?'s on temp range, priming sugar, bottles

[RobertP]

First timer here. Got a BrewDemon 2 gal as a work spiff and I'm looking forward to trying my hand at beermaking.

I've been doing some research, watching videos on Youtube.

I've got the fermenter, airlock with lid seal, hydrometer, bottling wand/hose, mixing spoon.

At a local brew supply place I got PBW and Starsan because I wanted to go a step beyond the "no-rinse cleaner" that comes with the BrewDemon, also got pH test strips.

In videos I've seen people use both granulated sugar and sugar drops to bottle prime. The guy at the supply store raised concerns about the sugar drops re: contamination - he sells them but says the manufacturers don't guarantee that they're contaminant-free and that handling them could introduce contamination. He also said that regular household granulated sugar contains silicates which inhibits fermentation.

He further recommended batch priming with corn sugar instead of bottle priming. According to him you can simply boil the necessary amount of sugar in just enough water to break it down to a solution which sanitizes it, then carefully add that to the fermenter in such a way as to not aerate it or disturb the trub - maybe with a sanitized turkey baster or the like? - slowly stir and it yields a more consistent sugar mix and eliminates sanitization concerns.

He also said he doesn't like plastic bottles because he's had problems with them not sealing and holding in carbonation.

Also - I find recommendations for a temperature range of around 65 - 72 deg Fahrenheit as optimal for fermenting - I keep my thermostat at 78. 72 deg and lower would be both too low for comfort and would really jack up my electric bill. The BrewDemon instructions recommend a range of 64 - 82 degrees.

Is 78 okay or should I look for a way to bring down the temp of the fermenter? If so what's a simple, inexpensive way to accomplish that? Maybe a large cooler chest with ice bottles replaced at intervals? I'm in Florida where it's getting cooler by Florida standards but we don't have real winters here - you can't count on consistent temperature at any time of the year - it can literally be in the 30's one day and the 80's or 90's the next.

I appreciate your thoughts on all of the above - do you consider the concerns the brew supply guy raised to be legitimate or not something you've ever had a problem with?

Thanks.

[mashani]

Starsan/etc. are great, but one-step works perfectly fine. You just need to make sure it's fully dissolved into solution. It does not take 10 minutes to sanitize, only 2 at the most, really faster then that even. It just takes 10 minutes to dissolve. Hence the directions. PBW is more of a cleaner post-fermentation to get rid of stuck on crud, it is stronger stuff then one-step and can't be used as a no-rinse sanitizer, you need to rinse after you use it.

Sugar cubes / drops / granulated sugar are perfectly safe. No bacteria can contaminate them for any length of time, the osmotic pressure of sugar/salt in solid form puts on them blow up the cell walls of bacteria. Same with honey or strong concentrated sugar/salt solutions. It is only when diluted that bugs can mess with them it. In theory you can contaminate it briefly by touching it, but if you are sanitizing you bottles with one step or star san it's not difficult to be sanitizing your fingers or measuring device before touching things. I use sugar cubes (dominos dots) all the time without issue, I just dip my fingers in one-step solution. I do not use star san because it trashes my skin, but others have no issues with it.

That said batch priming with dissolved sugar is great, but I wouldn't do it in the same fermenter you brewed in, you really want to do it in a second bottling bucket or fermenter so your not stirring up the trub at the bottom and getting it in all your bottles.

I use 740ml O2 barrier PET bottles and they hold carbonation for 2+ years as long as the caps are good. Just replace the caps if they aren't feeling squishy or don't hold pressure. Improperly capped glass bottles don't hold pressure either. Pro tip if you use them, seal them, walk away for 15 minutes and then give each cap another twist. Sometimes they will seal more once they are settled. Glass is more of a "do you want your friends to think your cooler" or seem "more professional" kind of thing. I don't give a crap what they think LOL. I'd just go to kegs vs. glass if I was to switch.

78 is too warm for many yeasts, some Belgian and Saison yeasts as well as Kviek yeasts would like that, but not most American / British ale yeasts. If your climate is dry, swamp cooling it (put fermenter in a container with water and a towel over the fermenter dipped into the water) can work. If not you need to find a place with a lot lower ambient temps to put it, or limit your yeast choices. Kviek yeasts will make clean beer at those temperatures, Belgian/Saison yeasts will add more flavors. Also remember if 78 is your ambient, some yeast will kick it up 7-10 degrees when fermenting, so your really going to hit potentially 88 degrees at some point with them. So you really do need to find a cooling solution unless using Kviek yeast or Belgian Saison yeast (both good up to 90 degrees or more, but Belgian Saison will throw off all sorts of bubblegum flavor at those temps, like Saison Dupont).

[John Sand]

Seconds all of the above.
I have used a cooler with ice packs successfully.

[bpgreen]

Mashani and John answered your questions.

Welcome aboard.