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How easy is it to over prime

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  • How easy is it to over prime

    I'm bottle a stout tonight. The hydrometer has been at 1006 for the last two days so assuming it is 1006 tonight then I will bottle. I've bottled in to PET bottles before and done one beer in to a plastic pressure barrel but I have never used glass bottle for beer and I'm a bit nervous.

    If I add 85 grams of sugar to my secondary fermenter where the stout is now and then bottle is it still possible to end up with exploding bottles? (The Mrs is still angry about the plastic barrel leaking, I can't imagine how she's be if we end up picking pieces of glass out of the walls, the ceiling,the kids etc)

    A few other questions:

    Should I add the sugar (granulated) straight to the fermenter or make a sugar syrup?
    How long between adding the sugar and bottling should I wait?
    Do you fill all bottles and then cap or bottle then cap individually?

    Thanks in advance

  • #2
    A similar question has come up recently.

    I have never had an explosion in many many gallons and I think it is down to knowing exactly where my sugar is.

    Personally would add cane sugar (Tate & Lyle typically not silver spoon) directly to the bottle using a volumetric measure**
    Weighing it is too time consuming in my opinion.

    I sugar a batch of bottles - typically, one crate - I then rack directly into the bottle.

    Once the sugar is in the bottle, cap it and then invert it a couple of times. This helps mix the sugar and guarantees the lid has sealed correctly.
    Then it's off to the airing cupboard for the secondary fermentation.

    You will also be safer with PET bottles, because you can gauge the pressure by squeezing them with your thumb.....and I have heard stories they inflate rather than explode.

    I hope this helps and is a little bit easier.

    ** I made a very accurate sugar measure from a syringe and a piece of coathanger wire.
    1..pull the plunger out and bin it.
    2..Put the coathanger wire up the needle hole and fashion a handle
    3..Cut the syringe down to the measure you require 1/4 tsp .. 1/2 etc

    The modern equivalent of a gunpowder measure.

    happy bottling
    Last edited by Cellar_Rat; 14-10-2014, 03:57 PM.
    Gluten free, caffeine free, dairy free, fat free – you gotta love this red wine diet!

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    • #3
      I would make a sugar syrup and put in a clean and sanatised FV then rack into the syrup. That way you are not stiring any settled out trub back into the stout.

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      • #4
        Gaz I see your thinking, but I never have much trub in the secondary fermenter, just a light yeast covering. So IMO another racking seems an unnecessary risk and more work with no gain. Ultimately the bottle ferment will cause some more settlement.

        A racking cane does help though
        Gluten free, caffeine free, dairy free, fat free – you gotta love this red wine diet!

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        • #5
          I do it just so I have a brighter beer and less sediment. I know what your saying about risk, just my preference. But I tend to keg more now anyway so it's not a step I need anymore.

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