Had a question about priming sugar. When making a 5 gallon batch, which I am doing now, it calls for 3/4 cup of priming sugar. I was wondering if you lose any beer through a blowoff tube or when you transfer to a bottling bucket would that ever effect the amount of sugar you use. If you lose some beer, would you use less or is the amount of sugar so minuscule it doesn't really matter. I know you don't lose a lot of beer with a blowoff or when transferring to a bottling bucket but I was wondering if the amount of sugar you use will alter the taste of the beer. Or is just about 3/4 a cup the standard. Thanks
The volume of beer you bottle does affect how much priming sugar you should use. As a general policy, you should be measuring your priming sugar by weight, rather than volume, and using a calculator such as Northern Brewer's to accurately determine the proper amount.
Definitely no standard. I always recommend using a priming calculator. Here is one from NB that is pretty good: http://www.northernbrewer.com/priming-sugar-calculator/ Fermentation temp, type of sugar you are using, amount of beer you'll be priming and desired carbonation level all play a role in how much sugar to use.
A couple of things... - There is no standard. Or rather, there are standards for each style. Here's a handy calculator. By the way, it's much better to measure sugar by weight than by volume. http://hbd.org/cgi-bin/recipator/recipator/carbonation.html - Yes, the actual volume being bottled does matter, and you would use less sugar for less beer. The nominal batch size isn't relevant.
I like most of my beers on the higher end of carbonation, so I usually use 28 grams of corn sugar per gallon of beer that goes into the bottling carboy at bottling time. Whether any is left behind during racking from fermentation bucket to carboy is irrelevant, as is any that's left behind after that last bottle is filled and you can't get another full bottle out of it. Prime according to the quantity you obtain after racking to your bottling bucket (well, I use a carboy, but that's irrelevant, as long as you can get a pretty accurate measure of the volume at bottling). This is priming at a rate of 1 ounce of priming sugar per gallon. "Standard" (if there is such a thing) is probably the four ounces (by weight) of priming sugar that is often sold pre-packaged with kits. You can certainly use this amount and get ample carbonation. I've also seen 5 oz pre-packaged priming sugars, so you can also use that amount and get fine, albeit somewhat higher levels of carbonation. These pre-packaged weights assume that you've got five gallons of beer tho, which is certainly not always going to be the case. Frequently you'll have a bit less (think hoppy beers) or occasionally perhaps a bit more. Measuring accurately will improve your consistency. But do measure by weight, and do adjust according to your final bottling volume. You don't have to be milliliter accurate, but don't be off by a gallon and a half either. Knowing your volume within about a quart wouldn't be at all unreasonable if you had markings on your bottling container that were pre-measured. You'll have to decide what level of priming sugar is optimal for your own use. I would suggest keeping it between 4 and 5 oz of corn sugar per five gallons, or in the range of 28grams/gallon max and 22 grams/gallon min. Also, this is for CORN sugar. It's different if you use table sugar. Several calculators have already been linked to, use them.
