Priming with sugar

aligator_am

Hey folks, I bought the makings of a batch of stout but managed to forget to order up the carbonation drops.

Just wondering would it be OK to prime the bottles with a spoon of sugar or even a sugar cube? It'll be going in to Coopers PET bottles so hopefully none will explode

I'm still a novice at all this so am hoping someone here will be able to point me in the right direction, I don't fancy paying another €5 delivery for something that costs about €2.

irish_goat

Batch priming is the best way to go. Means you get consistent amounts of sugar in each bottle.

http://www.nationalhomebrewclub.ie/wordpress/batch-priming-a-guide-by-an-idiot/

Idleater

Sugar worked fine for me 1 out of 1 times. Then someone told me that you can chuck it all in in one go (as previous poster mentioned).

I'm trying the tablets for my current batch.

BeerNut

Half a teaspoon of sugar per bottle will carb it fine. Carbonation drops are just a very expensive way of buying sugar.

ferg44

I ve been using ordinary table sugar for 2 years, works fine...but you need a full spoon and a bit for cider I found out , otherwise its fairly flat .. ales need about half to 3/4 spoon
I never used the drops

smacl

I'm more cider than beer, but if I want to add some fizz I make a mix of sugar and warm water, add a small amount of the yeast I'm using, leave it sit for a few hours, and add ~10ml to each bottle. Takes about a week, and for me typically only needed for greener apples.

PaulKK

I used sugar cubes on half my lager batch. Worked perfectly fine, no difference to carb drops and much cheaper.

aligator_am

OK, so I primed with a half teaspoon of table sugar in each bottle but when I opened one just before Christmas to test it the beer was flat as bejaysus, the taste was fine.

Just wondering if this is a lost cause or if I add more sugar to the bottles now and leave for another couple of weeks will it carbonate or just become sediment on the bottom of the bottles?

mordeith

Where did you put the bottles after priming? If it was somewhere very cold if may have interfered with the process. I usually leave in a warm place for twenty four hours and then move to cold.

loyatemu

turn them upside down for a few days, then back upright for a few days. Even if you haven't put enough sugar into the bottles, you should still have some carbonation. as mordeith said, make sure they're being kept at room temperature for the first week or so.