BeerBorg

So I got a Brew Demon kit earlier this year, and have brewed 5 or 6 batches, all have turned out great. My question is: I would like to switch from using regular sugar when I bottle, and use a liquid mixture. Is this possible? I have saw some articles about using a mix of sugar and water. I don't mind the sugar, I just at times think it would be easier if the sugar was in a liquid form to mix in the bottle.

Thanks.

What mixing are you doing?

I switched to kegs a long time ago, but if I remember correctly, when I bottled, I added the sugar and beer to the bottles, capped them, turned them over once and set them aside.

Before I switched to kegs, I switched to batch priming. For that, I used a separate container (I used a container called a Slimline, but a second fermenter or a bottling bucket would also work). I'd weigh the sugar and add it to a small amount of water (I think I used about a cup) and bring it to a boil. Don't boil it too long, or you can end up with candy instead of sugar water. I'd then let it cool a bit, add it to the slimline, then transfer the beer in, making sure it swirled around in the slimline so the sugar water got blended in well. I'd then bottle from the second container. I think that's the way I did it, anyway. I may have added the sugar water after I started the transfer, but I think that could aerate it, so I think I added the sugar first. Somebody who has done it more recently will likely chime in (or you could do a search for batch prime).

Yup, the batch prime method that bpgreen explains is probably the way to go for you. It's exactly how I did it before I started kegging. The Slimline container is great, you can buy them at walmart. As for when to add the water/sugar mixture, I always added that to the slimline first, then racked the beer on top of it. I felt that this gave a good mixing process without aerating the beer.

Dog-piling on what was already said. Batch priming is what you are looking for and bpgreen outlined it above. A quick search should turn up more exact details if you need them - or we are happy to help provide those details.

So, right now, I am currently putting the sugar into the bottles, then using the hose to fill the bottles. I was just concerned that maybe the sugar wasn't mixing as well as it could. The bottles are wet from the sanitizer, then putting the sugar into them and waiting to pour thought maybe it at times wouldn't mix. There has been no problems with any of my batches, just looking for another way to do things. Thanks for the feedback.

Ah, that process (as you know) works just fine. Batch priming always seemed easier to me but I did the bottle-priming method for a while before switching to batch priming (then switching to kegs).

If you want to keep doing it with sugar in the bottle (bottle prime) but want an easier way, if you can get Dominos Dots sugar cubes at your grocery store, look for the ones that are 2.5g / 196 to a carton.

1 of them per 12-16oz bottle works great, you just drop one in each bottle and are done. No mess or measuring required. It take less then 1 minute to prime your entire batch.

If using 740ml PETs, you can go with 1 in a 740ml bottle if you want more of a light "English" carb. Or 2 if you want a more "normal" (to an American) level of carb. Or 3 if you want crazy wheat beer/Belgian carb. (3 is pushing it in a 740ml/24oz glass bottles unless you have really good Belgian bottles, and if you try it make sure you know your fermentation is really done).