Priming for carbonation and wart chilling

[gilleh]

should I be boiling the sugar before i add it to the batch before bottling? and why do people chill their worts? thanks.

[goblueM]

yes, boil the sugar.

and people chill the wort because most importantly, it needs to be about room temp for the yeast to survive. this also ensures a proper "cold break", which helps to precipitate some nasty solids, and prevent "chill haze".

Google is your friend

http://byo.com/departments/1028.html
http://www.breworganic.com/tips/Virtual_class/cool_wort.htm

also, here's a GREAT online read

http://www.howtobrew.com/

[BrewDog]

Additionally, cooling the wort quickly helps remove DMS (dimethyl-sulphide) which makes your beer taste like cooked corn or veggies.

[gilleh]

I see but I live in Canada so it is fairly cool anyways, room temp is 22 deg celcius. also I didn't boil my priming sugar before putting it in the bottles, how will my beer turn out now?

[guildofevil]

It is better to chill your wort down below about 30C as soon as possible, to prevent chill haze etc. I use an immersion wort chiller which does the job in about 15 minutes. I wouldn't worry too much about it if you didn't do it though. You may notice your finished beer gets cloudy when you chill it, but that's about it.

The priming sugar is boiled with some water and cooled to kill any bacteria. If you didn't do this, don't worry. I primed without boiling the sugar for years and never had any trouble.

Relax, your beer will be fine.

Séan

[Mill Rat]

Failing to sanitize everthing that comes in contact with you beer before your tongue does is gambling with potentially spoiling your beer. Some gambles have poor odds, like not boiling your wort. You're almost assured to be getting malt vinegar, not beer. Dry hopping is a gamble with very good odds, as hops tend to be bacterially unfriendly, and so is the beer after the initial ferment. Your priming sugar is a great bacterial growth medium, but the alcohol in the beer will inhibit almost all common strains. The more vectors (pathways) that a bacteria could use to get into your beer that you cut off, the lower the odds you have of a less-than-stellar brew.