Tomorrow I am bottling my first batch. The kit came with the package of priming sugar. Am I better using the package of priming sugar or are the priming sugar tablets that go in the bottle a better option? If I should use the package that came with the kit how do I make sure the sugar water is mixed well with the wort when I transfer it to the bottling bucket?Should I mix it gently with a spoon being careful not to get oxygen mixed in or do I rely on the natural action of the liquid while siphoning?
Sugar water goes into the bottling bucket. Siphon your beer onto it. Keep your sanitized hose under the beer as the bucket fills up. This should be sufficient but some stir gently, just don’t splash it around.
I would use the pack. Do you know that you’ll have 5gal. in your bucket AFTER racking?
If you made an IPA you might end up with only 4.5gal. in the bucket. The pack is made for 5gal.
So your beer can come out a little over-carbonated. If you think that you’ll be close to 5gal. then I wouldn’t worry about and do what Hades said. I do gently stir after racking and then bottle immediately.
Cheers.
+1 to what hades said.
Not sure if you’re doing a 1-gal, a 5-gal or what. For sugar versus fizz drops; I’ve never used the fizz drops, but my understanding is, Fizz drops are more expensive, but more convenient if you’re only doing a few bottles. The convenience vs cost is the key, your call. But since you have the sugar, why not use it?
Asside: 5oz by weight of corn sugar can be anywhere between 1/2c. and 1c. by my measure cups, so always weigh.
[quote=“JMcK”]+1 to what hades said.
Not sure if you’re doing a 1-gal, a 5-gal or what. [/quote]
Good point. I keep forgetting about the 1 gal. kits. I guess I just ASSumed it was for 5gal.
Maybe It’s a 3gal. batch. Adjust the sugar as needed or use the “dime size drops”!
I made a porter. The Brewcraft, Streets of London Porter. It’s a 5 gallon kit and I started out with 5 gallons of wort in the fermenter. There is a fair amount of sediment in the bottom of the fermenter but the liquid is still at the 5 gallon mark. So I would have to estimate that I will be a bit short of the 5 gallon mark but being that it was a kit is it fair to assume that they provided the proper amount of priming sugar for the predicted amount that would be available after racking? I would think that the kit would be tested and prepared according to the expected yield. I am very excited about tomorrow. I hope all goes well. I will open my first homebrew on Superbowl Sunday. I will be sure to have some back up beer from the store just in case my first batch is not what I would have hoped for.
They package as though you have 5gal. in your bucket. So you either have to adjust up or down with your primer if It’s more than a half gallon. If less than half gal. just use what they gave you.
You’ll be fine doing this. There is some give and take with volumes of co2.
Rack what you can and don’t be worried about getting any yeast/trub in the bucket.
Good luck with your beer, I hope it comes out very tasty! :cheers:
I cannot imagine it’s more than a half gallon I will lose. I will use it all and hope for the best. It’s my first batch ever so my hopes are high but my expectations are… less than high.
Porters are typically low carbed (approx. 2.1 vols) so for 4.75 gal @ room temp, you’d need just over 3 ounces of corn sugar. If you don’t have a digital scale, you could back off slightly on the sugar. I believe those are 5 ounce packs in the kits. Using the priming calculator & weighing made a big difference for me anyhow. I hate overcarbed beers!! Good luck! 
OK, so I did not get to read the last reply about the amount to use and just used the whole package. Since this is my first try at this I decided that I want to make another batch of the same kit with my newly gained knowledge and see how the two batches compare. So I have another package of the priming sugar and weighed it out and in the bag it weighs 3.5 ounces. So I think I did OK with this. It’s almost 24 hours since I bottled and so far nothing has exploded or leaked so that’s a good start. The bottles are dark brown glass and the porter is dark as well so I really cant see anything inside to tell if anything is happening. Is there anything I should see or look for to verify that things are proceeding along as they should?
No. I put my cases in garbage bags, just as a precaution.
But other that that, forget about the bottles for 3 weeks. The yeast know what they’re doing, it’s in their hands now.
[quote=“in_the_basement”]Since this is my first try at this I decided that I want to make another batch of the same kit with my newly gained knowledge and see how the two batches compare. quote]
Yep. That’s how It starts. The BUG. The results will be worth the time put in.
Remember that brewing beer is just a hobby.
It’s up to you to make it an obsession.
One other thing you can do in the future is bottle one plastic soda bottle slightly squeezed. You’ll have an idea of when the batch is carbed when the bottle has expanded and gotten hard. (that sounded a little racy didn’t it?)
I like the plastic soda bottle idea. As for making the bug into an obsession, that’s not gonna be a problem. It’s in my nature. I hook into something and I cannot seem to get enough.I may have to buy a second fermenter so that I don’t have to wait between batches.
