Why use corn sugar as primer

[branlovesbeer]

I recently read a post about adding corn sugar instead of regular table sugar during the bottling process.

Why is that?
Does it have to do with there being Maltose in the corn sugar?
Or am I way off on that?


And
Can it be corn syrup or is there a powder version?

[infomercial]

corn sugar is 100% fermentable while table sugar is not.
i've added table sugar to homebrew before and it tasted very bad. i suspect even the small ammount used to prime a bottle would taste bad. not all of the sugar ferments and you get a overly sweet cidery taste.

there are probably several other reasons not to use table sugar. none of these sugars contain maltose but you can also prime with dried malt extract.

you live in a city with a homebrew supply store. corn sugar is not that much

[kinjar]

I've had experience with both and will attest to a much better result in using corn sugar. Both with a more consistent carbination and a better overall taste.

[HogieWan]

corn sugar is used because it ferments completely. That means that it doesn't affect the flavor of your beer, and each bottle (if the sugar was mixed properly in the beer) will have consistant carbonatation.

[Helium]

(if the sugar was mixed properly in the beer) will have consistant carbonatation.

How do you ensure that?
I dissolve the sugar on the stove, and pour it into the bottling bucket and stir.
But you can't really tell how well it's mixed, and you don't want to go nuts on the stirring either.

[Trogger]

Originally posted by Helium
How do you ensure that?
I dissolve the sugar on the stove, and pour it into the bottling bucket and stir.
But you can't really tell how well it's mixed, and you don't want to go nuts on the stirring either.

You are fine to do that if you stir gently, or do like a number of others do and put the sugar mixture in the bucket and rack from your fermeter to the bottling bucket on top of the sugar. It mixes very well as it racks into the bucket due to teh movement.

Another option:
My brother takes around 1/3 of the beer and puts it in a kettle on the stove and heats it and disolves the corn sugar in there. Then he gently pours that back in the bucket after it cools enough. Light stir and he's fine.

[infomercial]

i already have my beer in the bottling bucket as a secondary.
i plan to pour about 1 cup of pale dried malt extract boiled in some water for 4 gallons.
im not sure how much i should stir with the racking cane. the last half of my last bactch became oxodized i believe from too much stiring with a large spoon.
i will just wait for it to settle, bottle and hope for the best.

[Mill Rat]

Originally posted by infomercial
i already have my beer in the bottling bucket as a secondary.
All your other woes that you recite here are symptoms of this problem.

[infomercial]

you mean the oxygen?
if you are right this batch is screwed.
it's been in secondary 2 weeks.

oh ok i think you just mean my mixing problem. yes, it would be best to rack to the bottling bucket to mix the dme with it in the bottom

[Mill Rat]

No, I mean that having a yeast cake that you don't want to disturb in the bottom of your bottling bucket makes it hard to get your priming sugar well mixed without incurring other problems brought on by thorough stirring. Corky and I both dump the priming sugar mixture into the bottling bucket, and rack the beer from the secondary into the bottling bucket. the yeast cake stays behind in the secondary, and a light swirl set up by the flow through the racking hose mixes the priming sugar into the beer.

As much of a PITA as it might be, you might be best off racking out of your bottling bucket into a sterilized vessel, cleaning and resanitizing the bucket, dumping in your priming sugar solution, and racking the beer back into the bucket. This might also be a time that the cabonation drops that I've seen mentioned on this site might be the best answer.

[corkybstewart]

You shouldn't be using plastic for secondary anyway. Millrat's right about the yeast. The whole point of secondary is to let the yeast settle out of the beer. If you stir it up right before you bottle you haven't accomplished anything with your secondary stage. You'ld really be better off racking from primary directly to the bottling bucket and bottle right away. Most of my beers that I bottled in the old days went straight from primary to bottling. But I always let the beer settle a few days after I reached my target FG. Any debris from the fermenter was left in the bottom of the bottling bucket.

[infomercial]

ok thanks for the ideas.