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Dear Brewers, I have been looking to put some science into my priming. Current practice is to add (with my pointed favourite teaspoon & funnel) about a 3rd teaspoon ordinary caster sugar to each 500 ml bottle. I can hear you saying that's not accurate but I have test weighed many samples with my favourite spoon and the variation is surprisingly little and makes a consistent 1.5g/bottle. The first question 'is it enough' I find in the winter when my bottling is cold (always done outside in the garage) I need to wait at least 8 weeks before sampling, however in the summer this time is approximately halved. Now I have read carefully
https://www.brewersfriend.com/beer-priming-calculator/
and it seems that 3.96g/L (or 1.98g/500ml bottle) provides 2.1 Volumes of CO2 or 31.5 lbs/square inch pressure at 0°C. From the table I can see that British style ales typically range from 1.5-2.0 Volumes CO2. By this information I estimate my beers have 1.6 volumes CO2.
The next question is 'how long do I want to keep my beer maturing' away in the garage? If I were to follow the instructions given and aim for 2 volumes CO2 I'm pretty sure I would have explosions eventually. Currently I have 10 different beers (approximately 200 bottles) awaiting consumption. The oldest is 50 weeks and the youngest is 2 days in the bottle. There is a beautiful and varied maturation of the malt flavours over time, which I will probably have to study for the rest of my life. How long do you expect to keep your beers for? Do you aim for 2 volumes CO2 and intend to finish drinking it in 3 months?
Apologies if you think this is all too complex but I will continue to aim at 1.5 Vol CO2 and patiently wait for the conditioning to show. I am rigorous at sterilisation and haven't had any beer go off and to date have never had an explosion. I will try a batch priming next brew to see if it is easier and offers any more consistency. Approx 65g caster sugar/21 Litres beer at 20°C. Anyone know what volume of CO2 this will produce?
https://www.brewersfriend.com/beer-priming-calculator/
and it seems that 3.96g/L (or 1.98g/500ml bottle) provides 2.1 Volumes of CO2 or 31.5 lbs/square inch pressure at 0°C. From the table I can see that British style ales typically range from 1.5-2.0 Volumes CO2. By this information I estimate my beers have 1.6 volumes CO2.
The next question is 'how long do I want to keep my beer maturing' away in the garage? If I were to follow the instructions given and aim for 2 volumes CO2 I'm pretty sure I would have explosions eventually. Currently I have 10 different beers (approximately 200 bottles) awaiting consumption. The oldest is 50 weeks and the youngest is 2 days in the bottle. There is a beautiful and varied maturation of the malt flavours over time, which I will probably have to study for the rest of my life. How long do you expect to keep your beers for? Do you aim for 2 volumes CO2 and intend to finish drinking it in 3 months?
Apologies if you think this is all too complex but I will continue to aim at 1.5 Vol CO2 and patiently wait for the conditioning to show. I am rigorous at sterilisation and haven't had any beer go off and to date have never had an explosion. I will try a batch priming next brew to see if it is easier and offers any more consistency. Approx 65g caster sugar/21 Litres beer at 20°C. Anyone know what volume of CO2 this will produce?