Carbonation Sugar Temperature

I like to use Northern Brewer's carbonation calculator. There's the box that you enter your beer's temp. I use my ~room temp of 75* as that's what it roughly is at bottling day, and will be for the next 3+ weeks.

I often have undercarbed beer. Not always, but often enough.

What is the temp you should use when entering the info in that box?

Try using 70F just see what differance it makes but I don't think thats it

What size batches?
What type priming sugar?
How much?
How long are you leaving it in the bottles at 75F?


What do you mean the beer is uncarbenated? No carb at all?

My batches have been anywhere from 4.5 gal to 5.8 gal so far.
I've been using table sugar.
For the honey cherry wheat I just bottled now (4.8 gal) stated 4.3 oz of table sugar for 2.6 vol of CO2 at 75*. I used ~4.25 oz though.
I leave them for 3 weeks before I refrigerate a 6 pack or so to check them out. Some only last a month...

I'm also curious how headspace equates into this.
I recently bought a 1' piece of 3/8" tubing for my spigot to fill bottles more consistently. They're closer to 12 oz now. I figure some have been as low as ~10.5 oz.
The 75* room temp is a rough estimate... +/- 2* maybe.

I think you would be better using a bottling wand for the price it makes things easier
with less chance of splashing the beer.

The head space will make a difference, it takes longer for co2 to fill the head space if its big and longer for co2 to settle in your beer.

Other then that your amounts, time and temp seem to be inline of what they should be. Could it be how you are racking to the bottling bucket? It sounds as if your not getting the priming sugar mixed well.

I ususally mix the priming sugar with 2 cups of water, boiled, then fill the bottling bucket a bit, add 1/2 sugar water then fill 1/2 bottling bucket with beer then other 1/2. Then give a few gentle swirls.

Maybe you would have better luck with corn sugar?

"...with less chance of splashing the beer."

I've noticed this at the end of bottling. It does fairly well until then.

I'm not sure how well it's been mixed. Most of the time it's been consistent, but on occasion I notice some are more carbed than others, and so now I'm stirring it a little once transferred.

I use a 1/2" siphon that I thought did a great job at violently swirling the beer.

I've been boiling 24 oz of water as I notice some boils off, though I dropped the boil time from 15 mins to 5-7 mins, plus another 1-2 after the sugar has mixed.

I thought of trying corn sugar, but not for this reason.

I only bring water to a boil then add corn sugar and boil 1 minute, I can't think of a reason to boil more regardless of what kit instructions call for, IMHO 15 minutes is to long.

Amount of water should not matter as long as it is not excessive.

I have heard others complain table sugar does not carb as well as corn but I dunno, fermentables are fermentables as long as the amount is right

I figured the time was necessary to deplete the oxygen.
When boiling water for washing yeast 20 mins is what is called for, though the volume was much greater. I wasn't sure how long was necessary.

I have used more water when I wanted to dilute my beer a little. I all too often get higher OG's and lower FG's giving me .05% to .1% higher ABV's than targeted.

rodwha said:

I like to use Northern Brewer's carbonation calculator. There's the box that you enter your beer's temp. I use my ~room temp of 75* as that's what it roughly is at bottling day, and will be for the next 3+ weeks.

I often have undercarbed beer. Not always, but often enough.

What is the temp you should use when entering the info in that box?

Click to expand...

You're supposed to enter the highest temp that your beer was at prior to bottling. If it fermented at 65F but you let the beer get to 70F on bottling day then enter 70F.

Table sugar works great. Boil for 2-4 minutes in about 1.3 cups of water, dump it in the fermenter while it's piping hot, rack the beer right on to the hot priming solution, gently stir, and start filling bottles...

The fermometer reads anywhere from 74-78*, but I use 75* as my temp as that's what the thermostat is set at. The beer has usually had about 4 weeks to ferment with the last 1-4 days sitting on a table.

I will make my priming solution while I'm sanitizing bottles, and then I'll set it in the fridge while I'm finishing up (an hour?) to cool it down.

rodwha said:

The fermometer reads anywhere from 74-78*, but I use 75* as my temp as that's what the thermostat is set at. The beer has usually had about 4 weeks to ferment with the last 1-4 days sitting on a table.

I will make my priming solution while I'm sanitizing bottles, and then I'll set it in the fridge while I'm finishing up (an hour?) to cool it down.

Click to expand...

I would recommend checking the temp of the beer with a thermometer on bottling day (assuming that's the hottest it's been) so you can enter the exact number in to the priming calculator. Temp strips on the side of the bucket are notorious for being incorrect. If the number you enter in to the calculator is off by 4-5 degrees it might give you the wrong volume of co2.

Cooling the priming solution is obviously fine, but it's not at all necessary to do it if you don't want to.

You're supposed to enter the highest temp the beer reached during fermentation. But I've also gotten good results by entering the temp of the beer on bottling day. Never go by ambient air temp. I boil 2C of water in a small SS saucepan for a few minutes. Then remove from heat & stir in weighed amount of priming sugar till water goes clear again. Then cover & cool abit while I get set up to rack to bottling bucket with some 3/8" tubing connected to the spigot on my FV to the bottom of the bottling bucket.
And use a bottling wand to fill the bottles from the bottling bucket. Fill bottle to the top,then quickly pull up a couple inches on the bottling wand to close the pin valve & stop flow. Removing the wand will leave the perfect head space by way of volume displacement.