Bottle priming Bitter

[weconway]

I'm about to brew Northern Brewer's SH2B (single hop best bitter) extract kit and I have a few questions.

1. Brewing - The kit includes 1 lb. of priming sugar in the boil. I have an issue with adding sugar and I'd much rather add some extra light DME (which I bought with the kit). Should I just sub it in at a 1:1 ratio (by weight)?

2. Pitching - I got a liquid smack pack yeast for the batch. I shouldn't need a starter for a beer with this low of an OG (1.045), right?

3. Fermenting - The instructions call for 2 wks. priming followed by 2 weeks bottle conditioning. Based on my reading here, I was going to leave it in a primary for a month. Sound good?

4. Priming - I've run the numbers through several priming calculators and they all basically say to add less than a tablespoon of DME for priming, if at all. Is this right? Should I bottle a beer with essentially no priming sugars?

Sorry for all the noob questions, but I'm really amped about this batch, and I want to get it right.

Thanks!

William

 

[apratsunrthd]

I'm about to brew Northern Brewer's SH2B (single hop best bitter) extract kit and I have a few questions.

1. Brewing - The kit includes 1 lb. of priming sugar in the boil. I have an issue with adding sugar and I'd much rather add some extra light DME (which I bought with the kit). Should I just sub it in at a 1:1 ratio (by weight)?

2. Pitching - I got a liquid smack pack yeast for the batch. I shouldn't need a starter for a beer with this low of an OG (1.045), right?

3. Fermenting - The instructions call for 2 wks. priming followed by 2 weeks bottle conditioning. Based on my reading here, I was going to leave it in a primary for a month. Sound good?

4. Priming - I've run the numbers through several priming calculators and they all basically say to add less than a tablespoon of DME for priming, if at all. Is this right? Should I bottle a beer with essentially no priming sugars?

Sorry for all the noob questions, but I'm really amped about this batch, and I want to get it right.

Thanks!

William

1. If you insist on using DME, you'll want to multiply by a factor of 1.25. That said, for a bitter, I'd just use the corn sugar.

2. I always make a starter be I buy Propagator smack packs, not Activator. Hopefully someone more familiar with Activator can chime in on this one.

3. Everything I make spends 30 days minimum in the primary, period. It'll help your beer clear. No reason not to.

4. You mean for the entire batch? I guess if you're trying to hit the 0.8 low end of the style, maybe. I'd shoot for closer to 1.8, which would be 2.17oz for a 5g batch.

 

[Golddiggie]

For the yeast, you can just smack it, let it sit for a few hours (how long depends on how old the pack is), let it puff up until you're afraid it's going to burst, and you'll be fine. With the target OG of only 1.045 a starter isn't needed (once you go into the realm beyond 1.060, then you really should use a starter for any yeast)...

For primary time, I would say check it after two weeks to see how it is. Give it more time if needed, or not. I would wait until at least two hydrometer readings were identical (at least a day or two apart) before figuring that fermentation is complete. Even then, it could benefit from more time on the yeast cake, so that it's cleaner.

For replacing the sugar in the boil, I believe extra light DME is less sugar by weight than corn sugar (or honey, at around 60% sugar). Honey is 80% sugar, so you can use 1.25x the sugar volume in honey. I tend to add honey once the wort has cooled to below 110F, so that I still have any flavors the honey has to offer. You can also add it after you've been fermenting for a few days/weeks and see how you like that. If you use honey during the boil, it will just be a sugar add, with no real flavors making it into the final result.

ALWAYS prime with weight, never with 'tablespoon' measures. Also NEVER add priming sugar into a bottle. Add the priming sugar to the bottling bucket, then rack the beer onto it, to mix (wasn't sure if you were planning to add the DME to the bucket, or bottles)...

For bottle carbonating, 2-3 weeks at 70F is a good start. I would also suggest using some software to figure out exactly how much sugar to use for priming. I've not used 'priming sugar' in any of my brews. I've been using honey to prime (so 1.25x the sugar weight is used).

I would advise to always use weight measurements for anything other than water (and Irish moss). You'll have much more accurate results that way.

 

[Vance71975]

I'm about to brew Northern Brewer's SH2B (single hop best bitter) extract kit and I have a few questions.

1. Brewing - The kit includes 1 lb. of priming sugar in the boil. I have an issue with adding sugar and I'd much rather add some extra light DME (which I bought with the kit). Should I just sub it in at a 1:1 ratio (by weight)?

2. Pitching - I got a liquid smack pack yeast for the batch. I shouldn't need a starter for a beer with this low of an OG (1.045), right?

3. Fermenting - The instructions call for 2 wks. priming followed by 2 weeks bottle conditioning. Based on my reading here, I was going to leave it in a primary for a month. Sound good?

4. Priming - I've run the numbers through several priming calculators and they all basically say to add less than a tablespoon of DME for priming, if at all. Is this right? Should I bottle a beer with essentially no priming sugars?

Sorry for all the noob questions, but I'm really amped about this batch, and I want to get it right.

Thanks!

William

1) I completely agree on using DME instead of Corn Sugar. You don't lose body that way, and no risk of that "cidery" off flavor.

2) According to Wyeast their smack Packs are good up to a starting gravity of 1.050, so you shouldn't have a problem. That being said, Starters are always a good idea,just as a safety step to make sure the yeast is still viable.

3) yup one month primary is great, that is all i do anymore unless its a really big beer, then i still use a secondary.

4) The Average Standard to bottle 5 gallons of beer is 3/4 cup Corn Sugar Or 1 1/4 cup DME. That is the Average for Safe bottling.

No worries we were all new to brewing at one point. You'll be fine!

 

[weconway]

1) I completely agree on using DME instead of Corn Sugar. You don't lose body that way, and no risk of that "cidery" off flavor.

That's what one of the kit's reviewers said. He commented that the beer was a little "cidery" and would have used DME instead. 1.25 lbs. is great. Thanks!

As for priming, I understand this style is significantly lower in CO2. I think I'll go with 1 cup of DME. I'd prefer to weigh it too, since DME seems to be compressible like bread flour.

Thanks again!

William

 

[apratsunrthd]

That's what one of the kit's reviewers said. He commented that the beer was a little "cidery" and would have used DME instead. 1.25 lbs. is great. Thanks!

As for priming, I understand this style is significantly lower in CO2. I think I'll go with 1 cup of DME. I'd prefer to weigh it too, since DME seems to be compressible like bread flour.

Thanks again!

William

Again, if you're trying to hit the style, 1 cup of DME is way too much. Try 3.04oz to hit 1.8.

 

[Golddiggie]

That's what one of the kit's reviewers said. He commented that the beer was a little "cidery" and would have used DME instead. 1.25 lbs. is great. Thanks!

As for priming, I understand this style is significantly lower in CO2. I think I'll go with 1 cup of DME. I'd prefer to weigh it too, since DME seems to be compressible like bread flour.

Thanks again!

William

Actually, I believe you'll need to use almost 1.5 pounds of DME to get the same gravity addition... Since DME appears to be about 70% sugar (from the carbonation calc. in Beer Smith), so you'll need to add about 1.43-1.44x (easier to say 1.5x) DME to add the same gravity points that sugar would have.

Again, I would use WEIGHT measures for priming... Using volume measure simply isn't even close to as accurate (or accurate enough for me). Depending on the DME type, and manufacturer, you can have a significant difference in actual volume per the exact same weight.

 

[ajf]

1. I'd do a 1:1 substitution. It will increase your OG by a very small amount, and increase the FG by a slightly higher amount (probably too small to measure).

2. You could probably get away with not using a starter, but the beer will be better with a starter.

3. Sounds good.

4. For a draught bitter, I don't prime (or force carbonate). For a bottled version, I would aim for 1.5 - 2.0 vols of CO2. (The bottled bitters are always more highly carbed than the draught versions.)

-a.

 

[Vance71975]

Actually, I believe you'll need to use almost 1.5 pounds of DME to get the same gravity addition... Since DME appears to be about 70% sugar (from the carbonation calc. in Beer Smith), so you'll need to add about 1.43-1.44x (easier to say 1.5x) DME to add the same gravity points that sugar would have.

Again, I would use WEIGHT measures for priming... Using volume measure simply isn't even close to as accurate (or accurate enough for me). Depending on the DME type, and manufacturer, you can have a significant difference in actual volume per the exact same weight.

Weight Priming is Ideal if your out to hit a certain number of volumes of co2. But you can bottle safely using the old standard of 3/4 cup corn sugar or 1 1/4 cup DME. You may be over or under the style guideline this way BUT you wont have bottle bombs IF your brew was completely fermented out before bottling.

 

[weconway]

Ok, just to clarify so I don't start a controversy...

I fully intend to bottle prime, and to do it by weight. After my first few batches I've learned that priming and CO2 levels are one of the big things I can do to improve my beer. I think it is too easily overlooked, so in this batch I'm working to get it down.

I'm thinking the 1.0 CO2 figures I'm seeing are for cask versions, which makes sense because that's about the amount of residual CO2 in the beer. Priming to 1.8 volumes definitely seems more appropriate for a bottled version. I'll just decant and let it come up to just below room temp before enjoying.

 

[apratsunrthd]

Ok, just to clarify so I don't start a controversy...

I fully intend to bottle prime, and to do it by weight. After my first few batches I've learned that priming and CO2 levels are one of the big things I can do to improve my beer. I think it is too easily overlooked, so in this batch I'm working to get it down.

I'm thinking the 1.0 CO2 figures I'm seeing are for cask versions, which makes sense because that's about the amount of residual CO2 in the beer. Priming to 1.8 volumes definitely seems more appropriate for a bottled version. I'll just decant and let it come up to just below room temp before enjoying.

Sounds great. Tell you what, if you're not sure, send me a sixer and I'll sample it so you don't risk drinking terrible beer .

While brewing is not all science, situations like this are why I love BeerSmith. It's a fantastic investment!

 

[weconway]

I fully intend to bottle prime....

D'oh! I mean pour into a bottling bucket with my priming solution...yada yada yada.

William