I have been using the Brewer's Friend calulator and tend to get lower carbonation than I expect/want as well.
Same issue. Nearly ruined an Oktoberfest.
I have been using the Brewer's Friend calulator and tend to get lower carbonation than I expect/want as well.
One of the biggest potential mistakes people can make is in confusing volume ounces with weight ounces, or visa-versa.
I don't understand what you are saying in this post. You're talking about a closed fermenter, like a keg? If so, I agree that there is no gas entering or leaving if there is no leak. If you're taking about a carboy, with a bung and airlock, then it's not so. Oxygen will diffuse through the water in the airlock, the leaks around the seal, through the plastic seams of the airlock, etc, and c02 will also exit. The laws of physics come into play.
But even so, that really isn't the topic of residual c02, I don't think, unless like above, we're talking about holding the beer in a totally impermeable vessel like a keg.
What? No Kraeusening (using Gyle a la Papazian) mentioned?
I always prime with DME unless I'm doing an English ale. I prime at room temperature for about 10 to 14 days then condition at about 38 degrees for a week with a hefe and longer for lagers. The cold temp sets the co2. The amounts are different than sugars and BeerSmith has a great calculator. Make sure you have reached final gravity.
The last two batches I made were overcarbonated using online priming calculators.
Keep in mind that you need to carbonate both the beer and the headspace of any packaging container. So your beer volume and temperature matter, but so does your fill level in bottles/kegs/etc. I made a spreadsheet that takes those variables into account, which lives here:
https://sites.google.com/site/republicbrewpub/
The file name is Carbonation_Gallons. The Recipe_Gallons file uses the same calculations and incorporates natural carbonation into recipe formulation (e.g. it'll adjust the expected ABV and target volumes/gravities based on method of carbonation).
I don't see this mentioned often. But conceptually it seems difficult for me to believe you can use some universal calculator. Wouldn't the structure of the beer, and the type of yeast used be a big factor? Don't yeasts all work at different rates and different potentials? Also what kind of bottles are you using and how full are they? Etc... Maybe it's simpler than I think but a "calculator" is a bit of a misnomer ; not a precision tool but an estimator. That being said I've used the N. Brewer tool, I think best thing is to use it or some other calculator a couple times, and adjust accordingly to taste.
This may be simplistic, but for 20+ years, for a 5 gallon batch I added 3/4 to 7/8 cup of corn sugar before bottling. Then let them bottle condition at room temp for 2-3 weeks. Pretty much worked every time.
IMO They are conservative, I guess they don't want people blaming them for bombs. I saw recommended oz. all over the map and used 1/3 to 1/2 c. for a few batches of cider that were decidedly wimpy. Then I got ticked off and upped it to 1 c. which was perfect. Now that's what I use for every batch of cider and several variants of mead with several different yeast strains. I've had about 5 champagne bottles out of probably 1000, no bombs. I really don't think it matters what recipe as much as how much sugar your priming yeast consumes. I always go with the same yeast I used to ferment.
I assume you specified the same sugar in both cases, yes? Did you specify dextrose (corn sugar) or sucrose (cane/beet sugar)? Most dextrose is actually dextrose monohydrate, so it requires ~10% more dextrose monohydtrate than pure dextrose to carbonate to the same level. Might Northern's calculator be calculating based on pure dextrose?I just did a quick (and by no means fully extensive) comparison of the Northern Brewer priming calculator and the Brewer's Friend priming calculator, and from my brief observation it appears that Brewer's Friend calls for roughly 9% higher priming sugar quantities than does Northern Brewer. If Northern Brewer is an example of conservative, then by that measure Brewer's Friend does not appear to be conservative.
I assume you specified the same sugar in both cases, yes? Did you specify dextrose (corn sugar) or sucrose (cane/beet sugar)? Most dextrose is actually dextrose monohydrate, so it requires ~10% more dextrose monohydtrate than pure dextrose to carbonate to the same level. Might Northern's calculator be calculating based on pure dextrose?
The more probable cause for the difference is that Northern's calculator is assuming higher levels of residual CO2 in the beer post fermentation, so calling for less sugar to get a specific number of volumes.
Brew on
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