Hi I’ve had limited success with carbonation using bottles. I am eventually going to invest in some kegs and carbonate that way. I’ve used both priming sugar and fizz drops. It’s really a hit or miss with bottles that are carbonated and those with none. Any recommendations? After bottle conditioning I usually store in the fridge. Thanks .
What temp is the area you put them immediately after bottling?
Are you giving the beer a gentle stir during bottling? I like to gently stir every 10 bottles or so with my racking cane to make sure the priming sugar is evenly mixed in (don’t stir hard, you don’t want to oxygenate the beer now). Hopefully that will fix the uneven carbonation issue. I’ve never used fizz drops so I really can’t say why they are carbed unevenly while using them.
I usually store them in my closet 76 degrees for the duration of the conditions phase.
+1 for stirring every 10 or so bottles. How long are you letting them set at 70’s before putting them in the fridge?
It seems like the priming solution needs to be mixed in better.
What I like to do is put the primer in first then rack the beer on it. This mixes it pretty good.
Then a gentle stir with a sanitized ss spoon.
Then go to town. no stopping. Fill a bottle, then put a cap on it and put it to the side.
Final capping can wait until all bottles are filled.
If the phone rings or you have to step aside then give it another gentle stir and go to town.
Store your beer at room temp for 2 wks. Good to go.
Just curious how people are adding the sugar to the beer…
For me, I weigh the sugar in a measuring cup, then add boiling water to the cup while stirring gently. Usually no more than 1c water is necessary to dissolve up to 5 oz corn or table sugar. I give it a little time to cool while sanitizing everything, but I just pour this in the bucket at the start of racking. It’s probably technically still too hot, and I’m sure there are a few yeast casualties among the first cup or two of beer, but the beer cools the sugar rapidly enough that it’s not an issue for the batch. A gentle stir at the end of racking and that’s basically it.
I’ve never had a problem with inconsistent carbonation.
I’m wondering if people are trying to dissolve the priming sugar directly in the room-temp beer. Sugar hates to dissolve at room temp.
[quote=“JMcK”]Just curious how people are adding the sugar to the beer…
For me, I weigh the sugar in a measuring cup, then add boiling water to the cup while stirring gently. Usually no more than 1c water is necessary to dissolve up to 5 oz corn or table sugar. I give it a little time to cool while sanitizing everything, but I just pour this in the bucket at the start of racking. It’s probably technically still too hot, and I’m sure there are a few yeast casualties among the first cup or two of beer, but the beer cools the sugar rapidly enough that it’s not an issue for the batch. A gentle stir at the end of racking and that’s basically it.
I’ve never had a problem with inconsistent carbonation.
I’m wondering if people are trying to dissolve the priming sugar directly in the room-temp beer. Sugar hates to dissolve at room temp.[/
I used to stir every 10 or so bottles but stopped awhile ago and haven’t had a problem. One thing i do is cut my siphon tubing so that it’s long enough to loop around the inside of the bottling bucket so that I get a swirling action. Also start the siphon for I few seconds the add the sugar solution. But other than that I do exactly what you do.
[quote=“JMcK”]Just curious how people are adding the sugar to the beer…
For me, I weigh the sugar in a measuring cup, then add boiling water to the cup while stirring gently. Usually no more than 1c water is necessary to dissolve up to 5 oz corn or table sugar. I give it a little time to cool while sanitizing everything, but I just pour this in the bucket at the start of racking. It’s probably technically still too hot, and I’m sure there are a few yeast casualties among the first cup or two of beer, but the beer cools the sugar rapidly enough that it’s not an issue for the batch. A gentle stir at the end of racking and that’s basically it.
I’ve never had a problem with inconsistent carbonation.
I’m wondering if people are trying to dissolve the priming sugar directly in the room-temp beer. Sugar hates to dissolve at room temp.[/quote]
It has been a while but that is about how I always added priming sugar. Boiled the sugar and water to dissolve and sanitize then dump it into the sanitized bottling bucket. Rack the wort into the bucket on top to mix it up.I also figure the damage to the yeast will be minimal due to the bucket cooling it some then the first wort going in.
+1 - I let it sit in the bucket for a few minutes to cool before I rack over.
