Sugar techniques?

[OlRed]

I am currently brewing an Irish Stout using a MB kit (only my second batch). It has been in the primary for exactly two weeks today and I plan on letting it sit another week before bottling. The directions call for adding sugar when bottling but I've heard that this may not be the best method. Any suggestions?

 

[hotrodtrash]

I've used standard table sugar to carb all my beers. I have no complaints.

 

[cyberwollf]

adding lots of sugar during the boil is what you probably read about people advising against. corn sugar at bottling is used by most people

 

[TANSTAAFB]

Not sure what you heard, but most of us that bottle use about 3/4 cup of corn sugar boiled in a cup or two of water, cooled, and added to the bottling bucket before racking the beer on top. You might have heard people say not to use table sugar, but even that is fine...you are adding very little in 5 gallons of beer and it is fully fermentable. Some use DME instead of sugar and the REALLY dedicated krausen their brews to carb them https://www.homebrewtalk.com/wiki/index.php/Krausening.

And props for having the patience to wait 3 weeks on your first brew...I did not have that kind of patience!!!

Welcome to your new obsession

 

[Revvy]

You need to add sugar at bottling time in order for it to carb. The yeast needs to eat the new sugar in order to "fart" the co2 to carb the beer. There are better or worse ways to add it, if that is what you mean. I find the best way is to bulk prime, by boiling up your priming sugar in 2 cups of water, and adding it to your bottling bucket as you transfer the beer onto it, then fill from the bottling bucket with a bottling wand.

Here's a lot of good tips for making bottling easy here; https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/bottling-tips-homebrewer-94812/

 

[G_Force_5]

I too have a stout. 2 weeks in primary Carboy. 2gallons. I'm getting excited to bottle. There has been no action in the air lock for 4 days. I want to bulk prime with table cane sugar. What amount of water and sugar?
I figure this will be ready by st pats.

 

[OlRed]

Thanks for all of the input. For the time being I bottle straight from the primary so I guess I will add the sugar directly to the bottles. Maybe next time I'll have a bottling bucket and can try the other techniques you all suggested.

 

[Revvy]

Thanks for all of the input. For the time being I bottle straight from the primary so I guess I will add the sugar directly to the bottles. Maybe next time I'll have a bottling bucket and can try the other techniques you all suggested.

Why don't you just hold off bottling and go to the hardwarestore and make a bottling bucket? You can do it for under 10 bucks, and it will save you a lot of headache for your first time bottling. Plus how are you physically going to get the beer into your bottles. You can't just pour it it, and you can't just open the spigot and let the beer "fall" into the bottles, that will cause the beer to come into contact with too much oxygen and oxydize.

(Technically, we fill from the bottom of the bottle up to the neck, this helps to void any oxygen out of the bottles.)

Go to a hardware store and get a translucent or white bucket...but look for one where the 5 gallon mark falls way below the top of the bucket. Usually it will say 5 gallons at 3rd band from the top. (oh get the lid too....I totally regret not getting it when I did.)

Then get a spigot and make a dedicated bottling bucket.
Mine is the translucent Leaktite brand 5 gallon container with the gallon and liter markings from Homedepot.

Here's a pic of mine from my bottling thread.

You'll be much happier with bottling if you don't go out of your way frustrate yourself.

 

[rudu81]

Also use Revvy's bottling spigot idea. One of the great and simple additions!

I have a dip tube in my bucket so I get all but about 4 ounces of stuff from my bottling bucket. What that means in my case is about another 6 pack of beer- 54 bottles instead of 48.

And the biggest thing about a dip tube is that there is no need to tilt to get the last few dregs of beer. It is easy to make, all you need to do is find a drilled stopper (or drill your own) that fits in the back part of your bottling bucket spigot (I got mine from my lhbs) then you need to find a tube that fits on the hole...It could be a piece of bent copper tubing, it could be the body of a ballpoint pen, it could even be a bent piece of racking cane....I made my latest one out of broken racking cane that I heated and bent over an alcohol spirit lamp, heating and cooling until I got the right bend. (One tip, bend it until the back part of the bottom of the tube touches the bottom of the bucket, leaving a tiny gap in the front for the beer to flow through.)

 

[Revvy]

Also use Revvy's bottling spigot idea. One of the great and simple additions!

LOL...I was thinking we need to actually get him using a bottling bucket first. But you're right, he might as well build it as the delux model.

 

[TANSTAAFB]

I ran across Revvy's bottling set up after I bottled my first batch, followed his advice, and never looked back!!! Attaching the bottle filler right to the spout is SOOOO wuch easier than trying to juggle 3-4' of tubing and keep everything sanitary.

Your life will be MUCH simpler if you buy or make the tools you need beforehand. Adding sugar to the bottles will work but often results in inconsistent carbonation. I also understand that sometimes you don't have the time or the scratch to do it the way you might like...this hobby is all about making do, even if it means doing it the hard way. Hell, I make full boil 5.5 gal batches on my stove w/ one 5 gal pot and one 3 gal!!! Not the best method, but the beer is still good

 

[OlRed]

In my first batch from the MB kit i just bottled directly from the primary (MB keg) using the tap. It was pretty painless and i tilted the bottles so as to attempt to reduce splashing. But i'm willing to make the extra effort to get better results. you say that "allowing the beer to fall into the bottles" will expose it to too much oxygen, but how can I get it from the primary to the bottling bucket without exposing it to oxygen....other than by purchasing a siphon and hoses?

 

[OlRed]

on a second topic....I was thinking about using brown sugar versus white sugar when bottling my stout. any down side to this?? thanks again everyone!

 

[Revvy]

on a second topic....I was thinking about using brown sugar versus white sugar when bottling my stout. any down side to this?? thanks again everyone!

I talk about all sorts of alternative priming sugars in my bottling stickey, in like the first 12 posts or so...

 

[wolverinebrewer]

In my first batch from the MB kit i just bottled directly from the primary (MB keg) using the tap. It was pretty painless and i tilted the bottles so as to attempt to reduce splashing. But i'm willing to make the extra effort to get better results. you say that "allowing the beer to fall into the bottles" will expose it to too much oxygen, but how can I get it from the primary to the bottling bucket without exposing it to oxygen....other than by purchasing a siphon and hoses?

There's no trick. That's exactly how you get it there, an auto-siphon and about 36" of hose. I set my primary bucket on the counter and the bottling bucket on a folding chair. The top of the bottle bucket is at the level of the bottom of the primary bucket. A 36" hose is long enough that the outlet end lays on the bottom of the bottle bucket which allows the beer to come out horozontally along the bottom creating zero splashing.