homebrewandbeer.com

Posted: **Monday Jul 24, 2006 3:23 pm**

Hi All

Not sure if this has been mentioned before:

Am using the Coopers Carbonation drops and the packet serving size says 60 drops with 1 drop being one serving..I am also using the Coopers 740ml PET bottles so I use 2 drops per bottle. So If I do my maths right (or wrong) one full packet should do 1 brew... ie 30 bottles.

well i have done 2 brews with them and have at least 15 - 20 drops left per packet ???

Any one else come across this or is it that I just can't count and maybe shouldn't be knocking a few back while i'm doing it. ??

Phill

Posted: **Monday Jul 24, 2006 3:40 pm**

Eat the drops.

They taste like fairy floss

Posted: **Monday Jul 24, 2006 4:41 pm**

I just recently added a new coopers kit to the garage and it came with carbo drops so i thought id use them to see what they were like ( ive never bothered with them before) and i found that i also had more than 1 brew in the pack, not sure how many more as i didnt count them but there was quite a few= maybe 10 or so!!

Posted: **Monday Jul 24, 2006 6:27 pm**

me also. Does anyone know how many grams in each one. Says 250g overall and sixty serves but i always have heaps left. I want to try three per longneck but dont want any bombs.

Posted: **Monday Jul 24, 2006 7:23 pm**

Coopers carbonation drops are very poorly made. They crumble way too easily. But really if you get more than what it says on the pack I wouldn't be complaining, just store them away for next time.

Posted: **Tuesday Jul 25, 2006 5:01 am**

Too crumbly? Try getting one jammed cross-ways in a bottle and see how crumbly it is!

Posted: **Tuesday Jul 25, 2006 8:57 am**

I don't like them myself. i much prefer dextrose and am about to try ldme as a primer.

Posted: **Tuesday Jul 25, 2006 11:40 am**

Wassa wrote:I don't like them myself. i much prefer dextrose and am about to try ldme as a primer.

Agreed, Dex is HEAPS better than those drops.. Drops over carbonate I think and don't seem to keep head as well..

I was thinking about using LDME..
Anyone used it?

Posted: **Tuesday Jul 25, 2006 12:40 pm**

DJ wrote:
Wassa wrote:I don't like them myself. i much prefer dextrose and am about to try ldme as a primer.
Agreed, Dex is HEAPS better than those drops.. Drops over carbonate I think and don't seem to keep head as well..

I was thinking about using LDME..
Anyone used it?

I don't like using them. I have used them twice and both were UNDER carbonated, with correct number of drops.

Posted: **Tuesday Jul 25, 2006 2:22 pm**

I'm a few days away from bottling my first brew. The kit came the carbonation drops. Should I toss them out? and if so what should I use as a replacement, keeping in mind i haven't got access to a home brew shop, so hints available from the supermarket would be handy.

Posted: **Tuesday Jul 25, 2006 2:41 pm**

Standard sugar is ok.. Because there isnt much it wont impart dodgy flavours..

Need a measurer though..

Posted: **Tuesday Jul 25, 2006 3:34 pm**

I never got consistent results with drops. I use malt now.

Posted: **Tuesday Jul 25, 2006 4:18 pm**

Well, I hate to be the odd one out, but I've done 4 brews with carb drops and they've worked fine for me. I've used coopers ones and the home-brand ones from the local HBS and they've both worked fine. I like the home-brand ones a bit better because they're a better shape and don't get jammed in the necks of the bottles.

I just bought a measuring scoop so I'll probably try using dex or malt or something when I run out of carb drops, but I reckon it will make bugger all difference.

Posted: **Tuesday Jul 25, 2006 4:27 pm**

bulk prime!

i guess some one had to say it!

Posted: **Tuesday Jul 25, 2006 4:54 pm**

Ive never bulk primed but plan to try it out! is there anything i need to know apart from the obvious:
180gm dex etc

Posted: **Tuesday Jul 25, 2006 5:32 pm**

Don't you need a second fermenter to bulk prime? If that's the case, it's not an option for me.

Posted: **Tuesday Jul 25, 2006 5:45 pm**

Hi All

Below is a response from Coopers I got today...seems to answer the question.

"Hello Phill. If the packets were supposed to contain EXACTLY the right
number of drops, people would invariably be left one short occasionally. Far
better to provide a few extra (actually 10 or 15) so that there is no chance
of being caught short. The packet is sold by weight, not quantity and the
net weight is 250g, the target (average) weight of one drop is 3.2g, which
gives us average contents of 78 drops.

Regards,

Frank Akers
Home Brew Advice
Coopers Brewery
461 South Road
Regency Park
SA 5010

Posted: **Tuesday Jul 25, 2006 5:50 pm**

Do a search and you'll find numerous posts on how to bulk prime. I love it. wouldn't do it any other way.
I use the bulk priming calculator found here:
http://www.geocities.com/lesjudith/Alco ... lator.html

Just plug in style of beer, temperature and volume and it tells you how much primer to put in.

My latest greatest discovery is the double pronged bottling wand.
I now leave the bottles in the milk crates and use the double bottler, takes no time at all.

See this page for more info: (you have to scroll down to the last photo)
http://members.iinet.net.au/~watermc/Ab ... mebrew.htm

Posted: **Wednesday Jul 26, 2006 9:10 am**

ACT, how did you rig one of those up? Looks very interesting...

Posted: **Wednesday Jul 26, 2006 9:58 am**

ACTbrewer wrote:My latest greatest discovery is the double pronged bottling wand.
I now leave the bottles in the milk crates and use the double bottler, takes no time at all.

See this page for more info: (you have to scroll down to the last photo)
http://members.iinet.net.au/~watermc/Ab ... mebrew.htm

I've just started doing the same after seeing this posted on here a month or two ago. Absolutely fantastic! Makes filling the bottles a breeze. Don't remember if it was you who posted it originally ACT, but if it was thanks a million.

Hal.