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What's the difference with sugar to castor sugar? On is just a finer grained version of the other.

Make your own castor sugar- regular sugar into the food processor. Save some money!

Castor sugar has finer crystals. I wouldn't blend normal sugar as you'll end up with all different sized particles, and the fine particles will create so many nucleation sites (sites for bubbles to form on) that your beer would be at risk of foaming out of your bottles.

Fair point. Hadn't thought of that.

spatch wrote:Where abouts from the Peninsula are ya? I'm in Somerville.
Thanks again.

I'm in Mt Eliza.

Anyway, let us know how the experiment goes.

Cool...I'm ex-Mt. Eliza - former Peninsular Grammar and went to Mt.Eliza HS in it's first year!!

...sorry about the O/T drift!

Oh NO! You're one of them crazy Mexicans too! Do you drink pots?

Shhhhh! Don't mention pots - I did once at the Hellenic club and nearly ended up in a Current Affair fight video!!

Cheers,
TL (go Hawks!)

That's happened to me EVERY time I've been to the Hellenic club. Incidently, I don't go to the Hellenic club any more

rwh wrote:Castor sugar has finer crystals. I wouldn't blend normal sugar as you'll end up with all different sized particles, and the fine particles will create so many nucleation sites (sites for bubbles to form on) that your beer would be at risk of foaming out of your bottles.

This has *never* happened to me. Priming with normal table sugar is fine. Don't believe the hype.

Did you actually read that sentence? Normal table sugar is fine, as is castor sugar. Table sugar that you've run through the blender I wouldn't vouch for. I know that people have problems with the finer particle size of dextrose, which is why I wouldn't recommend using table sugar that you've run through a blender.

A greater amount of smaller particles will create more nucleation sites for CO2 and in turn would cause more gas to escape with more foam in the bottle.

Chris wrote:That's happened to me EVERY time I've been to the Hellenic club. Incidently, I don't go to the Hellenic club any more

Yes, once you`ve been thrown out 3 nights in a row, you`re better off staying away from the place.

Bloody Greeks!!!

rwh wrote:Did you actually read that sentence? Normal table sugar is fine, as is castor sugar. Table sugar that you've run through the blender I wouldn't vouch for. I know that people have problems with the finer particle size of dextrose, which is why I wouldn't recommend using table sugar that you've run through a blender.

Hmmm... On re-reading I now take your point and I was clearly going off half-arsed...

Kevnlis wrote:A greater amount of smaller particles will create more nucleation sites for CO2 and in turn would cause more gas to escape with more foam in the bottle.

Sorry to disagree, but if that was the case then any priming sugar would be ineffective. The important point to remember is pressure. Regardless of the sugar used, if you leave the bottle unsealed, there is an avenue for the CO2 (once generated by the available yeast in solution) to move from a higher to lower pressure environment. I've bottled plenty of beers that had a creamy foam cap between the surface of the beer and the mouth of the bottle - a day or two later and there's no foam and obviously some pressure in the headspace that reduces when we chill the bottle - the CO2 will simply move from one medium to another based on temperature, pressure differential and the ability of the medium to absorb CO2. We use this principle every time we force carbonate chilled beer in a keg.

Cheers,
TL

TL, I meant that it will create more gas release and foaming at bottling time. Before the bottle is sealed. Not when opening it to consume it, or during storage.

I do get more foaming with castor sugar than with white sugar, I assume this is because of the fact that by weight, castor sugar has more granules and therefore more nucleation sites for the CO2.

It is nothing to worry about, it is just annoying to have the bottle foam over, and then have to go back and top it up and wipe it down after you have capped it.

I admittedly get a small amount of foam in the headspace, but I bottle immediately after filling and before I grab the next bottle and don't have any overflow problems. I find that filling the bottle to the top, withdrawing the little bottler and then tilting the bottle mouth against the little bottler pin helps fill the headspace of the bottle almost completely - or until the foam is about to peek out of the mouth of the bottle. I don't notice much of a difference between using DME, Table Sugar or Dextrose to prime - keeping a steady flow rate and minimising foam during the bottling process are the key issues IMHO...

Anyway, enough on the micro management of bottle filling - grab a keg - it's a heap easier!!

Cheers,
TL
edit - sp.

Lachy wrote:I'm in Mt Eliza.

Anyway, let us know how the experiment goes.

Will do, bottled 'em this morning. 1/3 of the brew with drops, 1/3 with Castor sugar, 1/3 with normal sugar.
Put a bit of extra in a few & marked them different to see how they go too.
And did 3 with honey???

Well 2 weeks has passed & I'm having a few tonight.
Had some of the Carb drop ones which went alright during the week.
Had one of the plain sugars tonight which had plenty of fizz and had a bit more
"taste" than the carb drop ones during the week.
1/2 way through a castor sugar one now and it tastes similar to the plain sugar
but had less head?

As a newbie, I can't explain any of it but its pretty bloody good if you ask me.
Home brew............. where have you been all my life???

Well they are all pretty much the same ingredient, so I wonder why there is variation?