Question about sugar for before I bottle

[bigskooter]

After I boil 4oz of corn sugar or dex in 2 cups water. Should I let it cool before adding to my brew before I bottle or is it ok to mix in while it is still hot? Just wondering what others do?

 

[cullen]

I mix it hot. 2 cups of hot solution in 5 gallons (80 cups) will have only a very minor impact on the temperature of the solution.

 

[cullen]

BTW - I think you're using more water than you need to, unless 2 cups works best in your equipment. You can easily dissolve 4 oz of sugar in 1 cup (or less) of hot water.

 

[plinythebadass]

ABSOLUTELY LET IT COOL! I have boiled up a priming solution and boiled it down quite a bit till it was a syrup. I added it fresh off the stove and stirred it in. I pulled out my spoon and literally, as I'd been pouring in the hot solution into the room temp beer, it hardened producing this long coiled spaghetti strand of hardened dextrine syrup around my spoon. It was a ***** to clean, I just let it cool and you'll be good!

 

[cullen]

You boiled it down to a syrup? Why?

 

[unionrdr]

That's why I use 2C of boiled water to mix up my priming solution. Keep it thin & easily mixable is the whole point of dissolving it in water. I also let it cool down to where it's luke warm before adding.

 

[plinythebadass]

You boiled it down to a syrup? Why?

Not like maple syrup or molasses, just less viscous than water. 3/4 cup dex with 1 cup water. It was the weirdest thing ever!

 

[plinythebadass]

Can you just mix dex straight into the beer and proceed to bottle?

 

[cullen]

Can you just mix dex straight into the beer and proceed to bottle?

You can, but it dissolves better (and therefore mixes better) in hot water.

 

[unionrdr]

I wouldn't. It can be hard to mix thouroughly into the beer for even carbonation. Make a priming solution instead.

 

[Yooper]

Can you just mix dex straight into the beer and proceed to bottle?

No. It won't dissolve well in room temperature beer, and so you may have some bottle bombs and undercarbed beer due to the inadequate mixing. You don't want to introduce oxygen into the beer at this point, so you can't really stir it well enough to mix.

Just boil up 2 cups of water, add the dextrose, boil for a minute, then pour it into your bottling bucket and then rack the beer into it. Put the tubing down on the bottom of the bottling bucket, in a circle, so when you rack the beer it fills from the bottom and it swirls up into the priming solution, mixing it up well and avoiding introducing oxygen. That works great!

 

[bleme]

Can you just mix dex straight into the beer and proceed to bottle?

You can, but it sure isn't the best way. You will probably get very poor distribution throughout your batch, have to over-stir and oxidize, or a very slim chance of introducing an infection.

 

[plinythebadass]

That's my normal procedure. I was curious because I feel like the priming solution I made didn't use enough sugar. I'm a tad bit nervous, ways to save it?

 

[ktblunden]

Just boil up 2 cups of water, add the dextrose, boil for a minute, then pour it into your bottling bucket and then rack the beer into it. Put the tubing down on the bottom of the bottling bucket, in a circle, so when you rack the beer it fills from the bottom and it swirls up into the priming solution, mixing it up well and avoiding introducing oxygen. That works great!

That's exactly my method, except I go with one cup of water. I've found racking directly into the priming solution is sufficient to mix it thoroughly and cool it down at the same time, particularly since my beers usually come right out of the fridge after cold crashing. Always had even carbonation across all my batches.

 

[ktblunden]

That's my normal procedure. I was curious because I feel like the priming solution I made didn't use enough sugar. I'm a tad bit nervous, ways to save it?

If you're boiling the solution long enough to reduce it you're on your way to making candy, not sugar solution. That's why it hardened when you cooled it rapidly. Just bring water to a boil, stir in your sugar, and let it go a minute longer to ensure there's nothing bad hitching a ride with the sugar. No need to go any further than that.

 

[plinythebadass]

If you're boiling the solution long enough to reduce it you're on your way to making candy, not sugar solution. That's why it hardened when you cooled it rapidly. Just bring water to a boil, stir in your sugar, and let it go a minute longer to ensure there's nothing bad hitching a ride with the sugar. No need to go any further than that.

Lord ok my fault here I forgot to mention something. That screw uo happened to one of my first batches. The one I'm trying to save was brewed three weeks ago. I made a solution but I think I undercut my sugar with my cup of water. That's why I was curious about saving it. Its good to know though that I don't need to make a thicker solution I kinda thought u might have to. Cheers

 

[sww35]

Still have my first brew fermenting. However, thinking back in some of my research, I think I recall seeing a youtube video in which someone added their corn syrup or dex to their bottles as is, with no water and then racked the beer to the bottles. With that said, what are the pros and cons of that approach?

 

[bleme]

Still have my first brew fermenting. However, thinking back in some of my research, I think I recall seeing a youtube video in which someone added their corn syrup or dex to their bottles as is, with no water and then racked the beer to the bottles. With that said, what are the pros and cons of that approach?

You still have a very small chance of introducing an infection. You are guaranteed all the bottles to carb the same, but it is a huge pain to divvy the sugar up between 50 bottles.