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	FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
		Digest Janitor: pbabcock at hbd.org


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Contents:
  Re: Priming sugar amounts for larger volumes (Joe Walts)
  Re: Priming sugar amounts for larger volumes (Calvin Perilloux)
  priming solutions ("Mike Patient")


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Date: Thu, 14 May 2009 08:26:51 -0500
From: Joe Walts <jwalts at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: Priming sugar amounts for larger volumes

Hey Bill, the reason for reduced priming sugar rates is because of
decreases in headspace.  Headspaces need to be "carbonated" just like
the beer, and a full cornie keg will have a lot less total headspace
than an equivalent volume of beer in bottles.  That said, I think the
standard adjustment (using 1/4 less sugar or something like that)
overcompensates.  Your standard priming calculations will be very
close if you work with vessel volumes instead of liquid volumes.

Joe
Madison, WI


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Date: Thu, 14 May 2009 06:44:13 -0700 (PDT)
From: Calvin Perilloux <calvinperilloux at yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: Priming sugar amounts for larger volumes


Regarding regarding priming kegs:

"There seems to be a difference of opinion about whether
 it is necessary to adjust the amount of priming sugar for 
 larger bottles or kegs. [...]  I'm wondering if this is 
 largely a myth."

Bill, I think you are correct.  Given a properly filled 
keg versus a properly filled bottle, there is no theoretical 
reason the carbonation sugar should be substantially different.
Indeed, in my own practical experience, priming kegs with 
the same ratio of corn sugar as bottling results in the 
carbonation level that I would expect.  

The exception is when I rush to keg something, which I am
sometimes more prone to do with kegging, like when an event
demands beer "soon".  In those cases, I sometimes tend to
not wait long enough to ensure fermentation is 100% done,
and hence in my hurried batches, I've had some overcarbonation.  
Perhaps actions like this are where the myth started (in
addition to Bill's point of lower carbonation in cask ales).

Even when I do rush a beer, I've been able to predict my
impending overcarbonation by drawing a sample at kegging 
time and holding it at room temperature for some days.  
If it drops substantially in gravity, I know I've kegged 
it too early.  Maybe I should use Clinitest more often
when doing that.

By the way, Bill, perhaps in support of your arguments 
about oxidation/etc., I notice that my bottle conditioned 
versions of my beer seem to hold up better than my kegged 
ones over the long haul, at least at cold temperatures.
I've had delicate lagers hold their finesse for over a 
year in the bottle.  But perhaps that's because I can 
keep the bottles at 31 F, whereas the kegs are in the
35-38 F range.  Or perhaps it's the oxygen-scavenging
action of the yeast, as you point out.  Or both.

Calvin Perilloux
Middletown, Maryland, USA 


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Date: Thu, 14 May 2009 14:12:07 -0400
From: "Mike Patient" <mpatient at rta.biz>
Subject: priming solutions

In reply to priming sugar amounts:

John Palmer recommends in his book "How to Brew" that priming
 should be done as a solution, and added to the fermentor after
fermentation.

The best way to prime your beer is to mix your priming sugar into
the whole batch prior to bottling. This ensures that all the bottles
will be carbonated the same. Some books recommend adding
1 tsp. of sugar directly to the bottle for priming.
This is not a good idea because it is time consuming and imprecise.
Bottles may carbonate unevenly and explode.
Plus there is a greater risk of infection because the sugar
has not been boiled. The exception to these rules is to use PrimeTabs'.

Here's how to make and add priming solutions:
1. Boil 3/4 cup of corn sugar (4 oz by weight), or 2/3 cup of white sugar,
or 1 and 1/4 cup dry malt extract in 2 cups of water and let it cool.

You can add the priming solution in either of two ways, depending
on your equipment; I prefer the first (2a).

2a. If you have a bottling bucket gently pour the priming solution into it.
Using a sanitized siphon, transfer the beer into the sanitized bottling
bucket.
Place the outlet beneath the surface of the priming solution.
Do not allow the beer to splash because you don't want to add
oxygen to your beer at this point. Keep the intake end of the
racking tube an inch off the bottom of the fermenter to leave
the yeast and sediment behind.

2b. If you don't have a bottling bucket, open the fermenter
and gently pour the priming solution into the beer.
Stir the beer gently with a sanitized spoon, trying to
 mix it in evenly while being careful not to stir up the
sediment too much. Wait a half hour for the sediment
to settle back down and to allow more diffusion of the
priming solution to take place. Use a bottle filler
attachment with the siphon to make the filling easier.


He gives amounts of sugars, but his example is a 5 gallon batch:


I have tried this and it seems a pretty even way to distribute your
priming sugar across all containers, no matter the size.
Be careful though, you don't want to introduce oxygen at this stage.

Hope this helps,
Mike



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