Bottle Conditioning - Weighing Sugar and Beer

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by Jmamay22, May 5, 2015.

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  1. Jmamay22

    Jmamay22 Initiate (0) Sep 11, 2006 New York

    I keg the vast majority of my beers, but I still bottle those I want to keep for long term purposes like my sours or a big imperial stout. The common method for bottle conditioning is to determine the volume of beer being packaged and add the necessary amount of sugar when you package.

    It's often recommended to weigh the sugar you are adding to be accurate, but why don't we also weigh the beer for accuracy rather than using volume? Most bottling buckets have hash marks showing each gallon, but you are usually left guessing how much over or under the 5 gallon target of your batch.

    Maybe I'm overcomplicating the process, but I feel this would increase accuracy of carbonation levels without any additional equipment for those who already have scales to weigh grain.
     
    #1 Jmamay22, May 5, 2015
  2. CurtFromHershey

    CurtFromHershey Initiate (0) Oct 4, 2012 Minnesota

    It's because pressure is a function of volume and temperature, not mass. 1 gal of 1.001 saison will not weigh the same as 1 gal of 1.022 quad, but you would calculate priming additions the same way for both.
     
    #2 CurtFromHershey, May 5, 2015
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  3. VikeMan

    VikeMan Grand Pooh-Bah (3,067) Jul 12, 2009 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah

    You could do this, assuming you subtract the weight of your bucket. Or you could add more hash marks to your bucket. Personally, I don't think it's very difficult to estimate quarters of a gallon or even tenths just by looking between exiting markings. Disclaimer: I normally keg. I might care more if I were a bottler.
     
    #3 VikeMan, May 5, 2015
  4. VikeMan

    VikeMan Grand Pooh-Bah (3,067) Jul 12, 2009 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah

    That's true, and I almost mentioned it, but the difference is almost decimal dust.
     
    #4 VikeMan, May 5, 2015
  5. Hanglow

    Hanglow Pooh-Bah (2,051) Feb 18, 2012 Scotland
    Pooh-Bah

    I wouldn't worry. I tend to think of bottle carbonation as low, average, above average and high. If you are 0.2 volumes out, i doubt you'll care

    If you are worried about the volume on your bucket being wrong, then weigh/measure out 1kg/1l at a time of water and mark the outside so it's more accurate
     
    #5 Hanglow, May 5, 2015
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  6. CurtFromHershey

    CurtFromHershey Initiate (0) Oct 4, 2012 Minnesota

    What the heck is a "kg"?!?!

    :wink:
     
    #6 CurtFromHershey, May 5, 2015
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  7. MrOH

    MrOH Grand Pooh-Bah (3,995) Jul 5, 2010 Virginia
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah

    AMERICA!!!!
    FUCK YEAH!!!!!!!
     
    #7 MrOH, May 5, 2015
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