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I've test bottled one 500ml bottle of Ginger Beer with one Coopers priming drop. How long does priming take? If I opened it in a day would it have some pressure/fizz/gas or does it need a week or so? I want to ascertain if one drop was enough as I don't trust the terrible instructions' rough 'heaped teaspoon' amount; seems far too inexact to me!

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Bottle priming takes typically 2 weeks, depending upon temperature and yeast health. The bottles should initially be stored at room temperature so the yeast can produce CO2 from the priming sugar, which takes 2-3 days. If you opened the bottle then, you'd get a loud hiss and flat beer, since all the CO2 is in the headspace. After the CO2 is produced, it needs time to dissolve into the beer. This takes about 10 days, so 14 days total is typical.

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  • Ah interesting! So the CO2 dissolves, that makes sense. So if I wanted a very fizzy drink its a matter of using more prime, and hoping my bottles can take it :). I wish I'd done 2 test bottlings now, one with 2 drops also. Apr 6, 2013 at 6:24
  • @mdma, does room temperature simply mean not over 75*F, or is there a floor as well? Thanks! May 15, 2013 at 17:07
  • The lower limit is the lower temperature tolerance of the yeast - 18°C/64.5°F is a safe bet, but some ale yeasts are happy down to 15°C/59°F.
    – mdma
    May 15, 2013 at 19:50

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