I was looking ahead to bottling day which is not here yet. But I was looking at the kit I bought and the priming sugar included is 1 oz. It's a 1 gallon batch of porter... I looked at a priming sugar work sheet, and for a 1 gallon porter at 68 degrees, they recommend 0.68 oz. 1 oz looks like way too much to me. Am I right, or not so much? It is a white powder that is not granular like cane sugar is and is identified as priming sugar. Some googling leads me to believe it is corn sugar.
Yes, more than likely it is corn sugar. I would go with the .68oz amount and continue to trust the priming sugar calculator in lieu of the pre-packaged kits. I don't know why, but every kit (it seems) has a gross infatuation with over carbonation.
If you don't have a scale to measure to that precise amount then it's not so critical so that you can just estimate 2/3 of the bag of sugar, but be certain to be a little over rather than a little under. Bottles can hold a little extra carbonation, but you'll have an overly bubbly beer if you go with too much. Be as close as you can to determine if you have exactly a gallon of beer, or adjust the sugar according for over or under on the liquid too. Mix it thoroughly into the beer, but don't create agitation (air/oxygen gets into the beer) when stirring it into the beer. Consider boiling the sugar in a cup or so of water to create a liquid, which will mix into the beer more easily.
Thanks for the advice guys, it is appreciated. I have a digital scale that is pretty accurate. I will definitely do a boil with a half / third cup of water. Not sure how to check my final volume before the bottling process without oxygenating it though. I can see the level in the primary fermenter is sitting at about a gallon, but there is also traub as well and I don't know how much.
I've been using this lately, and haven't had any issues yet: http://www.northernbrewer.com/priming-sugar-calculator/
You can check it after transferring to the bottling bucket, then add the appropriate amount of sugar solution and gently stir, below the surface.
I would think 1 ounce would give you a highly carbonated beer. I would think no gushers, but a porter should not be carbonated that highly. My first kit gave instructions to prime in maple syrup that was not provided. The directions were for a larger batch were included in a 1 gallon kit. This was the only ingredient not provided in a bag. I am lucky I had very good quality bottles for these. When I opened them they gushed probably 4 to 6 inches out of the neck. It was a damn good beer that a lot went down the drain.
Instructions included with kits are a crap shoot for homebrewing most of the time. It is generalized and seemingly meant to be as simple as possible to not overwhelm newbies. You seem to be very active in acquiring knowledge of this hobby from you recent posts; which is great! There are so many resources out there for brewing now a days; use them just like you have been doing here. You have to do things in response e to your beer and your personal circumstances, wants and needs. Beer speaks, it tells you what it needs most of the time if you are paying attention and do your research. Definitely use the amount calculated for your specific brew, not just what the instructions say. Hope your beer turns out great!
I got a cheap Home Depot bucket and ordered a spigot with various other supplies I needed (wanted) to make a bottling bucket. Since this is just a one gallon batch going in a 5 gallon bottling bucket, I just don't see how I could be all that accurate. I mean, I could put sanitizer in at half gallon increments, shine a light in, and mark the level on the outside. But with the container being as wide as it is, do you think I could be much more accurate than that? I could etch levels on the inside with a razor... but that would just make it more difficult to clean :/
I really wanted to use molasses as the priming agent! But since this was my first time making this brew, and first time making beer at all, I just wanted to stick as close to the directions as possible without changing the variables. But like you and others have said, the directions for these kits seem to be kind of shoddy. And this kit has not been an exception to that rule.
Don't etch anything into your plastic buckets, it will make them really hard to sanitize next time you want to use them. Can you estimate your volume in the fermenter? That's what motivated me to etch my glass carboy (search for the thread), so that I would have a better idea of how much priming sugar I needed.
As you said, you can add known amounts of water and mark it on the outside. A lot of people do that with carboys and buckets.
I'm just worried the height difference by cups, or even pints would be negligible on a 1 foot wide, 5 gallon bucket and I won't get a very accurate reading by shadow casting, and using a sharpie.
But it will be close enough. That's the method I used to graduate my carboys, and I'd do the same for my buckets if they weren't already marked.
On my one gallon brews I am using 1 1/2 tablespoon of honey with 1 1/2 tablespoon of molasses as the primer and it works well. Mix it in gently and then bottle and it should work, it has for me.
Thanks for the tips! As a beginner brewer I will be sticking as close as possible to the directions till I get my feet wet. Then I will start playing around. But I suspect working with different primers will be my first experimental variable. I've read a few posts on the subject. A lot of people say it shouldn't make a difference. But one post caught my eye. A guy did a big batch with a friend and split it before bottling. His friend used honey, while he used corn sugar. He said they tasted different. Placebo effect? Maybe.... But I want to see for myself. Looking at how much molasses is required to prime a gallon of beer, I know it has to contribute to the flavors. It just has to... (I think). And that's why I want to test it. And I think some molasses in some stout / porter would be delicious.
