Priming sugar

[Cojones893]

I have a pale ale that I made using the Mr. Beer kit. Then I put it in a second fermentor with honey until the fermentation slowed a lot. How much priming sugar should I put into each 500ml bottle? Also I have one 1 liter bottle.

Should I put the sugar dry into each bottle or should I pour it into the beer then bottle?

 

[Rick500]

Here's a priming sugar calculator.

It's best to boil the sugar in a small amount of water (I use 8 to 16 ounces) for 10 minutes or so, then put the solution first and then the beer afterward, into a sanitized container (while trying to avoid splashing which would oxidize the beer with time).

Siphoning the beer on top of the priming solution will mix it thoroughly with the beer. If you try to measure out dry sugar for each bottle, you won't end up with even carbonation across the whole batch.

Edit: If you're unsure of how many volumes of CO2 you are aiming for, just use 2.4 or 2.5 in that field in the calculator. That's about right for a pale ale.

 

[Cojones893]

How do I figure out the residual CO2

 

[Rick500]

The calculator will figure that out for you, and it's not really a very important number anyway.

Just fill out these fields:


Desired volumes CO2: [this is where you enter 2.5 or so]
Beer temperature: [temp of the beer when it is ready to be primed] Edit: sorry, I should have said the temp at which you are going to leave the beer to carbonate.
Beer volume: [this is the volume of the entire batch]
Priming ingredient: [corn sugar, cane sugar, etc.]

Then click the Calculate button and it'll fill the rest out for you.

 

[dunnright00]

Here's a question for you.

I plan on cold crashing my beer before I bottle it. Probably down to about 40f.

The calculator asks for temperature and when I enter 40f, the amount of sugar is way less than if I left it at 72f.

Is this going to carbonate enough? Using only 61grams as opposed to using 109?!

 

[Rick500]

Enter the temperature you're going to leave it at to carbonate.

I've never cold crashed a beer before carbonating it in bottles. You're going to take a lot of yeast out of suspension doing that. Very well may still be enough yeast left to carbonate though. I'm not sure.

 

[freeballs102010]

I brewed my first batch of beer (from a kit a few weeks ago).

When I put in dry sugar, after the beer foamed over the top instantly like a kid's science fair vinegar/baking soda volcano. Why did that happen?

My beer has a bit of a cider-sour taste to it, Did the priming sugar have something to do with that?

 

[freeballs102010]

Also another question re: priming sugar -

Why can't malt extract be used to prime beer?

 

[devilishprune]

It can be, anything with fermentable sugars in it can be used to prime beer. Dextrose, cane sugar, brown sugar, LME, DME, or even wort can be used. The amounts needed, though, are going to differ.

 

[JiveTurkey]

I've interpreted "beer temperature" to be the highest temperature the beer has gotten after fermentation completed and before bottling.

The reason this temperature is even important is that there will be some CO2 in the beer before bottling, so when priming, only enough sugar is needed to get you to a level of CO2 between your desired final volume of CO2 and what's already in the beer before bottling.

While fermenting, though the vast majority of CO2 escapes out of the airlock, some CO2 remains in suspension. The cooler a liquid is, the more gas it can hold; the warmer it is, the less it can hold.

Once fermentation has completed and no more CO2 is produced, the CO2 already produced will suspend in the beer. If the beer gets warmed up, then some of the CO2 will escape the liquid. Even if the beer gets cooler after this, CO2 won't necessarily go back into solution because the CO2 has already escaped and no more is being produced within.

 

[JiveTurkey]

When I put in dry sugar, after the beer foamed over the top instantly like a kid's science fair vinegar/baking soda volcano. Why did that happen?

No idea. It is best, though, to dilute the sugar in a small amount of boiling water first so it will dissolve uniformly in the beer (and to sanitize it).

My beer has a bit of a cider-sour taste to it, Did the priming sugar have something to do with that?

I've heard this happening with table sugar. Try dextrose (corn sugar); I think it is supposed to have a more neutral flavor.

 

[freeballs102010]

Thanks for the answers.

I used corn surgar, however it was dry.

I think I'll take a couple bottles to the homebrew shop owner, see what he thinks the taste is.