Yay or Nay: Boil Water w/ Priming Sugar?
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I suppose one might make the admittedly-tangential argument that cracking the sucrose to glucose+fructose using a boil and acidifier could make it somewhat easier (or at least different) on the yeast.
Or that killing any undesirable micro-orgs in the sugar would reduce competition/stress on the yeast making for less expensive consumption of the sugar.
lexstarwalker
Active Member
Just to add a little more info to the convo 
If you're using dextrose, there is no fructose, it's only D-Glucose. Sucrose (table sugar), on the other hand, is a molecule of 1 fructose and 1 glucose.
Boiling kills microorganisms in the water and allows the sugar to dissolve in the water more quickly. Also, the warmer the temperature of the water, the more sugar it can hold in solution. You can dissolve sugar in room temperature water, it will just take longer. Boiling can also get the chlorine taste out of your water (if you're using tap water).
If you're just concerned with dissolving the sugar, 5 minutes or less of boiling would definitely be sufficient. However, if you're concerned with killing microorganisms, 15 mins would be safer. There are many microorganisms that can survive a 5 minute boil. I'm not sure how likely it would be that one of these would be in your water, but if you're worrying about contamination in the first place (which we all do), better safe than sorry. It's amazing the number of microbes that are floating around in the air. I imagine this is why some sources recommend 15 mins.
Also, yeast don't metabolize fructose directly. They must convert fructose to glucose. This takes energy, so if you're going for maximum efficiency, you're better off using dextrose.
If you're using dextrose, there is no fructose, it's only D-Glucose. Sucrose (table sugar), on the other hand, is a molecule of 1 fructose and 1 glucose.
Boiling kills microorganisms in the water and allows the sugar to dissolve in the water more quickly. Also, the warmer the temperature of the water, the more sugar it can hold in solution. You can dissolve sugar in room temperature water, it will just take longer. Boiling can also get the chlorine taste out of your water (if you're using tap water).
If you're just concerned with dissolving the sugar, 5 minutes or less of boiling would definitely be sufficient. However, if you're concerned with killing microorganisms, 15 mins would be safer. There are many microorganisms that can survive a 5 minute boil. I'm not sure how likely it would be that one of these would be in your water, but if you're worrying about contamination in the first place (which we all do), better safe than sorry. It's amazing the number of microbes that are floating around in the air. I imagine this is why some sources recommend 15 mins.
Also, yeast don't metabolize fructose directly. They must convert fructose to glucose. This takes energy, so if you're going for maximum efficiency, you're better off using dextrose.
smyrnaquince
Well-Known Member
I always microwave my water. Sounds like I should do a stovetop boil instead to bubble off the chlorine?
As far as how long to boil to kill what might be in the water:
CDC says 1 minute: http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/page/water-treatment.htm
Fema says 1 minute: http://www.fema.gov/plan/prepare/watermanage.shtm
EPA says 1 minute: http://water.epa.gov/drink/emerprep/emergencydisinfection.cfm
There is no reason to boil for 5, 10, 15 minutes to "be safe." Especially when you consider that you are boiling tap water that is already fit to drink.
As far as how long to boil to kill what might be in the water:
CDC says 1 minute: http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/page/water-treatment.htm
Fema says 1 minute: http://www.fema.gov/plan/prepare/watermanage.shtm
EPA says 1 minute: http://water.epa.gov/drink/emerprep/emergencydisinfection.cfm
There is no reason to boil for 5, 10, 15 minutes to "be safe." Especially when you consider that you are boiling tap water that is already fit to drink.
MMJfan
Well-Known Member
I always cool my sugar solution after boiling for about 10 minutes. And I too just dump it into my bottling bucket and then rack the beer on top of it by siphoning the beer into the bottling bucket. Have had good carbonation results everytime...
tuesunsommiel
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what's the likelihood of contamination if the sugar was just dumped into solution?
The probability is 6/(pi^2). In all seriousness, I have no idea. But it's a bad idea for other reasons - solid sugar dissolves pretty poorly into water at room temperature, so it would be difficult for you to be confident that the priming sugar had distributed properly throughout your batch and not just sank to the bottom like a stone. You could stir it or something, but then you'd run the risks of infecting the beer with your stirring implement or oxygenating it with the stirring. Long story short, adding priming sugar to beer really isn't the best element of brewing to experiment with; there's a consistently effective and safe method out there, and I suggest you use that. My 2c...
Most of the nasties that usually infect beer are killed in a few seconds at pasteurization temps of about 162F. Anything more serious than that likely won't servive the low oxygen/alcohol environment. The alcohol can damage their cell membranes.
homebrewdad
Well-Known Member
Very minimal risk, as very little will grow on plain sugar - this is why you can store it in a canister on your coutertop and it be safe to use indefinitely.
However, dry sugar is MUCH worse at mixing than a boiled sugar solution. If you dump in dry sugar, you run a much higher risk of some beers being flat, while others are bottle bombs.
