Difference between sugar?

Andre Lau

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I have several questions about corn sugar vs. white cane sugar. I bottled my first cider batch and primed the bottles with white cane sugar. After three solid weeks at warm temp only one has carbonated, and it has been carbonated for several weeks, the rest are flat. I have started several more batches of cider since and use cane sugar to ferment. My question is what the real difference is between the two and which to use and when, in relation to bottling and fermenting cider and/or apple wine.

My second batch I bottled only 1 bottle to carbonate and the rest as still cider. I again used cane sugar, however, that bottle is rock hard after 1 week.

In terms of fermenting and bottling is one more "potent" or "sweeter" than the other?
 
Corn sugar is glucose hydrate - it's about 95% sugar, 5% water. Table, or white cane, sugar is sucrose. It's 100% sugar and actually the first sugar yeast will normally metabolize in a mixed sugar wort. Sucrose is slightly more "potent" because there's no water in it, neither are sweeter. As far as bottle conditioning, I bottle condition all my beers and use sucrose for them - no need in giving the LHBS more money than they already get from me! Since you didn't give me your priming procedure, I can't make much of why one bottle would carb and the others not. I'd start with the obvious, leaky caps, since if you give yeast sugar, it will ferment. Since you say it's "rock hard," I'll assume you're using plastic bottles and the 28 mm caps with the seals around the bottom. Make sure you get them screwed on well.
 
Count my vote for leaky caps. The bottles all carbed the same but only one held the CO2 in the bottle. ;)
 
As Nosybear mentioned yes different sugars are more concentrated than others. I would highly suggest using a priming sugar calculator (such as the one found in the tools section of Brewers Friend) as it will tell you exactly how much of each different type of sugar by weight to use for your batch size and temp. And as he mentioned neither should be sweet since the sugar itself totally ferments out.

The inconsistent carbonation could be leaky caps, it could also be the sugar was not equally mixed in before you bottled so some bottles got more than others.
 
it could also be the sugar was not equally mixed in before you bottled so some bottles got more than others.
The OP mentions that he "primed the bottles". And I doubt that inconsistent batch priming would yield the results he described...some bottles would be very overcarbed if most had no carbonation at all.
Leaky caps is probably the most common reason for undercarbing with plastic bottles.
 
Had the same problem. I'm now in the habit of lying my bottles on their side overnight after bottling. Sometimes the leaking will help the bottle seal as it dries. If not I know which caps need work. Also put them on top of a white towel to make which ones leaked even more obvious.
 

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