Carbonation drops

[Frank Fico]

Can I purchase carbonation drops from anywhere and if so BrewArt says use 2 drops per 750 bottles. How many would I use with drops purchased elsewhere.

thank u

ftank 

[Steve Gyldenvand]

Hi Frank, that will depend on the drops of course, but I've generally found that most drops are going to recommend 1 drop in a 11-16 oz bottle, or 2 in the 750s. If you want to do more fine-tuning of carbonation, you can get smaller carb tablets, where you might use anywhere from 6-10 in a 750ml bottle. I try to keep both drops and tablets on hand so I have the option to experiment, and that's really what this homebrew thing is all about!

[Mike A]

Only thing to add, if you're in Australia, then the coopers carb drops which can be found almost everywhere, are the same as the ones that came with the bottle kit, so 2 drops for those. When I say everywhere, I mean BigW, Dans & woolies as well as your local brew store.

As Steve says, there's other kinds out there, you'd have to check the packet or ask your local brew store before buying.

If you're getting friends to keep bottles for you, the tablets can be a good idea because they may have some 500ml bottles & breaking the larger lollies apart can be a bit of a chore.

[Frank Fico]

tks gentleman 

have 1st brew ever in bottles 'belgium strong  ale'

2nd is ruby porter in the droid now

graduate to mongrel next 

[Wazza_wantsbeer]

You might also want to consider using Dextrose instead of the carb drops.

I personally preferred using them before I moved to kegging.

You can cheaply purchase from pretty much any local home brew store, a little measuring plastic tool that has three cups of various sizes that match the required amount of dextrose required to carbonate bottles of 390ml, 500ml and 750ml.

This link is just an example of the tool... https://www.thebrewshop.com.au/sugar-measure.html?source=google&medium=ppc&gclid=CjwKCAiA75itBhA6EiwAkho9e-I7qrRt3O1HT9ATVzlEnpR4hN_9zL_WYs1M7PzyKmP1oFlddNazqRoCs4cQAvD_BwE

Personally I found this tool easy to use and worked every time.

Cheers

Edited January 17 by Wazza_wantsbeer

[Willy Weizenbier]

So, I'd be guessing that you'd only need 1 carbonation drop if you're using a 330ml bottle then?

Anyone have any previous experience with this?

Cheers

[Andy Simma]

I have been bottling in ex stone and wood bottles which are 330ml using single carb drop without any issues. 

[ManuelGLR]

Do you guys use two drops per 750 ml bottle? I've noticed that mine doesn't get enough carbonation

[Rob Courtney]

11 minutes ago, ManuelGLR said:

Do you guys use two drops per 750 ml bottle? I've noticed that mine doesn't get enough carbonation

Yep two per 750 ml

1 per 330-375ml stubbie

1.5 for a Grolsch bottle

[Rob Courtney]

18 minutes ago, ManuelGLR said:

Do you guys use two drops per 750 ml bottle? I've noticed that mine doesn't get enough carbonation

I guess I should also ask, how long are you keeping them in secondary for?

[Mike A]

From what I've read, a lot of frequent bottlers tend to make up their own sugar mix and add dextrose rather than use carbo drops, that way you can tune the carbonation somewhat, limits to within accuracy of measurement & pressure the bottle can handle.  So if you're trying to tune beyond the pre-prepared carbo drops, I suggest you investigate going that way.

I personally have had good results with carbo drops for what I'm using it for.

I'm still trying to work out how to translate my carbonation requirements in my keg and CO2 with cooling as well, not good at it yet.

[Thagomizer]

I always use granular dextrose for priming bottles.  However, be sure that your beer is at kegging temperature when you prime and cap.  At room temperature, the yeast can attack the sugar rapidly and create a foaming mess before you can secure the cap.  This is not a problem with the solid carbo drops unless you wait a long time to secure the cap.  (Less surface area to react with the yeast - until the sugar dissolves.)  So, at 64^oF or 18^oC, granulated dextrose works fine.  Carbo drops are more forgiving at higher bottling temperatures and work perfectly at kegging temperatures.

For my BrewArt kegs I usually carbonate with the BrewArt solid priming cylinders.  However, I have successfully used 30g of granulated dextrose at kegging temperature.  

Just be careful with granulated priming sugar as it can react with the starving yeast quite rapidly at higher temperatures.  A good rule of thumb for biological processes is that the rate doubles for every 10^oC increase in temperature.

😀 Happy brewing.