Priming Sugar Technique

[Mexibilly]

I'm a novice.
I follow the instructions to a T.
Brewed Hop Head double IPA. The flavor is good. Gravity is right where it should be. I bottled 6 days ago today. Put one in the fridge last nite, after 5 days. I know that's jumping the gun, but I wanted to try it. It has good flavor and a slight carbonation, very slight.
I hope it carbonates fully in a week or 2.
The question: Instructions said to boil the priming sugar for 7-10 minutes, cool, add to the bottling bucket and transfer on top of it. I did. Is this a reliable technique?
I have a great big stout in the primary and the instructions say to boil the priming sugar in 16oz water, add to the bottling bucket and stir gently after transfer to mix thoroughly. No specific boil time, no cooling.
What is a good priming sugar addition method?

 

[chuckcomm]

I use the first method you posted never had a problem....

I always drink a bottle after first week. Today I am having another after two weeks and its very good and way more carbed than the one week old.

 

[soccerdad]

I personally added a step that may not be necessary nor recommended by some, but it came from one of the most awarded members of our club. I stir the beer/sugar mix very gently a few times to get the sugar more in suspension before I start filling. I did this after having one or two under-carbed beers in a batch. I don't get those anymore .. gentle stir / no bubbles / sanitized long spoon.

 

[kevinb]

I always put my cooled water/sugar solution in the bottom of the bottle bucket and then rack on top of it. Never had an issue.

 

[Yooper]

I always put my cooled water/sugar solution in the bottom of the bottle bucket and then rack on top of it. Never had an issue.

Me too, and I've never even once stirred. I don't even cool my priming solution, at least not much, because the beer is about 65 degrees and the priming solution is about 2 cups which doesn't affect the beer temperature at all.

 

[C-Rider]

I don't boil the sugar. I boil the water, pour in and stir the mixture till clear. Then I put it into the bottling bucket when ready and let the incoming beer mix it.

 

[Mexibilly]

Thanks y'all. Not boiling the sugar, just the water, is a great idea. I'm sure this one will carb up in a week or so

 

[unionrdr]

I've done that since I started bulk priming. Boil the 2C of water a few minutes, then stir in the weighed amount of priming sugar till the water goes clear again. It is then completely dissolved. I rack a few inches of beer into the sanitized bottling bucket, then pour the slightly cooled priming solution into the swirling surface of the beer & allow to finish racking.

 

[dkevinb]

Boiling for 7-10 minutes seems a bit long. You really only need to pasteurize it, which should happen in seconds. I generally weigh out my sugar (table sugar works fine), dump it into 2 cups of water in a saucepan, boil for a minute or two, and let cool for a bit while I get the rest of the stuff ready. I dump the sugar water into the bottling bucket, rack onto it, then give it a gentle swirl with the center part of my autosiphon, if I remember. This is probably not necessary. I then let it carb/condition at room temperature for two weeks. I bottle in amber PET bottles, so I can tell when it's carbed, which is almost always after one week, but that's with medium ABV beers. Higher ABV's may take longer. I always use a priming calculator to get the carbonation level I want for a given style, too.

 

[Wrinkletusk]

Your technique is sound; I used to bulk prime with sugar in the same manner, and never suffered from uncarbonated bottles (then again I've only been brewing for a year).

However, I just found out about the old Speise method: On brew day I grab a litre of cooled down wort before pitching, freeze, and then thaw a day before bottling. Boil on the day of bottling, cool, and then bulk prime in the bottling bucket. I like the fact that I'm putting my beer into my beer to get carbonation, without altering flavour (however negligible that may be). For my house IPA (1.057 to 1.010) I grab a litre to prime 15litres to 2.4 volumes.

http://www.brewersfriend.com/gyle-and-krausen-priming-calculator/