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carbonation in the bottle

Post #1 made 15 years ago
by scottmal
Hi Folks, I have a couple of questions;
1/How many grams per liter powdered corn sugar would you recommend for a pale ale to make it similar to say a fat yak ?
2/How many grams per liter powdered corn sugar would you recommend for a oatmeal stout that will have heaps of body?
3/What are the advantages of fermenting first in a primary and then a secondary rather than just the one container?
4/Is there any difference in carbonating in PET bottles or glass bottles?

Cheers :drink:
Scottie

Post #2 made 15 years ago
by stux
scottmal wrote:Hi Folks, I have a couple of questions;
1/How many grams per liter powdered corn sugar would you recommend for a pale ale to make it similar to say a fat yak ?
2/How many grams per liter powdered corn sugar would you recommend for a oatmeal stout that will have heaps of body?
Not sure, I would normally use about 8 grams per litre, If I weren't kegging
3/What are the advantages of fermenting first in a primary and then a secondary rather than just the one container?
There aren't really.

The only good reasons to use a secondary are if you are going to add fruit to your beer. Or if you want to move your beer out of your primary for some reason.

Other than that, its just an extra transfer for no extra gain, which means you have extra cleaning work, extra labour and extra infection risk.

Some people say it might be good to do it if you plan to extensively age your beer (ie months), but that's not really secondary, that's a conditioning phase, and perhaps it would be better done in the keg or bottles?
4/Is there any difference in carbonating in PET bottles or glass bottles?
not sure, never really used PET bottles when I was bottling
Last edited by stux on 24 May 2011, 17:25, edited 5 times in total.
Fermenting: -
Cubed: -
Stirplate: -
On Tap: NS Summer Ale III (WY1272), Landlord III (WY1469), Fighter's 70/- II (WY1272), Roast Porter (WY1028), Cider, Soda
Next: Munich Helles III

5/7/12

Post #3 made 15 years ago
by ianh
scottmal wrote:Hi Folks, I have a couple of questions;
1/How many grams per liter powdered corn sugar would you recommend for a pale ale to make it similar to say a fat yak ?
2/How many grams per liter powdered corn sugar would you recommend for a oatmeal stout that will have heaps of body?
3/What are the advantages of fermenting first in a primary and then a secondary rather than just the one container?
4/Is there any difference in carbonating in PET bottles or glass bottles?

Cheers :drink:
Scottie
1 & 2 Partially depends on max temperature of beer after fermentation has finished. Max 20C then Pale ale requires 2.3 -2.8 vols CO2 5.8-7.8g Dextrose/corn sugar per litre. Don't know where Fat Yak sits within this range. Oatmeal Stout 1.9-2.5 vols CO2 or 4.2-6.6 g per litre. You could try an online bulk priming calculator.

3 I rack my beers to secondary and add gelatine then cold condition at 0C for one to two weeks then add polyclar (to remove chill haze) a couple of days before kegging or bottling.

4 If bottling I use PET bottles. I bottle mainly in 1.5litre bottles with some 750ml bottles, less bottle washing. To me that is a big advantage for using PET bottles.

Glass hold their carbonation levels for longer, but PET are still good for up to a year.

PET are much less prone to possible explosion due to over carbonation and no glass fragments.

my 2cents
cheers
Ian
Last edited by ianh on 25 May 2011, 12:36, edited 5 times in total.

Post #5 made 15 years ago
by PistolPatch
ianh wrote:PET are much less prone to possible explosion due to over carbonation and no glass fragments.
I must say that I am now scared to death of beers bottled in glass. A few years back we were sorting beers at a beer swap amongst brewers and one of the glass bottles exploded in my hand even though I was handling it gently. I wasn't worried about the cuts in my hand but I was very worried about the fragment I felt fly past my face. I lost the sight in one of my eyes a while ago and was very lucky I didn't become totally blind that day.

It can't be emphasised enough that you should wear safety glasses when handling glass bottles!!! A simple miscalculation by you or another brewer can literally make a bomb.

Take care,
PP
Last edited by PistolPatch on 25 May 2011, 20:53, edited 5 times in total.
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