Carbonation Drops - Yay Or Nay?

fuddnuddler said:

I am planning bottling tonight (Coopers 740ml PET), usually use two Coopers carb drops per bottle.

Am certain I don't have enough drops for the 30 bottles, but I can't get to a shop today and unlikely to get to one for the next week or so due to work.

Any advice/theories on how much dextrose per 740ml bottle would do the trick? Or how much sugar per bottle?

Cheers

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dammag said:

180gm dex in 250mL water, simmered to kill any bugs, seems to do the trick. Less for some styles.

I use a 10mL syringe. 10mL for tallies and 5 mL for 375 mL stubbies. And of course say 8mL for a 600mL bottle. The syringes are easily disassembled for cleaning/sanitising.

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jameyliddelow said:

This sounds like a Not half bad way to Prime if you dont want to Bulk Prime

Im Guessing you would sterilise the bottles then add the soloution before u fill them so it mixes through properly..... I think i would like to try this one until i get another fermenter for bulk priming......

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Juzdu said:

Give this a burl mate: http://webspace.webring.com/people/ms/sirl...Calculator.html

I did it recently when using carb drops for priming my bottles, but I had some 500ml ones so used the above to measure some dextrose in there rather than trying to cut the drops up.

If you set the desired volume of CO2 at 3, at 20 degrees C for a 740ml bottle using dextrose, it comes out to 6.36gm per bottle. A teaspoon is a touch over 4 grams, so looks like a teaspoon and a half per bottle.

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Bribie G said:

Missed this thread.

Carb drops are a waste of money if you are using Coopers style 750s - I used these for years - including all my bottle-conditioned comp brews which got me a few gongs:

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They do overcarb ales a bit, although I found that to be the case with two drops in a 750 anyway. You can "steam" it off in a jug after pouring and the beer turns out spot on, about the same as on tap at the bar.

Advantages are cost and total consistency.

About a third of the cost of the drops. Obviously they don't work for glass bottles.

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Juzdu said:

Just a quick trip over to Footscray from your joint and you should be able to find plenty of free syringes....

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