Carb drops

Pale_Ale · Post by **Pale_Ale** » Monday Nov 20, 2006 9:02 pm

Who rates em?

Who uses em?

My opinion? Too much fizz most of the time!

And the bubbles are about as big as golf balls.

I just did a Cerveza and used some leftover carbonation drobs. Too fizzy by a long way.

lethaldog · Post by **lethaldog** » Monday Nov 20, 2006 9:17 pm

Dont like em, wont use em any more, never had consistent results

ACTbrewer · Post by **ACTbrewer** » Tuesday Nov 21, 2006 5:52 am

ditto, malt all the way.

Cortez The Killer · Tuesday Nov 21, 2006 9:14 am

I bulk prime with white sugar

Pale_Ale · Post by **Pale_Ale** » Tuesday Nov 21, 2006 9:30 am

Interesting, is malt commonly used for priming?

What would be the benefit of priming with malt as opposed to priming with dex and adding more malt in the primary if desired?

Be interested to hear results.

And Cortez, does white sugar work ok?

muddy · Post by **muddy** » Tuesday Nov 21, 2006 9:46 am

Pale Ale,

I usually prime with malt or dex.

Recently ran out and wanted to bottle so used white sugar. It works ok but for me just as a back up.

Malt is smooth - fine bubbles.
Sugar is harsher. But each to their own.

melbourne man · Post by **melbourne man** » Tuesday Nov 21, 2006 9:49 am

is it possible to bulk prime with malt wihtout racking into another fermenter?

how much would i use for a coopers pale ale and could i just mix it with a bit of water, pour it in, stir it really gently and wait like an hour for it to diffuse?

rwh · Post by **rwh** » Tuesday Nov 21, 2006 9:51 am

I always bulk prime with dex. 6-8g per litre.

Carb drops worked ok for me, but I only used em for my first couple of batches. Anything other than bulk-priming is too much fiddling around.

melbourne man · Post by **melbourne man** » Tuesday Nov 21, 2006 9:51 am

i forgot to mention that it will be a 21L brew.

rwh · Post by **rwh** » Tuesday Nov 21, 2006 9:55 am

Sure, it's possible. You need to be careful not to kick up the trub though obviously. Also remember that you need to multiply the quantity of dex by 1.2 (that is, you need to add 20%).

Here's what you do:

1. work out your carb level. Use the essential guide to bulk priming for that.
2. boil up your fermentables in about a cup of water or whatever.
3. put the lid on, put in a water bath to cool a little (optional).
4. pour into your fermenter. This is where you would normally rack onto your sugar solution, but in your case you just add it to your fermenter, give it a gentle swirl, and wait an hour or so.
5. Bottle.

melbourne man · Post by **melbourne man** » Tuesday Nov 21, 2006 10:27 am

so 180g of light dry malt should give a good amount of carbonation for a pale ale.

breadnbutter · Post by **breadnbutter** » Tuesday Nov 21, 2006 10:42 am

I'm about to use LDME to prime for the first time, having previously used the drops but now seen the light

Q: Does priming with malt require longer than dex/ sugar to complete secondary fermentation and maturation?

Cheers

rwh · Post by **rwh** » Tuesday Nov 21, 2006 11:58 am

melbourne man wrote:so 180g of light dry malt should give a good amount of carbonation for a pale ale.

Well, most Australians are used to "high" carbonation, which would be 180g of dex or 220g of LDME in a 23L batch. That's 170g dex or 200g LDME in a 21L batch.

breadandbutter: yes, it takes slightly longer. 2 weeks should probably be your minimum before opening a bottle.

Crowash · Post by **Crowash** » Tuesday Nov 21, 2006 1:42 pm

Last time I used Carb drops I couldn't get half of the *&%$ things to fit in the &%$* bottles... Utterly pointless.

Needless to say I wasn't happy and have been bulk priming ever since at much lower levels of carbonation.

breadnbutter · Post by **breadnbutter** » Tuesday Nov 21, 2006 2:06 pm

rwh wrote:
melbourne man wrote:breadandbutter: yes, it takes slightly longer. 2 weeks should probably be your minimum before opening a bottle.

Wicked that's no problem, 2 weeks is practically infanticide isn't it

Cheers

The Proud Anselmo · Tuesday Nov 21, 2006 2:07 pm

I used to use carbonation drops but ran out so have just used dextrose since. Although I've never had a problem with my brews being overcarbonated, infact some have come out rather flat.

dags64 · Post by **dags64** » Tuesday Nov 21, 2006 2:20 pm

I use carb drops and I dont have a problem
no probs with under or over carbonated and I get a nice creamy head on some of my brews
I like the convenience

breadnbutter · Post by **breadnbutter** » Tuesday Nov 21, 2006 2:42 pm

I agree with the convenience argument and to be honest have not had any major problems, just variability that mildly affected flavour/ mouth feel.

In fact, if it weren't for the carb drops and the PET bottles I may not have resumed homebrewing earlier this year after several years off (having ceased to be a starving student). However, the benefits of consistency and fine control that comes with bulk-priming have swayed me to the point that I'm not even going to use the two remaining packs of carb drops I have.

Cheers

Sathias · Post by **Sathias** » Tuesday Nov 21, 2006 2:47 pm

Crowash wrote:Last time I used Carb drops I couldn't get half of the *&%$ things to fit in the &%$* bottles... Utterly pointless.

Needless to say I wasn't happy and have been bulk priming ever since at much lower levels of carbonation.

I've had that problem with the Coopers ones, no probs with the Brewcraft ones.

Dasher · Post by **Dasher** » Tuesday Nov 21, 2006 3:52 pm

I use 'em and am happy ot as the less messy stuff the better.
Have had some inconsistent results with the Coopers ones as thery were a bit of mixed bag and changed to Brewcraft as they are of more consistent shape/ size.
Reckon Coopers may have picked up their act as noticed on the local Woolies shelves that the Coopers ones are no very similar to Brewcraft ones.
Good luck with it
dasher