 1lb chocolate
• .5# Roasted Barley
• 16 oz Lactose last 20 min of boil
• 5oz cocoa powder last 15 min of boil
• 1 oz Target hops - 75 minute boil
• Safale S-04
• 8 oz cacao nibs secondary
• Hazelnut extract at bottle

It's sitting at 64 degrees.

When I tasted it, there was already a small amount of carbonation in it. So once again, my question, how important is it to use priming sugars? Are these always used? And how much should I add?

Thanks!

If you are bottling you will need to add priming sugar.
Use this website http://www.northernbrewer.com/priming-sugar-calculator to determine the amount of sugar to use based on type of sugar and style of beer. in the "Current temperature of beer (F):" textbox enter the highest temperature your beer ever hit while fermenting. not the current temp. i dont know why they named it that.

On bottling day prior to racking into your bottling bucket dissolve the amount of priming sugar in water and bring it to a boil to sanitize. allow it to cool and then pour it into your bottling bucket. then rack your beer from the fermenter onto the priming sugar solution. the swirling motion of the beer racking to the bottling bucket should be enough to mix it all in well. Usually i give it a little stir once in a while with the racking tube while its transferring just to make sure its all mixed up (dont stir hard enough to splash or bubble, you dont want any oxygen getting into the beer at this point).

Once all that is complete bottle em up.

the little bit of co2 that you noticed in your sample is not relevant. carbonation occurs from fermenting the priming sugar in the bottle once it is sealed.

 

[Homercidal]

Technically you can get carbonation without "Priming Sugar", but it's more complicated. Sometimes a beer can be bottled just before it's finished carbonating. This traps the Co2 just like it would with priming sugar. But the beer is not quite finished and you will likely get a TON of sediment.

Some brewers add some wort from a future batch to prime with. Technically that still counts as priming sugar, but not precisely how it's usually thought of.

FYI you can use other things besides "sugar". Anything that can ferment you can prime with. Honey, malt, syrup, fruit juices, etc.

 

[unionrdr]

Also, when you saw the airlock activity slow or stop, only initial fermentation is usually done. It'll then slowly, uneventfully creep down to a stable FG. Then give it another 3-7 days to settle out clear or slightly misty before bulk priming & bottling.

 

[TheMarkWhite]

Thanks everyone for the quick reply. Does anyone prefer a specific sugar they like for stouts? I was thinking dextrose as there wont be any additional flavoring that honey, or syrup etc would give.

 

[Homercidal]

Thanks everyone for the quick reply. Does anyone prefer a specific sugar they like for stouts? I was thinking dextrose as there wont be any additional flavoring that honey, or syrup etc would give.

Actually, I think a stout would be the best thing to use a flavored sugar in. Not that you get much flavor from such a little amount.

 

[TheMarkWhite]

Hmm, maybe brown sugar?

 

[myelo]

I used brown sugar for an American brown ale I'm drinking now. Honestly I can't detect any difference compared to my previous batch with the same recipe and corn sugar.

 

[brewcat]

Hmm, maybe brown sugar?

I've used brown sugar with good results in a stout. I think it added flavor but I've never done a side by side.

 

[unionrdr]

I've used demerara sugar to prime with before. But there isn't enough in the priming solution to add but very little to the over-all flavor complexity imo. Maybe a hint of color?

 

[BlueHouseBrewhaus]

If you want to really be a purist, there is also krausening. Under the old German Reinheitsgebot, or "purity law", beer could only be brewed with grain, hops, yeast and water. No priming sugar. Krausening was a means of saving some wort to later use for carbonation without the need for priming sugar of any kind. I've never done it but from what I've read, it's not that hard. Try a search for "krausening".

 

[passedpawn]

Hmm, maybe brown sugar?

Just use table sugar. 4-5 oz for 5 gallons, but use the calculator above. If you want different flavors in your beer, do that with ingredients during the fermentation next time.

If you start screwing around adding fermentables at bottling time, you're likely going to create problems. You're new at this, don't complicate it (yet )

 

[TheMarkWhite]

Thanks guys. I'll just use table sugar for now.