11
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How can I get more consistent carbonation in bottles?
weigh your priming sugar, don't measure the volume
boil it in just enough water to dissolve it for a few minutes
pour that sugar syrup into your bottling bucket
rack the beer onto the sugar mixture
...
- 33.3k
10
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Aside from CO2 and N2, are any other gases used to "carbonate" beer?
Here's a list of some common gasses and their solubility in water at standard pressure and various temperatures.
CO2 dissolves ca 3g per gas kg of water at 5°C. Nitrogen is 0.027g for the same ...
- 27k
10
votes
When bottling, is it better to use corn sugar or saved wort?
Having done both, I can tell you that sugar (corn or table, doesn't matter) is the way to go. It's easy reliable and tasteless. Priming with gyle (the name for what you propose) is uncertain and ...
- 33.3k
10
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How can I prime bottled beer in accordance with the reinheitsgebot?
Yes. Priming with sugar would break the reinheitsgeboten.
The way you want to go is to retain unfermented mash and add it when bottling takes place.
There's a really handy calculator right here: ...
9
votes
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1 Litre bottles losing carbonation after opening
Yes, this is to be expected and perfectly normal - when you have a half filled container of beer, the carbon dioxide that's dissolved in the beer will come out of the beer to fill the space available, ...
- 27k
9
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Do I need the dregs from primary fermentation for carbonation?
No. The settled yeast (trub/dregs) from primary shouldn't be included in bottling. There's plenty of yeast in suspension to bottle condition, unless your cold weather was enough to completely crash ...
- 18.4k
9
votes
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Swing-top bottles leaking carbonation
Replace the seals. Buying 100 seals from eBay should cost you something like US$10.
I also use swing-top bottles, and my protocol is to replace a seal immediately after opening a bottle that turned ...
- 1,488
7
votes
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Force carbonation through beverage out line
My experience has shown that going through the beer out line doesn't change the rate the beer carbs up. Whether using the 'set and forget' process, or the high PSI and shake method. The bubbles coming ...
- 36.2k
7
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Why less priming sugar in a mini keg?
Your general understanding is pretty much spot-on. I think the thing to consider here is that your reasoning assumes that half or a third of the priming sugar is meant to yield the same amount of ...
- 6,377
7
votes
how do you add yeast during bottling stage and ensure it won't burst?
I can't imagine anyone suggesting bottling at a FG of 1.042
I would return them to the fermenter and allow fermintation to complete.
Those are bottle bombs. Be careful.
Many yeasts don't survive at ...
- 18.4k
7
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kegged cider and oxygen
Yes you will oxidize the cider (or beer or wine) if you don't use CO2 or some other inert gas like Nitrogen (but that has it's own problems). Oxygen will not "reignite" the yeast. Yeast will happily ...
- 3,002
7
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Carbonation process - Using the carboy
You do not want to do this. Carboys are not meant to hold pressure and will break. If you want clearer beer, aging it longer in a carboy and/or using something like gelatin or whirlfloc will greatly ...
- 3,002
6
votes
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Capper indents bottle cap. Is this ok?
My capper does this too. It's not been an issue for our beer. If it was leaking I'd think you might see some evidence around the top.
- 982
6
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Beer looses almost all carbonation when opened
What your describing is volcano bottles. Over carbonation
This is caused by bottle conditioning with too much priming sugar, too much residual sugar or wild yeast infection.
Priming sugar misdose is ...
- 18.4k
6
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How to over carbonate?
Bottle bombs are usually beers that are about 10 gravity points above terminal gravity for standard 12oz bottles, then hit TG in the bottles. So 1.020 SG when 1.010 is TG.
For typical normal ...
- 18.4k
6
votes
Is there anything as too much priming sugar?
If you have added approximately the right amount of priming sugar and your beer is not carbonated at all, your problem probably is not the amount of sugar added.
A common problem is inadequate mixing ...
- 366
5
votes
Flat beer with table sugar?
It's probably just too cool. I had lots of problems with carbonation when I left my bottles in my 65-70 degree basement. In fact, I had one batch where the bottles on the concrete floor did not ...
- 1,432
5
votes
carbonating using a soda stream
No personal experience, but I have heard that while this is not what the sodastream is for (instructions say to ONLY carbonate water), it can be done with success.
The method is as follows: get ...
- 3,158
5
votes
carbonating using a soda stream
I have tried this. My soda stream is still sticky because of it. It is not advised.
- 51
5
votes
What might kill a ginger bug - fact and fiction?
You're probably not getting fermentation in the bottle.
"make the ginger tea/syrup in a stainless steel pot"
What are you doing in this step? If you are boiling to make a syrup you are killing ...
- 9,705
5
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Bottling vs Kegging Questions
Let's separate this out into two phases: carbonation and dispensing.
Carbonation inside a keg can be done just like carbonation inside a bottle: by the addition of a specific amount of sugar, which ...
- 10.1k
5
votes
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When bottling, is it better to use corn sugar or saved wort?
Using sugar is easier. There is no risk that you have too much gyle or too little. You can just buy extra sugar and be on the safe side. Gyle needs to be saved in sterile containers (I usually fill a ...
- 1,191
5
votes
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Force-carbonation of unfiltered beer?
Force carbonation is very common for homebrewers. I'd imagine any homebrewer with a kegging setup does force carbonation by default. I would guess, too, that it's much more often than not done without ...
- 10.1k
5
votes
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Does carbonating with sugar make the beer sweeter?
Your beer is sweeter because the yeast did not ferment all the sugar.
Once the sugar is fermented, the sweetness should dissappear.
The reason could be:
Not enough yeast left (specially if your ...
- 4,736
5
votes
Carbonation drops in cider
Carbonation drops are just aliquoted doses of sugar. They still carbonate by the action of yeast in the bottle. I don't think carb drops will solve the problem you describe.
- 36.2k
5
votes
How can I prime bottled beer in accordance with the reinheitsgebot?
The easiest way to not break the Reinheitsgebot rules is to use malt extract. Either liquid or dried. Simple as that. Many people do this and most homebrew books have a way to calculate the amounts. ...
- 3,002
5
votes
Still, un-bubbly cider after priming and left for 3 weeks at room temperature
Sound like its just not done yet. Wild yeast will work slower than some purer strains will work. If there is pressure under the cap when you open it then there is some activity going. Of course, if ...
- 36.2k
4
votes
Why does my beer have carbonation but no foam head?
I must admit, I am not an expert in home brewing but I do work in the pub trade and whenever we encounter customers whom have problems with beer head retention or glass lacing, the first place we ...
4
votes
Accepted
Keg not carbonating.
You might just need more time. I usually let mine go for 7-10 days total before.
5 days seems a little short to me even with your 30PSI upfront charge.
- 36.2k
4
votes
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What sugar for a sparkling iced tea?
You're on the right track, but DME is around 80% fermentable, so you wouldn't get much residual sweetness.
Using a blend of lactose and sucrose (table sugar) might work. The sucrose will ferment ...
- 8,978
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