Priming

[Highlander]

Hi all,

This is my first post and first brew.
I've decided to go all in and go for an AG brew. A Duchars IPA from Graeme's book.
I've quite proudly! managed the brew pretty well, no major problems bar a stuck mash and some wort lost to sediment due to my unstucking method (going to have to re-design my mash tun).
Its fermenting away quite nicely, though only have about 16 out of my planned 19L

I have a couple of questions. I was planning to keg it straight from the FV to a king keg for maturation, but i've been reading about secondary fermenting and priming. Do i need to do this? and if so what’s the best way.

Thanks in advance.

[jubbo11]

I also use a king keg.

What I have always done (rightly or wrongly) is primed with 1 level teaspoon of sugar for every 2 litres of beer. Unless something different is stated in the recipe (I have just done a recipe which states the amount of brown sugar needed for priming).

When you are transferring just take a litre or two of beer into a bowl. Dissolve the sugar and then return to your brew that is now in the keg.

This has always worked for me. I have no idea if it is the "right" way though

[trucker5774]

I prime about 4g of sugar per litre for ale and about 7g for lager styles.

Or I transfer before primary fermentation has finished (about 4 points before the anticipated FG)

[spannerhands]

I also use 3-4g of priming sugar per litre. I use brewing sugar and put it direct into the king keg, then run the beer onto it (no splashing, just angle the tube to get it gently swirling) which is sufficient to dissolve the sugar.

I think practice varies on the use of secondary fermenters prior to putting it into a pressure barrel. I just leave mine in the primary fv for 2 weeks then straight to king keg.

I'm drinking the Deuchars IPA from Grahams book out of my king keg right now, and its lovely I guess yours might come out a little more bitter than planned if you're 3 litres down on your brew length and didn't adjust hops, but it will still be a cracking pint.

P.S. When you say this is your first brew, do you mean you've gone straight in with all grain having never made beer before?!

[gregorach]

Well, for the full range of priming options...

I also prime at 3-4g/L (using regular white granulated sugar), but I dissolve it in a small amount of hot water and then boil it for a minute or two before chucking it into the barrel and then racking the beer straight from the primary FV. But then I'm rather obsessive about minimising any possibility for contamination.

[GrowlingDogBeer]

I also use normal white granulated sugar in a King Keg, I just put in about 4g per litre, so you want about 60 - 70 g. I just chuck the sugar in the bottom of the keg and then put the beer on top.

[Highlander]

Thanks for the advice. That clears it up.
Think I’ll go for the adding the sugar to water and boiling approach. Could I add the isinglass at this point as well?

Yep this is my first brew. I've seen a couple of friends with setups and seen the process a couple of times so figured it was time to try it myself. I've been building up the gear over the last few months, though as i said i'm going to have to rethink my mash tun. Its currently drilled copper pipe with filter mesh wrapped around it, but i don't think it gave enough flow area and it stuck solid so i'm going to strip it back and put some mesh above it all to form a false bottom.

Hopefully It shouldn't be to bitter as I had the right amount of liquor going into the boil. Just had to leave a lot in the boiler due to loads of sediment, so shouldn't have messed with the overall concentrations.

[jubbo11]

I would recommend the following

1) When you finish your boil and you transfer to Fermentaion bucket you should be checking the SG. It's normal to lose water but this will mean your SG will be higher as your wort will be more concentrated. So add some water to bring up the volume and bring down your SG into range. If your SG is too low you can add some extra sugar if needed.

2) Islinglass... I prefer Irish moss. Just add a teaspoon in the last 15 mins of the boil. makes all the nasties clump and they are left behind in the boiler. I have always been worried about putting fish guts in beer especially if it is the fresh liquid version. You have no idea if it has been stored or transported correctly. Imagine it sitting on a pallet in some warehouse in this recent heat. Yum.