I’m looking for the actual formulas to calculate how much table sugar, honey, dme, lme, brown sugar etc. to prime. I would like to see a formula that takes into account the temp, volume of brew, residual co2, attenuation of yeast and brew sugars.
After 20 years, here’s my formula:
2 tablespoons table sugar per gallon
^^^^ Same here.
In part, this is really very simple. We know exactly how many grams of fermentable sugar yield how many grams of CO2, and the density of CO2 allowing us to translate grams of CO2 into volumes. You can also find out how much fermentable sugar each of those products contains. But what you likely will not know is how much residual fermentable sugar and how much CO2 your beer already contains before priming; those factors would need to be actually measured.
Dave and Kevin are right on target. Adopt a rule of thumb, strive for consistency in your process, and refine based on the results.
It’s refreshing to hear from an adult instead of the prepubescents with their indecorous comments. Thanks BrewBama.
Wow, second post here on the forum. That took an abrupt turn.
David, you’re new here so maybe you don’t know…we treat each other respectfully here.
Honey’s water content varies significantly so your results will probably differ from the prediction from a carbonation calculator.
I appreciate Dave’s attempt to simplify things with a “one size fits all”. Thats kinda what I do by using an oz. per gal. Both my method and his will work Ok if you only brew styles that need that particular level of carbonation and you always follow the same fermentation temp regimen. But it’s pretty inexact and you have to be willing to accept whatever level of carbonation you get from it.
In real life, I deviate slightly based on experience, like I’ll use slightly less than 2 tablespoons per gallon for British styles, to better emulate the traditional “warm and flat” stereotype where appropriate. But I’ll never ever use more than 2 Tbsp anymore, not even for hefeweizens, Belgians, etc., as I’ve had too many of these go overboard and gush all over the place and it drives me crazy. Also if I think there is any risk of gushing, if I’m not 1000% sure that fermentation is complete (this never happens anymore but let’s say maybe it’s possible for others), I’d underprime slightly – I mean we’re talking 1.7-1.8 Tbsp or whatever, so nothing real drastic, I know it will still carbonate, but just build in a little insurance to prevent gushing. Personally I prefer a “flat” beer over a gusher any day.
Why no go by weight? It’s not easy to measure .8 Tbsp.
I dunno. I never got around to it I guess. And there are 3 teaspoons in a tablespoon, so 2.4 teaspoons is pretty easy to measure, just come up slightly short on one fill of a 1/2 teaspoon. And as I always say… close enough is close enough, for me anyway. I’m not positive I have a scale that can measure that tiny amount anyway.
There is only one person that addressed the question I asked. Dm you lost me with a less than risible answer the first time. I will not pander you by watching any videos or responding to any comments. As for respect, it needs to be earned by addressing the explicit question asked.
If your interest was merely trivial, a simple Google search would have turned up the only two values (0.49g, CO2 produced by fermentation of 1g sugar; and 1.977g/L, density of CO2 @STP) needed to generate precisely the formula you seem to want. If, however, your interest is in applying that information, in the context of brewing, toward achieving the end of properly and predictably carbonating beer, you might consider that you have received replies from several individuals, each possessing at least 2 to 3 decades of brewing experience, who are indicating to you that you are asking the wrong question. We come here, to a forum, a venue for friendly exchange of information and furtherance of learning, eager to assist each other in improving their own brewing knowledge and techniques. We would be glad to help you achieve your goals, and to learn what you have to offer, should you choose to continue as a member of this community.
gulp
I’ve used the following calculator once or twice, literally. And, for the veracious purpose of frivolity, this rejoinder is duly expressed with requisite superfluous ostentatiousness and prolixity.
Brewer’s Friend has one too, there are plenty. But they all have to make unfounded or generalized assumptions about the residual sugar and CO2 already present in the beer. It seemed to me that the request in the OP was for a universal formula that would incorporate universal, absolute values for those factors, which remains impossible as they simply must be actually measured in order to be definitively known. So in the end, any calculator which looks really sciencey but assumes unsupported values for key factors is a barely even a SWAG, and will serve no better than starting with an arbitrary quantity of sugar and adjusting based on a long series of trials under consistent, actual, brewery conditions. In fact, repeatedly relying on the calculator is worse, because it will keep leading one astray from following empirical evidence.
But I don’t think we’ll see the OP again. I think he got just what he wanted, a little jolly trolling.
But if he can get past his lack of risibility and our apparent indecorous lack of pubes, I’m sure we’d be happy to have him.
Yeah, most people wait until their fourth or fifth post before insulting dmtaylor. Then they figure out that he really doesn’t care, so there is no point to it and they stop. I skipped the intermediate step and just take him for what he is: an experienced homebrewer with a somewhat irreverent attitude.