Priming bottles with glucose/sugar solution

[Garth]

I'm probably being really lazy here, but can any tell me what sort of quantities do I need if I want to draw off some beer, stick it in a pan and gently heat it and add glucose. Then I can simply squirt using a syringe a certain amount of sugary beer solution into each bottle to prime and not get the foam that gets created when beer hits the dry glucose. I usually prime with 1/2 - 3/4 teaspoon of glucose per 500ml bottle.

I know this has been discussed and done by someone, I just cannot find it.

Cheers folks.

[gregorach]

Sounds like a terrible faff... Why not just dissolve your glucose in boiling water and prime the whole lot in a oner?

[trucker5774]

Simple. Work out the total sugar for the whole brew....e.g 2g per pint X 40 pints = 80g lets say for ease you have a syringe which will dispense 10ml (I have a 40ml so that gives me 4 squirts without a refill)

40 pints X 10ml = 400ml. of beer or water. Once the sugar is added and dissolved there will be a little more than that......you will use a bit more in the mechanics of it than the maths show, so it should balance out. Do a practice run with sugar and water on a smaller scale first....say 10 pints worth and see how you go. Its only pence and will take just a few minutes.

[dave-o]

Sounds like a terrible faff... Why not just dissolve your glucose in boiling water and prime the whole lot in a oner?

Because that either means uneven priming or stirring of the FV, thereby probably disturbing sediment.

I'm a syringe primer, but i don't bother with any calculations or drawing off beer. You will be using about 150ml of liquid in 23000ml of beer - just use water, you are never going to tell the difference!
-Put required amount of sugar in sterilised measuring jug
-Boil some water in kettle and top the measuring jug up to about 250ml (assuming 23l batch). Stir.
-Syringe 5ml of liquid into each bottle (assuming 500ml bottles), adding an open cap after each syringing (so no dust gets in and so your caps are ready to go)

Fill!

[gregorach]

Sounds like a terrible faff... Why not just dissolve your glucose in boiling water and prime the whole lot in a oner?

Because that either means uneven priming or stirring of the FV, thereby probably disturbing sediment.

I always rack the beer into another vessel before bottling anyway, to avoid disturbing the sediment. Simply put the priming solution into your bottling vessel and rack the beer onto it - the action of racking mixes it pretty thoroughly.

[dave-o]

I'd say racking is more hassle than syringing so there are your swings and roundabouts i suppose!

[gregorach]

I'd say racking is more hassle than syringing so there are your swings and roundabouts i suppose!

Well, I don't really see how, but whatever works for you...

Actually, I'm quite often racking, fining out all of the primary yeast, and then racking again onto my priming sugar and a calibrated amount of fresh yeast of a different strain, which definitely is quite a bit more hassle, but gives the results I want. I really like WY1275, but I'm not happy with it's performance in the bottle... But even when I am bottling using the primary strain I don't much like bottling directly out of the primary, as I find it very difficult to control the amount of yeast carried over. And I really can't be bothered individually priming all those bottles... Just cleaning and filling them is bad enough.

[Wolfy]

I can see advantages and disadvantages to both bulk priming and priming individual bottles ... however I don't see the advantage over mixing a sugar solution and adding it with a syringe rather than adding dry sugar to the bottle. The stuff will dissolve, will be eaten by the yeast even if added dry, its easier to do and less complex, and if it foams when it hits the glucose (never noticed that myself) then fill the bottles first (rest the cap on top) and then individually prime them after?

[dave-o]

And I really can't be bothered individually priming all those bottles... Just cleaning and filling them is bad enough.

The actual priming is really quick. Fill/squirt/fill/squirt/fill/squirt/fill/squirt/fill/squirt/cap/cap/cap/cap/cap in 5 bottle batches. 40ish bottles takes less than 5 minutes, and your caps are then ready to go too. It's the washing/sterilising that's the hassle

however I don't see the advantage over mixing a sugar solution and adding it with a syringe rather than adding dry sugar to the bottle.

Advantage 1) It's hard to add a crystalline substance to a slim bottle neck

Advantage 2) How on earth would you measure out 40 lots of a specific amount of sugar? If you dissolve the total in a specific amount of water then you know that 5ml will have exactly the right amount of priming sugar.

[Wolfy]

With one of these bits of plastic: http://www.kaboodle.com/reviews/priming-sugar-measure
I have one with 3 different spoon sizes and use small plastic funnel in the bottle neck if required.
Obviously they're a generic measure, but different carbonation levels is when I'd bulk prime.

[Rick_UK]

FWIW, before I invested in a bottling bucket I used to bulk prime in the primary FV with about 180g DME disolved in 500ml of water, if you stir it in gently you shouldn't disturb the trub. If you do it usually settles back down after an hour or so. If not it will settle in the bottles! Never had any problems with this method always got a good and even carbonation.

The bottling bucket is just to make filling bottles easier, but obviously now I prime in that as there is no trub to worry about disturbing. The end result is no better or worse just the process is easier.

Rick

[Garth]

Because that either means uneven priming or stirring of the FV, thereby probably disturbing sediment.
I'm a syringe primer, but i don't bother with any calculations or drawing off beer. You will be using about 150ml of liquid in 23000ml of beer - just use water, you are never going to tell the difference!
-Put required amount of sugar in sterilised measuring jug
-Boil some water in kettle and top the measuring jug up to about 250ml (assuming 23l batch). Stir.
-Syringe 5ml of liquid into each bottle (assuming 500ml bottles), adding an open cap after each syringing (so no dust gets in and so your caps are ready to go) Fill!

Cheers for that Dave, that's exactly what I was after.

I don't see the advantage over mixing a sugar solution and adding it with a syringe rather than adding dry sugar to the bottle. The stuff will dissolve, will be eaten by the yeast even if added dry, its easier to do and less complex, and if it foams when it hits the glucose (never noticed that myself) then fill the bottles first (rest the cap on top) and then individually prime them after?

Don't you think I've tried that? It foams up even more if you add the glucose to the beer. If added filling before it foams. Plus you need to use a funnel or something to stop it going all over the sides of the bottle.

I'm not concerned about it getting dissolved, I know it's going to do that, I wanted to know how to put a specific amount in each bottle.

I always rack the beer into another vessel before bottling anyway, to avoid disturbing the sediment. Simply put the priming solution into your bottling vessel and rack the beer onto it - the action of racking mixes it pretty thoroughly.

I cannot do this as today the beer was racked after 7 days primary to 3 cornies, if I start opening up the cornies again to add primer it pretty much defeats the object of having gone to the trouble of racking under C02, plus how will I know if all the sugar solution is well mixed without mixing it? If I mix it it'll stir up all the extra yeast it has dropped out in secondary. I use a beer gun to fill bottles straight from the cornie which will be happening Saturday.

With one of these bits of plastic: http://www.kaboodle.com/reviews/priming-sugar-measure
I have one with 3 different spoon sizes and use small plastic funnel in the bottle neck if required.
Obviously they're a generic measure, but different carbonation levels is when I'd bulk prime.

$25 for a bit of plastic....? Hah, I don't think so....

[Wolfy]

$25 for a bit of plastic....? Hah, I don't think so....

So true, I found mine at the LHBS for a couple of $, but couldn't find a picture of it with a Google search.

[Grahamf4]

This is what I do. Get a clean sterilised FV. Remove the tap. Fit a bottling wand. This makes bottling a complete piece of piss. Mix your priming solution (I use 110gms of sugar to 284ml of water). Put into your clean sterilised FV. Rack your beer into that FV containing your priming solution and bottle away. No foaming!

I was given this advice as I was going to go down the syringe route. I am so glad that I didn't as that would take such a long time a faffing about. The bottling wand is so much easier and quicker. They are not expensive either especially if you bottle a lot of your brews.

Grahamf4

[dave-o]

Each to their own of course, but syringing is really not a faff at all. It takes a few minutes in total, and also gets your caps ready.