Carbonate Ale or not ?

[trickybrew]

Hi all just like to ask a daft question with ale do we carbonate ale or not , I will be bottling don't no wether to or not I've got flowers & 6x on the go .
Thanks

[jimny14]

when I,m bottling an ale I just put a tiny bit of sugar in, just enough to get some pressure in the bottle, maybe quarter of a tea spoon a pint, it works for how I like my beer, gets some pressure in the bottle n gives a bit of sparkle without it being very fizzy. As I say its personal preference, but that's how I do it. I'm sure someone else will have another way that they like. However much you decide to use, bottle it up, then keep it warm for at least a week before putting it somewhere cold for as long as you can, [My standard advice is 4 weeks but I can't wait that long before trying one] then get stuck in.

[trickybrew]

Im thinking of using COOPERS CARBONATION DROPS maybe 1 sugar drop per bottle Hmmmmmmm has anyone tryed coopers with ale.

[Brotherton Lad]

Yes, you should carbonate it. Use sugar, DME or carbonation drops as you wish. It's also possible to carbonate if you bottle or keg JUST before fermentation stops and use that gas produced at the finish, but more risky if you get your timing wrong.
BTW if my beer history is correct, ale was the name of the old unhopped beers (ol in old Norse and modern Norwegian for that matter) when gruit or nettles were used to help preserve the brew. When the law was changed in the 16th century to allow new-fangled foreign hops we started to use the name bitter, but there was alot of opposition to the change.

[Brotherton Lad]

Of course, it depends on your taste. As a Yorkshireman I like a pint to have a head on it and some gas. Having said that I enjoyed many a pint of still 6X dropped out of a cask when I lived in Wiltshire. What is important for home brew is to get a blanket of CO2 on top of your beer, otherwise it will oxidise. That's why cask ales in pubs have to be drunk quickly once the spile is removed otherwise they go off in about 5 days depending on cellar temperature.

[trickybrew]

Thanks for that yas i will carbonate with the coopers drops in grolsch bottles.

[Hoodlum]

whatever you like to do really - tis your brew after all. I don't carbonate mine, but I like it that way and I can then drink more of it

[Ditch]

I don't carbonate mine, but I like it that way and I can then drink more of it

Good point there, Hooders. I no longer even CO2 my kegs, let alone prime them with sugar.

Thus I drink my beer with less head than one of Henry VIII's wives. It slips down my throat like greased baby oil. And I Never feel bloated, or need to belch like a roaring lion.

Like ye say; Do it how ye find ye like it. No rules. No bosses. Just personal enjoyment