Priming Sugar - How much to use?

[FizorZed]

Hey All. I'm planning on bottling my first brew tonight. It's an Imperial Pale Ale kit and it came with a bag of priming sugar. I'm at work so I can't remember the specifics but I don't remember the recipe calling for a specific measurement other than using the whole bag. I read some posts saying you should take some measurements to determine how much sugar to use. If memory serves me correctly this beer should be at around an 8.5% alcohol content. Any advice?

 

[BendBrewer]

most people use 4 ounces of priming sugar to bottle 5 gallons of beer.

 

[SKMO]

3/4 cup of CORN sugar should be right at 4 ounces. That's pretty standard for 5 gallons of beer to be bottled.

 

[jaythebassist]

http://www.howtobrew.com/section1/chapter11-4.html

Cheers!

 

[FizorZed]

So I should only use 4oz of the sugar powder and not the whole thing? What happens if you use to much? Will that either explode bottles or cause the beer to be sweet?

 

[BeNNeS]

Yes indeed could probably explode.... Or foam a lot when you open it.

Personally i use 1 and a 1/4 Cup of Dextrose for 5 Gallon

 

[FizorZed]

Uh oh. Well, I decided not to risk a flat beer so I used the whole 5oz. But I also didn't get a full five gallons out of the carboy. I started sucking up sediment so I aborted the siphoning. It ended up being about 4.5 gallons. Hopefully this doesn't end with explosions.

 

[TheWeeb]

you might want to check out this calculator, http://www.tastybrew.com/calculators/priming.html

You can get a bit more specific on the amount based on style.

 

[tcory77]

TheWeeb has a good post. I would reccomend the www.tastybrew.com priming calculator next time.

 

[jaythebassist]

Uh oh. Well, I decided not to risk a flat beer so I used the whole 5oz. But I also didn't get a full five gallons out of the carboy. I started sucking up sediment so I aborted the siphoning. It ended up being about 4.5 gallons. Hopefully this doesn't end with explosions.

Don't worry about it too much. Just keep the bottles in an empty cardboard case. If you get a bottle bomb (or if the first couple of open bottles are gushers), you can move them into the fridge and that will put the yeast to sleep and keep more from 'sploding.

Of course, there are other causes for bottle bombs: infection and non-homogeneous mix of priming sugar are popular ones. For a bad mix, you'll have some flatter bottles and some overcarbbed bottles.

 

[rack04]

you might want to check out this calculator, http://www.tastybrew.com/calculators/priming.html

You can get a bit more specific on the amount based on style.

Those CO2 numbers are crazy high compared to BeerSmith.

TastyBrew Wheat Beer 4.04 Volumes of CO2 = 8.6 oz of corn sugar
BeerSmith 15A 2.7 Volumes of C02 = 5.0 oz of corn sugar

 

[tcory77]

I think you might be looking at a different wheat beer. American Wheat shows 2.3-2.7 volumes.

 

[TheWeeb]

TastyBrew does give ranges:
Wheat Beer - Bavarian Weizen (3.6-4.48)
Wheat Beer - Bavarian Dunkelweizen (3.6-4.48)
Wheat Beer - Berliner Weisse (3.45)
Wheat Beer - Weizenbock (3.71-4.74)

I was a bit afraid the last Paulaner clone I brewed, as I went for the higher end of this range; it came out most excellent. The BJCP style guide does not provide any numbers, only guidelines on "mouthfeel" which of course includes other variables. I think much of this is a matter of taste, within a given range for a given style. One reference I found stated: Most North American commercial beers are carbonated to 2.5-2.9 volumes. British cask ales are between 1.5 and 1.8 volumes (this 100% difference in carbonation is the reason why a lot of North Americans think the British drink their beer 'flat'), while some German Weizen beers have 3.0-3.5 volumes.

This is an interesting topic for sure; and I do not know what either BeerSmith or TastyBrew base their numbers on; but Palmer's book on page 113 shows volumes of CO2 by style that are consistent with that of TastyBrew (Germany Wheat 3.3 - 4.5).