PLEASE HELP!! priming sugar

[davidv53]

Ok...this is really bothering me.

I have seen several threads on here involving priming sugar and none have answered my question. I had a packet of priming sugar which said it contained 5 ounces of priming sugar. I have seen several people on here say that is roughly equal to 3/4 of a cup. When I actually measure out my "5 oz." bag of priming sugar, however, it ends up being about 1 1/8 cup. (thats 9/8 of a cup). I also measured out 5 oz. of corn sugar using a scale...it looks to be more than the "3/4 of a cup" also. What is going on? I was under the impression that 1/2 a cup is roughly four ounces and thus 3/4 of a cup would be 6 ounces. Am I an idiot, is my math wrong here somewhere? It makes no sense at all that my 5 oz. bag would be over one cup when I thought 3/4 of a cup is 6 ounces!!! Someone help please...i have no idea how much priming sugar to add.

 

[homebrewer_99]

Chill out...you're putting too much into it.

The 5 oz they give you for priming is more than enough.

Use 3/4 C and save the rest...throw it in the next brew.

 

[davidv53]

fair enough...thanks! I still am mad I dont understand it but I will take your word for it.

 

[Beerrific]

I think the problem here is that they have given you 5 oz. mass wise and your measuring cups are ounces fluid wise.

For example, I have a 4.5 oz. bag from AHS. It also says 126g so I know that is mass.

But like the previous post, just measure out 3/4 of a cup and you will be fine.

Also as a side note, 1 fl. oz. of water is about 1 oz. (mass wise).

They probably give you more just in case. Also, some people say to use 1 cup.

 

[Zymurgrafi]

measurement of dry ingredients like sugar, malt (flour, salt, anything) is much more precise by weight. Professional bakers for instance weigh ingredients rather than use measuring spoons/cups.

Why?

Dry ingredients are hygroscopic. They absorb moisture from the air. So, a volume (measuring cups worth) will actually be more or less from one time to the next.

That is how I understand it.

 

[BierMuncher]

Right. Forget about the Oz label. Measure out 3/4 cup and go with that.

(Frankly, I go with a smidge less dependingon the style. English ales and stouts like a little less fizz, where blonde ales are more highly carb'd.)

 

[LeadFarmer]

so 3/4 a cup of priming sugar for 5Gal batches?

 

[johnmcc]

well this kind of answers the questions i was beginning to have about priming sugar.

thanks!

 

[Jette]

Part of the problem with the American measuring system. Ounces can be referring to volume or mass measurements, but mean entirely different things. Four ounces of gold certainly will not fill up your half cup liquid measure. (4oz). Grams and milliliters make more sense, or CC's, cubic centimeters. No confusion there.

 

[Calder]

measurement of dry ingredients like sugar, malt (flour, salt, anything) is much more precise by weight. Professional bakers for instance weigh ingredients rather than use measuring spoons/cups.

Why?

Dry ingredients are hygroscopic. They absorb moisture from the air. So, a volume (measuring cups worth) will actually be more or less from one time to the next.

That is how I understand it.

If it absorbs moisture from the air, the weight measurement will be off too since you will be weighing the weight of the added air (moisture) from the sir.

 

[RM-MN]

Have you ever made cookies? The recipe calls for a cup of "packed brown sugar" because you could get such a different amount if you just scoop it up loose. Same holds for your priming sugar, you can pack it down and get a cup that weighs more than if you scooped it loose.

 

[jonmohno]

I used brown sugar to prime and there is no way i would try to figure the per cup thing with that. To me its just as easy to dump it on my scale cup as it would in a measuring cup.I bought a kitchen cooking spring scale for less than 10 bucks,makes my life easier.Especially scaling down recipes to 2 gallon.

 

[Frodo]

Deleted post; very old thread

 

[YOOOEE]

It seems the consensus is to use 3/4 cup of sugar (corn sugar)? for a 5 gallon batch, but how much water should we use to boil the 3/4 cup of sugar?

My last kit recipe stated to boil 5oz of priming sugar in 2 cups of water for 2 minutes.

The recipe I'm working on now, just says to boil the priming sugar in approximately 1 cup of water for 1 minute...

Should I just boil the 3/4 cup of corn sugar in 1 cup of water for 1 minute?

Thanks in advance.

 

[hops2it]

It seems the consensus is to use 3/4 cup of sugar (corn sugar)? for a 5 gallon batch, but how much water should we use to boil the 3/4 cup of sugar?

My last kit recipe stated to boil 5oz of priming sugar in 2 cups of water for 2 minutes.

The recipe I'm working on now, just says to boil the priming sugar in approximately 1 cup of water for 1 minute...

Should I just boil the 3/4 cup of corn sugar in 1 cup of water for 1 minute?

Thanks in advance.

I dont think the water volume is set in stone but I use 3/4 cup corn sugar in 1 cup water. I would think anything in that ballpark would be sufficient. To me its more so acting as a medium to distribute the sugar into the wort. Its going to mix with another 5 gallons of liquid there so it seems a little wiggle room either way would be fine.

 

[sagnew440]

This is what I use for caluclating priming sugar.
http://hbd.org/cgi-bin/recipator/recipator/carbonation.html

 

[YOOOEE]

Thanks for the replies.

I went with 3/4 cup corn sugar in about 1 3/4 water. Boiled for about 1 1/2 minutes.

In regards to the priming sugar solution... is it important to wait for it to cool before pouring it into the bottling bucket and then adding the beer?

It seems to me that if you have to cool your wort down before you pitch the yeast, then it makes sens to ensure the priming sugar solution is cooled before adding the beer... Unless the temperature of 1 - 2 cups of sugar solution won't affect 5 gallons of beer...

 

[BradleyBrew]

I 100% agree with sagnew440! The carbonation calculator is great, I have never had a problem with over / under carbing since I started using the that! Great tool!!

 

[Calder]

Thanks for the replies.

I went with 3/4 cup corn sugar in about 1 3/4 water. Boiled for about 1 1/2 minutes.

In regards to the priming sugar solution... is it important to wait for it to cool before pouring it into the bottling bucket and then adding the beer?

It seems to me that if you have to cool your wort down before you pitch the yeast, then it makes sens to ensure the priming sugar solution is cooled before adding the beer... Unless the temperature of 1 - 2 cups of sugar solution won't affect 5 gallons of beer...

No need to cool, but don't pour the hot sugar solution into a glass carboy (if you use one for bottling) before siphoning in some of the beer.

1 cup in 5 gallons is 1/80th, so if the sugar solution is 80 degrees above the beer temperature (about 150 F), the result will be a change in bulk temperature of about 1 F.