Priming Sugar - by weight or by volume?

[DuPuma]

This is one of those things that I just can't seem to get my head around.

I've made about a dozen batches, but always have fits with priming because I can't seem to figure out how much sugar to use. I've checked out the Beer Recipator's Carbonation calculator, and it says I need 4.5 oz of priming sugar. Thats fine, but does it mean 4.5 oz by weight OR by volume. Obviously, this can make a huge difference -- 4.5 by weight is about 7 oz. volume.

I've always heard the 3/4 cup rule, which means 6.0 oz by volume -- RIGHT? Geez I wish we didn't use OZ for BOTH weight and volume. it drives me nuts.


I need another homebrew....

[Edit] American Pale Ale, approx 4.75 gallons, 69 degrees at bottling (65 degrees fermented - I moved it to the kitchen last night to give the yeast a few hours to settle out after moving it around).

 

[Soulive]

I've always gone by weight. Shoot for about an ounce per gallon...

 

[RICLARK]

This is one of those things that I just can't seem to get my head around.

I've made about a dozen batches, but always have fits with priming because I can't seem to figure out how much sugar to use. I've checked out the Beer Recipator's Carbonation calculator, and it says I need 4.5 oz of priming sugar. Thats fine, but does it mean 4.5 oz by weight OR by volume. Obviously, this can make a huge difference -- 4.5 by weight is about 7 oz. volume.

I've always heard the 3/4 cup rule, which means 6.0 oz by volume -- RIGHT? Geez I wish we didn't use OZ for BOTH weight and volume. it drives me nuts.


I need another homebrew....

3/4 cup never fails, 1 1/2 cup DME

 

[Blender]

If you have a a scale I would weigh it....4.5 oz. is what I normally use.

 

[DuPuma]

Thank you, thank you both for your replies. But it underscores my point -- we should all switch to metric. There's no confusing grams and milliliters. Sorry about the rant, and thank you for the help. I'm going to go with 1 oz/gallon by weight. I'll post here in a few days if I have bottle-bombs in my closet.

In the meantime, I'm having a beer. At 2:00. on a tuesday.

 

[donweenie]

Defintely measure by weight. The standard 3/4 cup of dextrose(corn sugar) weighs approximately 4.0 ounces, giving about an extra 1.3 volumes of co2 to your finished bottled beer at sea level. The problem is that most homebrewers who bottle their homebrew don't know how much co2 is entrapped in their fermented beer before bottling, which can vary quite considerably depending on a number of factors. If a beer carbonates in a week, you have an extremely carbonated beer. Give it another week and it is a carbonation gushing nightmare. Elevation also affects carbonation levels. For me at an elevation of over 4200 feet in Utah, I have to use less priming sugar to achieve desired carbonation levels. Check out my website if you are interested in achieving more accurate levels of carbonation in homebrewed bottled beer-- www.carbonationcalibrator.com.

Thanks,

Don Gladfelter