How to Make Beer

Step 11: Priming

Congratulations, you now have beer! But, you're not done. If you drink it now it's going to be flat. Priming is the process of adding a measured amount of additional fermentable sugars just before bottling. Live yeast still in your beer will convert the additional sugars to carbon dioxide while in the bottle. The carbon dioxide has no way to escape the bottle resulting in carbonated beer.

Boil 3/8 cup (1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons) of sugar (preferably corn sugar but table sugar will do) in 1 cup of water for 5 minutes. Cover and let it cool some then pour into a sanitized container large enough to hold your beer (another large empty water bottle, empty plastic bucket, etc). Now siphon your beer from the fermenter into the bottling container being careful not to disturb too much sediment at the bottom of the fermenter (you did remember to sanitize that siphon hose, didn't you?). Your beer is now primed and ready for bottling.

Comments

[ssherard]

Would it hurt to place a spigot about a inch above the bottom in the bottle for the siphoning to the bottling bucket. Or would that disturb too much sedi?

[Kharabe]

easier way to carbonate your bottles is to add corn sugar to each bottle heres the chart
12 oz bottle 3/4 tsp
16oz bottle 1tsp
22 oz bottle 1 1/2 tsp
1 liter bottle 2 1/2 tsp
2 liter bottle 1 1/2 tbsp
3 liter bottle 2 1/4 tbsp

its that easy and you dont have any where near as much risk of to much or not enough sugar when bottling as you do using a sugaring solution mixed with the wort

[Yard Sale Dale]

Corn sugar? Is that High Fat Corn Syrup?

[guy90]

I've been struggling with carbonation, thanks for the tips on the priming process.

[hanzindahouz]

Two questions: What is the best way to bottle? Uing the siphon once again only this time direct into the bottles, pouring through a funnel, or something completely different? second, I've also read about secondary fermentation, i assume this is what is occuring in the bottles, but just wondering if there is some other step, say fermentation in the bucket, prior to bottling. Thanks!

[iddqd138]

Unless you have one of those fancy buckets with a tap, the siphon is probably the best way. Secondary fermentation is when you transfer your beer (without the trub) to another vessel for clearing and conditioning for about a week or two. It's not necessary though, a lot of homebrewers just leave their beer in primary a little longer.

[hefe300]

What is the likelihood of airborne contamination when using this "open air" method of priming. Would it be safer to prime each bottle and siphon directly from the fermenter or is this safe?

[iddqd138]

Unless you live in a moldy basement, you'd need a lot of bad luck to get an infection with this method. Priming each bottle is probably not a good idea since it's hard to get exactly the correct amount of sugar. You would risk getting the wrong amount of CO2 and even bottle bombs.

[captainbringdown]

can bottles explode at all during priming?

[eranox]

YES! God, yes. This is one of the most dangerous (and messy) aspects of brewing. Fortunately, it is also one of the easiest to control. Keeping an eye on just two things will ensure this never happens to you: First, make certain that your beer has fermented completely before you bottle it. The bubbles going through your airlock should have trickled down to a tiny trickle, or disappeared completely. Alternatively, you can get fancy and use a brewing doohickey called a hygrometer, which will tell you all kinds of things, including the specific gravity, sugar content, and alcohol content of your beer. It's a bit tricky and best learned about in a brewing book. Just don't bottle until the bubbles stop (or almost stop) and you'll be fine. If you are in doubt, letting the beer sit for a day or two after fermentation is complete won't hurt anything, assuming you sealed everything up properly. Second, don't ever use more priming sugar than the recipe recommends. The golden ratio is 2/3 to 3/4 of a cup for a 5-gallon batch. Anything in this range is fine, but pay attention to the recipe to get carbonation appropriate for the style you're brewing. Brew stores also offer sugar tablets, designed to be put one in each bottle, to eliminate any guesswork. These are advantageous because you can bottle directly from your fermentation vessel, with a minimum of fuss. Just drop the tablet in, fill the bottle with wort, and cap it.

[BreWmyOwn]

I AM JUST WANTING TO KNOW ON STEP 11 DO YOU PLACE THE AIR LOCK BACK ON?

[imarunner2]

Step 11 is simply adding sugar just before bottling. The air lock is no longer needed at this point. The fermentation that takes place after the added sugar takes place in sealed bottles resulting in carbon dioxide pressure build up inside the bottle and thus creating carbonation in your beer.

[oatmealfight]

I don't understand what the purpose is of the siphoning and how to do it. Why can't I just pour the entirety of the beer in with the sugar solution? And how does that beer defy gravity to end up in the bucket?

[camiller]

I don't understand what the purpose is of the siphoning and how to do it.

You want to leave behind most of the gunk that has settled out. The best way to start a siphon is to fill the siphon tube with sanitizing solution then release into a spare container until the beer starts flowing, then move the tube to your bottling bucket.
Why can't I just pour the entirety of the beer in with the sugar solution? Cause you'll get a lot more crud in your bottles.