Priming sugar for Bavarian Hefe

[Meatyboy]

I just went to a couple priming calculators and they all said I should use around 8ozs of priming sugar for a 5 gallon batch, I assume I'm going to lose about a half a gallon or so due to avoiding my happy yeast cake. Does that sound about right and I think AHS screwed me on about 4ozs of priming sugar if that's accurate.

So, should I add the extra 3.5 ozs of priming sugar or just use the 4.5oz I have and just call it done?

 

[wormraper]

I just went to a couple priming calculators and they all said I should use around 8ozs of priming sugar for a 5 gallon batch, I assume I'm going to lose about a half a gallon or so due to avoiding my happy yeast cake. Does that sound about right and I think AHS screwed me on about 4ozs of priming sugar if that's accurate.

So, should I add the extra 3.5 ozs of priming sugar or just use the 4.5oz I have and just call it done?

8 ounces of sugar for a 5 gallon batch seems a BIT high to say none the less. usually you use about 1 ounce of corn sugar or .9 oz of table sugar per 1 gallon of beer you wanna carb

 

[wattly]

8 ounces of sugar for a 5 gallon batch seems a BIT high to say none the less. usually you use about 1 ounce of corn sugar or .9 oz of table sugar per 1 gallon of beer you wanna carb

Yes, but hefes are traditionally carbed higher, I always do 8oz.

 

[Meatyboy]

Yes, but hefes are traditionally carbed higher, I always do 8oz.

Thank god, I don't feel so bad throwing in an extra Tsp and a half of cane sugar then. Might still end up a bit under carb'd though by your reckoning.

 

[wormraper]

Yes, but hefes are traditionally carbed higher, I always do 8oz.

intterrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrresting. I might carb a little higher than next time cuz I like a nicely "sharp" carbed beer

 

[heckler73]

my hefe's get 6.6oz dextrose and turn out like this. That's a 0.5 L glass.

 

[homebrewdad]

This is another problem with beer kits. You get a one size fits all measurement of priing sugar. 5 ounces is too much for a brown ale, too little for a hefe.

 

[Meatyboy]

Lesson to be learned here is trust the priming calculators and to hell with the kit huh?

 

[wormraper]

dang, I guess I under carbed my hefeweizen. I'll have to adjust that next batch

 

[homebrewdad]

Lesson to be learned here is trust the priming calculators and to hell with the kit huh?

Kits are awesome forgetting started, but you get this issue, and you also get the notoriously inaccurate instructions (love the ones that suggest you'll go from pitching yeast to drinking wonderful beer in three weeks).

This isn't to say that kits are bad at all - just that you have to be prepared.

 

[Meatyboy]

Well, thankfully in regards to the instructions, I just use the instructions as a general guideline. I had a kit for an Irish Red that suggested I only steep the grains for 15-20 minutes at 150 degrees. After 15 minutes and my steep water looking rather thin I just kept going until the 40 minute mark. Nice deep red color to my beer. I just don't know enough about bottling and priming to be sure about much of that or to really trust those online calculators. I didn't get a response in time last night while boiling my sugar so I split the difference between the instructions and the calculator and put 4.5oz corn sugar (came with the kit) and about an ounce and a half cane sugar (all I had available). So I'm close to the mark, but still a little short.

 

[homebrewdad]

Well, thankfully in regards to the instructions, I just use the instructions as a general guideline. I had a kit for an Irish Red that suggested I only steep the grains for 15-20 minutes at 150 degrees. After 15 minutes and my steep water looking rather thin I just kept going until the 40 minute mark. Nice deep red color to my beer. I just don't know enough about bottling and priming to be sure about much of that or to really trust those online calculators. I didn't get a response in time last night while boiling my sugar so I split the difference between the instructions and the calculator and put 4.5oz corn sugar (came with the kit) and about an ounce and a half cane sugar (all I had available). So I'm close to the mark, but still a little short.

Well, assuming the calculaotr you are using is written properly, they are going off of a basic mathematical formula that should be pretty darned accurate. It't not that hard to figure out how much CO2 you need to add in order to get to target number in volumes, and the calculator does this without giving you the chance to screw up the math. I'd trust them over kit directions any day of the week.

And twice on brew day.