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Date: 14 Dec 2006 09:07:29
From: Sportinus
Subject: Priming questions
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I see that there are tablets to add to the bpttles for priming , has
anybody used them? It would seem that if they work, you would would
have less chance for infection problems. You could just fill from your
seconary fermenter, right? What are other opinions?
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Date: 14 Dec 2006 18:40:05
From: John 'Shaggy' Kolesar
Subject: Re: Priming questions
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On 14 Dec 2006 09:07:29 -0800, <sportinus@yahoo.com > wrote:
> I see that there are tablets to add to the bpttles for priming , has
> anybody used them? It would seem that if they work, you would would
> have less chance for infection problems. You could just fill from your
> seconary fermenter, right? What are other opinions?
I haven't used them, but I know people do. As far as I know they work
fine. I don't think it makes any real difference regarding the risk of
infection, it's just an ease of use thing.
John.
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Date: 15 Dec 2006 05:06:21
From: Steve
Subject: Re: Priming questions
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One problem is non-standard bottles. One carb drop in a regular
bottle, 2 in a double size bottle. But how many in a .5 litre, or 1.0
litre, or a 1.14 litre bottle?
Batch priming takes this guesswork out of it. Also racking off
sediment prior to bottling makes sense to me.
Steve
On 14 Dec 2006 09:07:29 -0800, "Sportinus" <sportinus@yahoo.com >
wrote:
>I see that there are tablets to add to the bpttles for priming , has
>anybody used them? It would seem that if they work, you would would
>have less chance for infection problems. You could just fill from your
>seconary fermenter, right? What are other opinions?
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Date: 14 Dec 2006 16:09:20
From: John McKenzie
Subject: Re: Priming questions
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coopers are very good.
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Date: 14 Dec 2006 11:16:42
From: Vladimir
Subject: Re: Priming questions
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Sportinus wrote:
> I see that there are tablets to add to the bpttles for priming , has
> anybody used them? It would seem that if they work, you would would
> have less chance for infection problems. You could just fill from your
> seconary fermenter, right? What are other opinions?
I use them when i make small volume test batches. That way I don't
need to bother figuring out the volume of beer that I have in order to
calculate the amount of priming sugar. I've used the same bag of
Coopers Carbonation Drops for three years (tightly sealed of course)
with no sign of infection in the finished beer. When doing 5 gallon
batches I prefer to use priming sugar in the bottling bucket so that I
can control the level of carbonation based on the style of beer.
-Vladimir
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Date: 14 Dec 2006 11:09:02
From: Just Another Bob
Subject: Re: Priming questions
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Sportinus wrote:
> I see that there are tablets to add to the bpttles for priming , has
> anybody used them? It would seem that if they work, you would would
> have less chance for infection problems. You could just fill from your
> seconary fermenter, right? What are other opinions?
I've used PrimeTabs a couple of times, and they worked just fine. I
don't really think it was that labor saving over my typical batch
priming, but yes, you can fill from your secondary, which saves you
having to sanitize a bucket and spigot and also decreases your exposure
to air. Another nice thing is that if you have a standard favorite
recipe that you like to repeat, you can try experimenting with the
number of tabs that gives you the level of carbonation that you like at
the temperature you like to drink your brew at. But even with the
advantages, when bottling full batches, I usually prime in bulk with
the typical 3/4 cup sugar. However, if I swtich to kegging, I'll
probably keep some PrimeTabs on hand to prime a few bottles.
-Bob
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Date: 15 Dec 2006 09:14:05
From: Joe Sallustio
Subject: Re: Priming questions
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>
> I think you're misunderstanding the temperatures. X amount of priming sugar
> added at any temperature to Y amount of home brew will result in the correct
> carbonation levels when the brew is served at the stated temperature. You
> usually prime and bottle at 70 degree room temperature and leave it there
> fore a couple of weeks so the yeast can do their thing. Then when you chill
> it to serving temperature, if it's been primed for 60 degrees or 40, you
> will have the correct carbonation.
That is actually how I understand it; I make sparkling wine and this
isn't any different. The confusion stems from the temperature
direction on the nomograph. It looks like it is saying if I used 5
ounces by weight I would have more carbonation at lower temperatures
than higher and that is not what I expected it to say.
That said, the nomograph was made to determine priming sugar amounts
for a specific amount of carbonation; I think I'm reading too much into
it.
Joe
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Date: 15 Dec 2006 08:35:11
From: Sportinus
Subject: Re: Priming questions
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Bill Velek wrote:
> Sportinus wrote:
>
> > I see that there are tablets to add to the bpttles for priming , has
> > anybody used them? It would seem that if they work, you would would
> > have less chance for infection problems. You could just fill from your
> > seconary fermenter, right? What are other opinions?
>
> Fill directly from your secondary? Are you using a conical or other
> fermenter that drains from the bottom? ... because I have enough
> trouble keeping my siphon going from carboy to bottling bucket as it is,
> let alone repeatedly stopping and starting with a bottling wand.
>
> As for risk of infection, I never have any problems using a bottling
> bucket; I just sanitize everything including my primer (by boiling).
>
> Bill Velek -- my web-sites: www.velek.com & www.2plus2is4.com !!
> You're invited to join "HomeBrewers" grid-computing team to help
> cure diseases; visit http://home.alltel.net/billvelek/team.html
I have a whopping 2 batches under my belt (literally), so I may be half
baked here. But you rack off your secondary into a bucket then drain
the bucket into the bottles, right? excluding the priming, So it would
be 1 less step to go from secondary directly to bottle, so far I have
not had any siphon problems but I have not gone directly from seconadry
to bottle yet. If you have siphoning problems does that indicate poor
connections on the tubing? or not enough drop from secondary to bucket?
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Date: 15 Dec 2006 19:41:39
From: Bill Velek
Subject: Re: Priming questions
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Sportinus wrote:
snip
> I have a whopping 2 batches under my belt (literally), so I may be half
> baked here. But you rack off your secondary into a bucket then drain
> the bucket into the bottles, right? excluding the priming, So it would
> be 1 less step to go from secondary directly to bottle, so far I have
> not had any siphon problems but I have not gone directly from seconadry
> to bottle yet. If you have siphoning problems does that indicate poor
> connections on the tubing? or not enough drop from secondary to bucket?
The extra step you speak of is of no consequence. The bottling bucket
is easily sanitized while I fill my bottles with sanitizer. The
siphoning from carboy to bucket takes just a minute or two to start, and
then I find something else to do while the carboy drains. No big deal.
As for siphoning problems, I have plenty of drop from carboy to bucket.
The problem is that if I don't get a good flow right away, and sustain
that good flow, the CO2 that is already in the beer begins to form a
bubble in the line, and that bubble grows larger -- from the turbulence
of beer flowing into it -- until it finally interupts the siphoning
process. I've noticed that the bubbles, when they do form, do it where
the hose connects to the neck of the racking cane, forming a small ledge
or lip, if you get my meaning. That causes a bit of turbulence at that
point, and bubbles will _sometimes_ form. When I connect my hose to my
racking cane, I slide it on as far as it will go and then pull it back a
bit holding both the connection and the hose; this tightens the
connection as much as I'll be able to, so I don't think it's a problem
with connections, or at least not _much_ of a problem. I used to rinse
my mouth with a shot of vodka and then suck; I've found that the better
method is to fill your hose and racking cane with water and then insert
the cane into the carboy and the hose end into the bottling bucket.
Starting the siphon twice seems to be fairly common for me, although not
_every_ time; sometimes a single start will do the trick. In rare
cases, I've had to start three times, and I curse the few times I've had
more trouble than that. But the point that I was making is that if you
are also using a filling wand, thus repeatedly starting and stopping the
flow, I'd expect to see a lot more problems. But I've never tried it;
if it works for you, then great. I fill my bottling bucket with a
bleach solution and then use it to fill all of my bottles for soaking to
sanitize; in the process, my hose and wand are also sanitized, and my
racking cane, flipped over a couple of times in the bottling bucket, is
sanitized. When all bottles are full, I dump any remaining solution
into a second bucket, in which I rest the cane, hose, and wand, while I
rinse the bottling bucket with very hot water to evaporate any bleach.
I then pour my primer into the bottling bucket, move it to a position
under my carboy, hook the hose and cane together, flush hot water
through them -- spraying the floor which I'll have to mop anyway -- and
then I carry the hose and cane, now filled with water, over to the
carboy and bottling bucket where I let'er rip. Can't remember the last
infection I had, and I've got maybe 40 plus batches under my belt.
I used to be on this group all the time, years ago, but got busy and ...
well, ... you know how it is; I found LOTS of good info here. Welcome
to a great hobby. I've been spending an enormous amount of time over at
BeerTools.com, playing around with the new BeerToolsPro program I bought
back in October. Very cool. Right now I'm getting ready to bottle an
Irish Red and a Stout, and will transfer my Wheat into a secondary and
add my cherries for a Cherry Wheat. Am planning to brew a California
Common tomorrow unless my wife has other plans for me.
I do all grain with a SS-mesh tube for a bazooka in my ice-chest/tun,
use a propane turkey cooker to boil, and ... alas ... bottle instead of
keg. :-( ... but one of these days I'll advance to kegging.
Cheers.
--
Bill Velek -- my web-sites: www.velek.com & www.2plus2is4.com !!
You're invited to join "HomeBrewers" grid-computing team to help
cure diseases; visit http://home.alltel.net/billvelek/team.html
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Date: 16 Dec 2006 19:08:17
From: John 'Shaggy' Kolesar
Subject: Re: Priming questions
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On Fri, 15 Dec 2006 19:41:39 -0600, <billvelek@alltel.net > wrote:
> process. I've noticed that the bubbles, when they do form, do it where
> the hose connects to the neck of the racking cane, forming a small ledge
> or lip, if you get my meaning. That causes a bit of turbulence at that
> point, and bubbles will _sometimes_ form. When I connect my hose to my
> racking cane, I slide it on as far as it will go and then pull it back a
> bit holding both the connection and the hose; this tightens the
> connection as much as I'll be able to, so I don't think it's a problem
> with connections, or at least not _much_ of a problem.
IMO, it's a fairly common problem to have bubbles form at the junction
between the racking cane and the tubing. It looks like the tubing fits
on there fairly tightly, but I started using a small hose clamp in that
area and no longer have any issues with bubbles forming and stopping the
flow. I'm guessing that it really was leaking without the clamp.
John.
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Date: 18 Dec 2006 13:59:39
From: Bill Velek
Subject: Re: Priming questions
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John 'Shaggy' Kolesar wrote:
snip
> IMO, it's a fairly common problem to have bubbles form at the junction
> between the racking cane and the tubing. It looks like the tubing fits
> on there fairly tightly, but I started using a small hose clamp in that
> area and no longer have any issues with bubbles forming and stopping the
> flow. I'm guessing that it really was leaking without the clamp.
>
>
> John.
Thanks, John. I'll give that a try as soon as I can locate some clamps.
--
Bill Velek -- my web-sites: www.velek.com & www.2plus2is4.com !!
You're invited to join "HomeBrewers" grid-computing team to help
cure diseases; visit http://home.alltel.net/billvelek/team.html
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Date: 15 Dec 2006 07:08:35
From: Sportinus
Subject: Re: Priming questions
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Bill Velek wrote:
> Sportinus wrote:
>
> > I see that there are tablets to add to the bpttles for priming , has
> > anybody used them? It would seem that if they work, you would would
> > have less chance for infection problems. You could just fill from your
> > seconary fermenter, right? What are other opinions?
>
> Fill directly from your secondary? Are you using a conical or other
> fermenter that drains from the bottom? ... because I have enough
> trouble keeping my siphon going from carboy to bottling bucket as it is,
> let alone repeatedly stopping and starting with a bottling wand.
>
> As for risk of infection, I never have any problems using a bottling
> bucket; I just sanitize everything including my primer (by boiling).
>
> Bill Velek -- my web-sites: www.velek.com & www.2plus2is4.com !!
> You're invited to join "HomeBrewers" grid-computing team to help
> cure diseases; visit http://home.alltel.net/billvelek/team.html
I have a whopping 2 batches under my belt (literally), so I may be half
baked here. But you rack off your secondary into a bucket then drain
the bucket into the bottles, right? excluding the priming, So it would
be 1 less step to go from secondary directly to bottle, so far I have
not had any siphon problems but I have not gone directly from seconadry
to bottle yet. If you have siphoning problems does that indicate poor
connections on the tubing? or not enough drop from secondary to bucket?
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Date: 15 Dec 2006 04:02:34
From: Joe Sallustio
Subject: Re: Priming questions
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Slightly off topic, but I have been using 5 ounces (by weight) of corn
sugar per 5 gallons for priming; I usually make porters and stouts and
like them served at around 60 F. These have been well carbonated but
not gushers. Using my new handy dandy nomograph from Palmer's book it
sounds like I should end up with around 3 volumes of CO2 which is 20%
more than what is suggested for these styles but doesn't sound like I'm
going to blow anything up either.
The question I have is related to the nomograph; the temperature scale
on it goes from 32 to 75F. Excuse an obvious question but this is
temperature at bottling, right? Does the difference in pressure equate
to a standard serving temperatures and if so does it vary by style of
beer? (He has carbonation levels by style below the nomograph. He
doesn't reference that to temperature but I have a feeling he took all
of that into consideration.) I doubt I would ever bottle at less than
55F or over 65F which looks like a 10% change in carbonation so it's
probably academic but it did make me curious.
Joe
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Date: 15 Dec 2006 18:12:58
From: John 'Shaggy' Kolesar
Subject: Re: Priming questions
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On 15 Dec 2006 04:02:34 -0800, <joe_sallo@hotmail.com > wrote:
> Slightly off topic, but I have been using 5 ounces (by weight) of corn
> sugar per 5 gallons for priming; I usually make porters and stouts and
> like them served at around 60 F. These have been well carbonated but
> not gushers. Using my new handy dandy nomograph from Palmer's book it
> sounds like I should end up with around 3 volumes of CO2 which is 20%
> more than what is suggested for these styles but doesn't sound like I'm
> going to blow anything up either.
It's up there, but generally US beer drinkers prefer higher carbonation
than others. If you like it, then it's right.
> The question I have is related to the nomograph; the temperature scale
> on it goes from 32 to 75F. Excuse an obvious question but this is
> temperature at bottling, right?
Yeah, it's the temp at bottling. After fermentation is over there will
still be some residual CO2 in the beer. The colder the temp, the more
residual CO2 there will be. Since we don't really do anything special
to knock it all out before we bottle, it gets factored into the total
volumes of CO2 you end up with after bottling/priming.
It's not a huge factor though.
John.
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Date: 15 Dec 2006 14:04:26
From: Mark R
Subject: Re: Priming questions
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"Joe Sallustio" <joe_sallo@hotmail.com > wrote in message
>
> The question I have is related to the nomograph; the temperature scale
> on it goes from 32 to 75F. Excuse an obvious question but this is
> temperature at bottling, right? Does the difference in pressure equate
> to a standard serving temperatures and if so does it vary by style of
> beer? (He has carbonation levels by style below the nomograph. He
> doesn't reference that to temperature but I have a feeling he took all
> of that into consideration.) I doubt I would ever bottle at less than
> 55F or over 65F which looks like a 10% change in carbonation so it's
> probably academic but it did make me curious.
I think you're misunderstanding the temperatures. X amount of priming sugar
added at any temperature to Y amount of home brew will result in the correct
carbonation levels when the brew is served at the stated temperature. You
usually prime and bottle at 70 degree room temperature and leave it there
fore a couple of weeks so the yeast can do their thing. Then when you chill
it to serving temperature, if it's been primed for 60 degrees or 40, you
will have the correct carbonation.
Mark R
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Date: 14 Dec 2006 23:30:05
From: Bill Velek
Subject: Re: Priming questions
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Sportinus wrote:
> I see that there are tablets to add to the bpttles for priming , has
> anybody used them? It would seem that if they work, you would would
> have less chance for infection problems. You could just fill from your
> seconary fermenter, right? What are other opinions?
Fill directly from your secondary? Are you using a conical or other
fermenter that drains from the bottom? ... because I have enough
trouble keeping my siphon going from carboy to bottling bucket as it is,
let alone repeatedly stopping and starting with a bottling wand.
As for risk of infection, I never have any problems using a bottling
bucket; I just sanitize everything including my primer (by boiling).
Bill Velek -- my web-sites: www.velek.com & www.2plus2is4.com !!
You're invited to join "HomeBrewers" grid-computing team to help
cure diseases; visit http://home.alltel.net/billvelek/team.html
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