When Carbonation drops get dissolved?

Hello there,

My first batch is a lager. I`ve started the process back beginning of April and has been in primary for about 6 weeks and then I bottled it using Cooper Carbonation drops. (24 using 2 drops, 18 using 1)

When carbonation will be done? I gave it a try before bottling, as I couldn`t resist the temptation the color was clear blonde, drinkable, the problem was in luck of bubbles for obvious reasons.

How long will it take the drops to get dissolved? Would 3 weeks be ok?

Thanks

you should have shaken the bottles after you capped them to help the sugar dissolve. usually 2-3 weeks (sometimes longer) to carb at 70f and a week in the fridge.

I gave them a shake. thanks for your reply!

if the drops are dissolved then a couple weeks and they should be carbed up. then throw them in the fridge for a week.

hope you enjoy them!!

Thanks JD!

JDGator said:

you should have shaken the bottles after you capped them to help the sugar dissolve.

Click to expand...

First time I'm hearing this. I have used carbonation drops in the past and still do the occasional bottle that won't fit into the keg. Never shook and they always carbonated. The drops will dissolve on there own and the yeast will find the sugar. The only thing I can see happening is that you'll risk oxygenating your beer.

shaking just helps them dissolve quicker. if yours dissolve fine then don't worry about it!!

I've used a lot of Cooper's cans in recipes. Even did it there way on the first one,the OS Lager that came with my micro brew kit. They say to give the botlles a couple shakes after adding the carb drops & filling/capping. I assume that it's intended to help them start dissolving. In the Cooper's PET bottles (740mL/25.16oz) you use 2 carb drops. Mine took 3 weeks with the OS Lager to be fairly decent,but 4 weeks was better. but that's their 25oz bottles that time. After that,3 weeks was pretty good with 1 week fridge time with 12oz pop tops. More complicated or darker beers ime,seemed to take that 4th week or more to get good.

You used 2 drops per 12 oz bottle? Sounds like a bottle bombs waiting to happen. I always used 1 drop per 12 oz bottle and carbonation was good and on some Belgians I tried 2 drops per 16 oz flip flop bottle and it was overcarbed. Hope your bottles hold up

paraordnance said:

You used 2 drops per 12 oz bottle? Sounds like a bottle bombs waiting to happen. I always used 1 drop per 12 oz bottle and carbonation was good and on some Belgians I tried 2 drops per 16 oz flip flop bottle and it was overcarbed. Hope your bottles hold up

Click to expand...

I said I used 2 drops in the Cooper's 25oz PET bottles. I referred to the fact that the 12oz bottles carbed & conditioned a bit quicker only. But I did use only one drop in the 12oz bottles once. After that I started bulk priming.
Can't seem to get anyone interested in trading one lousy 5 gallon better bottle for 45 Cooper's pet bottles in VGC/new in the for sale or wanna buy adds. Don't really use'em any more.

unionrdr said:

I said I used 2 drops in the Cooper's 25oz PET bottles. I referred to the fact that the 12oz bottles carbed & conditioned a bit quicker only. But I did use only one drop in the 12oz bottles once. After that I started bulk priming.
Can't seem to get anyone interested in trading one lousy 5 gallon better bottle for 45 Cooper's pet bottles in VGC/new in the for sale or wanna buy adds. Don't really use'em any more.

Click to expand...

My question was actually to the thread starter. 2 drops is way too much for 12 oz glass bottle

Ah. I thought you were refering to me. My bad. He did say 24 using 2 drops,others getting 1.

A quick question if adding drops for bulk priming..is it better to disolve drops before adding to barrel or bottling

wdh67 said:

A quick question if adding drops for bulk priming..is it better to disolve drops before adding to barrel or bottling

Click to expand...

Pretty old thread but to answer your question:

It’s probably best to dissolve if using in a bulk setting.

With that, you certainly can use individual carb drops in bulk but that kind of defeats the purpose and actually adds difficulty. Carb drops are well designed for single bottles, that’s the application I’d use them in. For bulk priming, it’s easier to simply measured out sugar. Most accurately by weight but by volume if in a pinch. This will also dissolve more uniformly.

Save the carb drops for individual bottles.

wdh67 said:

A quick question if adding drops for bulk priming..is it better to disolve drops before adding to barrel or bottling

Click to expand...

The carb drops are designed to go right into the individual bottles where their pre-measured amount of sugars will cause the right carbonation level and since they are captured in the bottles it won't matter if they dissolve quickly or not, the yeast will find and eat the sugars.

If you plan to bulk prime you need all the sugar dissolved and mixed before you start bottling. That can be a problem with the carb drops if they don't dissolve immediately or if the sugar doesn't get properly mixed. Why would you pay the extra price for someone making the carb drops instead of just weighing out the corn sugar which is known to work well.