Noob Question On Carbing

[nlegler]

Hey guys using my buddies account to ask what I'm sure is a simple question, but was wondering with the extract kits you buy do they send you enough priming sugar for bottling?

 

[HungLikeHood]

Hey guys using my buddies account to ask what I'm sure is a simple question, but was wondering with the extract kits you buy do they send you enough priming sugar for bottling?

what did they send you, 5ozs or so? Typically they want you to use all of what they gave you.

 

[LLBeanJ]

I've never brewed an extract kit, but I would imagine that it depends on the kit. There could be too much, too little, or just the right amount. Based on the number of folks posting on this site with overcarbed beer, my guess is that too much sugar is more of a problem than too little. It also depends on how much beer you end up with and the conditioning temperature. Use this link to determine the right amount of whatever priming sugar (assuming corn sugar since we're talking about a kit) to use based on the amount of beer you have to carb and the carb level you're shooting for based on the style of beer.

 

[badbrew]

Just add table sugar if you are a little short.

 

[chris41]

Just add the priming sugar they gave you and everything will be fine. I've never had any problems....

 

[Revvy]

Yes, they typically send you a small packet containing either 4.5 or 5 ounces of corn sugar which is sufficient to achieve the pretty standard 2-2.5 volumes of co2 for average gravity beers at or near 70 degrees.

Some kits may contain more or less if the kit is truly having you carb to match the particular style of beer. But I haven't seen that.

This is a standard chart for carbing to style.

When I'm carbing to style, I tend to err on the side of caution for most beers and aim for the middle of the range for that style.

Just remember for most situations the standard if you aren't carbing to style is 1 ounce of priming sugar per gallon of beer produces 2.5 volumes of co2 if the beer is at 70 degrees- ish..... That's why most kits comes with between 4 and 4.5 ounces of sugar. To prime between 2 and 2.5 volumes of co2....kinda average for most beers.

If you look at the chart, you can see that for most beer styles you pretty much can't go wrong with shooting for 2-2.5 volumes of co2. Which is 4.5-5 ounces of sugar regardless.....

 

[Revvy]

Now the real question is, are you asking this because you primed some beer and it's not carbed yet, and you think something's wrong, like there's not enough sugar?

If that's the case read this.