priming sugar

[beernube]

Just a question on priming sugar.
I have seen a few videos where the priming sugar is added to the wort boil. From what I understand, this would require additional yeast for fermentation as well as priming when bottling. None of the extract kits I have seen call for this step so I am curious what the advantages would be.

 

[reeberom]

Never seen that before. Priming sugar is added after primary and secondary fermentation during the bottling phase. You boil 1 cup of water in a small pot, then add your priming sugar (flame off to prevent scorching). Once dissolved bring to a quick boil again. I usually do 20 seconds or so. Let the water sugar solution cool and put into bottling bucket with the beer that's ready to be bottled. Hope this clears it up.

 

[kh54s10]

The priming sugar is for carbonating your bottles. You mix the sugar with a couple cups of water, boil for 5-10 minutes and add it to the bottling bucket when you transfer the beer, then bottle.

If there is more sugar for the boil it should be separate and in the instructions. If you put the priming sugar in the boil, you will need more for bottling.

You should not need any additional yeast with any kit. Although re-hydrating dry yeast and making a starter for liquid yeast is recommended.

 

[unionrdr]

I just boil the water for a couple minutes & stir in the measured amount of priming sugar off the heat. There's no moisture on dry sugar that nasties need to survive.

 

[kh54s10]

I just boil the water for a couple minutes & stir in the measured amount of priming sugar off the heat. There's no moisture on dry sugar that nasties need to survive.

Agreed, I quoted the often recommended 5-10 minutes. I personally just bring it to a boil, start the siphon in a swirling motion and add the hot sugar to the bottling bucket. A cup or two of hot priming sugar solution in 5 gallons cools almost immediately. IMO my beers have not suffered with this procedure.

 

[beernube]

Thank you for the advice, but in the videos they clearly are boiling wort and adding ingredients. At this point, they open the pre packaged priming sugar and pour it into boil as well. I understand that this will increase the alcohol, but what other if any advantage is there?

 

[Pkrd]

Its 100% fermentable so the beer ends up drier.

 

[Puddlethumper]

Thank you for the advice, but in the videos they clearly are boiling wort and adding ingredients. At this point, they open the pre packaged priming sugar and pour it into boil as well. I understand that this will increase the alcohol, but what other if any advantage is there?

You might want to look at that video again a little more closely. Either the video is incorrect our you are misunderstanding what it is telling you to do. Priming sugar is used for exactly that, "priming the bottles for carbonation". During fermentation virtually all available sugar is consumed by the yeast. You need to add a little sugar to this finished beer to restart the yeast so it will carbonate the bottles.

In the video they may be adding sugar for another purpose such as a DME addition to increase the fermentable sugar in the wort. But any sugar that is added to the wort will be consumed by the yeast during fermentation. Then there would be nothing left in the beer to feed the yeast for the carbonation phase.