TAD carbonation question

[PCaravan]

I've got a new Tap-a-Draft and need to know how much priming sugar to use.

The directions that came with the system say to prime as usual but I remember seeing somewhere that is too much. I got a manual off the internet that says to use 1/2 cup of corn sugar per 5 gallons and I remember seeing posted in places that 1/3 cup is more appropriate.

Any comments are appreciated unless your going to tell me I should have gotten a korney as that is not an option for me.:rolleyes:

Thanks

[fuji6100]

I used a TAD quite a bit before I got my kegging system set up. The directions that came with mine said to use a heaping tablespoon of corn sugar per PET bottle. I've used that amount and always had acceptable results. If you are going to add sugar to your entire batch and bottle all 3 PETs from that, you could add between 1/4 and 1/3 cup corn sugar (based on the 'heaping tablespoon per bottle').

HTH

[ray m]

I love my tap-a-draft, and Fuji6100 helped me a great deal getting the carbonation bugs out.

I have gotten great results doing this (it's real easy when you get it down): For each tap-a-draft bottle you're going to fill, prime each bottle with 1/8 cup (2 tablespoons) of priming sugar. Be sure to leave 3 or so inches of headspace when filling the bottle---don't fill it to the very top. If your only filling one t-a-d bottle and bottling the rest with regular bottles, prime the rest of your batch with 1/2 cup priming sugar. Prime the rest of your batch with 1/4 cup if your going to fill 2 t-a-d bottles.

Also, when natural carbonation is complete and you're ready to put on the tap/dispensing unit, be sure you chill the t-a-d bottle overnight before putting on the tap & screwing in the CO2 cartridge. Trust me (and Fuji) on this: YOU ONLY NEED TO USE 1 CO2 CARTRIDGE AT FIRST IF YOU PRIMED THE BOTTLE WITH PRIMING SUGAR. If you use 2, the pressure regulator in the tap will bleed off the excess CO2. Since you only need 1 cartridge (this will be good for dispensing about 1/2 the bottle; for the last 1/2, you'll need to put in another cartridge), you'll need to put an EMPTIED cartridge into the other cartridge holder so the CO2 goes into the beer and not out the other side of the tap assembly. So, you'll have to sacrifice a cartridge, but save it. Simply take your tap assembly by itself and screw a cartridge in and wait 'til the CO2 gas is out---only takes a few seconds. In a matter of a few seconds, the cartridge will get very cold after the CO2 is out, so unscrew the cartridge holder, take out your emptied cartridge and just let it sit at room temperature for 30 to 45 minutes.

You can also force carbonate. In this case, do not use any priming sugar. Leave the appropriate headspace when filling the bottle, use 2 CO2 cartridges to force carbonate (pre-chilling the filled bottle is not necessary here), and let the bottle sit in the refrigerator for a week or so to give the beer time to absorb the CO2. After a week, you'll have enough pressure to dispense 1 or 2 glasses of brew. After this, replace just 1 cartridge & leave the other empty cartridge in the other holder. If memory serves me correctly, 1 cartridge is enough to dispense damn near all the beer in the bottle from this point, but I haven't force carbonated in awhile. If I'm wrong, and Fuji sees this, he can feel free to correct me without any negative repercussions:D

Good luck!! Feel free to ask if you have anymore questions!

[Wilson]

PCaravan--I was just thinking the same thing about my new system. You're lucky, mine didnt even come with instructions.

Thanks Ray, I too have just gotten a TAD system and plan on using it soon. You pretty much answered all I ever needed to know. Only one little thing, when you placed the 2 tablespoons of priming sugar in the bottle, did you first dissolve it in hot water, or did you just dump it in there?

[PCaravan]

Thanks for the help. It was posts in this forum that really sold me on the idea of the TAD. I had thought of using just one cartrige (against an empty) at a time as it just made sense that over time you might save a few since 15 psi is 15 psi whether it's coming from one or two. You just confirmed what I thought of that.

I plan on bottle conditioning most of the time but the first two bottles I force carbonated because I couldn't wait. In the first one, I placed 2 catriges and put it in the fridge for a week same as you said and it was still a little flatter than I would have liked but it was passable (style was for a lower carbonation level so it worked anyway). The second one is still going in the fridge. This time I put the bottle in the fridge first to get it could. I then put the tap on and then put the two cartrides in. I shook it up a bit but not that much since I didn't want the headspace pressure to get so high that the pressure relief valve was activated. I repeated this light shaking once in the morning and once at night for the next couple of days. Each time I did it you could see more bubbles coming from the tap assembly. I was planning on doing this until no more bubbles were coming from the assembly but I had to leave town. When I get back it will have been in there for a week and regardless of results will probably be gone in one night (it will be ready for the Super Bowl party).

As far as the natural carbonation issue goes, I actually measure my priming surgar in oz. from calculations in Pro Mash but last I checked there was no setting in Pro Mash's carbonation calculator for a TAD so I needed a starting point to work with. As I understand it, most people bottle with 3/4 cup corn sugar. It seems that both of you go with about 1/3 cup corn sugar for the TAD. If I'm not mistaken, that's about 44% of that used for normal bottling. That's a number I can use with what Pro Mash tells me.

Thanks

PS I have another TAD question but I'll put it in another thread. I hate dual question in one thread... makes harder for someone to research.

[Professor Frink]

A clerk at my LHBS recommended this method which has given me great results. I've been using 2/3 cup corn sugar added to my entire five gal batch when bottling (1/3 cup reduction). I add this straight to my TAD bottles.
I then use Prime Tabs (corn sugar tablets) to make up for the missing corn sugar in the bottles. I use 1 tablet for every 6 oz. in the bottle, so 2 for 12 oz, 5 for 1 L, etc... . So far I've had wonderful brews from bottles and kegs with this method (10 batches so far).

Hope this helps

[PCaravan]

Professor Frink,

If I understand you correctly, your using essentially 1 cup of priming sugar per five gallons when doing normal bottling? That seems excessively high to me.

[Professor Frink]

Yes, I use 1 cup per batch, or used to before I started using TAD. I've been brewing 2 batches a month for a year now, all kits from Midwest Brewing (www.midwestsupplies.com). The kits come with 5 oz. corn sugar. I measured these the first few times I did TAD, and the were were always very close to 1 cup, sometimes even over. I've only had one batch that was over-carbonated, an irish stout that was my second batch way before I used TAD. I've NEVER had a bottle blow up, and usually my carbonation seems just where I want it, but maybe that's just my preference.

You could definitely scale back, the clerk just recommended the prime tabs and 2/3 corn sugar, 1/3 prime tabs ratio, the volumes I came up with from my own math.

I also usually end up with 5 1/2 gallons of beer going from their loose water recommendations, not sure if the extra 1/2 gal cause a huge change in corn sugar volume. How much corn sugar is normal for 5 gal. of brew???

[ray m]

Glad to be of help, gents..........Wilson, the most t-a-d bottles I fill from a single batch is two, so I take two sauce pans, fill 'em with 2 cups of water each, bring to boil, turn off the heat and add the corn sugar. Then I just let 'em sit 'til whenever I'm ready to add to the t-a-d bottles.

[PCaravan]

I can see the diffrence now. You ask what is normal, well different people will always give you different answere for what is normal but I'll tell what I usually see printed and posted. With a 5 gallon batch of beer, that is a 5 gallons in the primary, most people end up with 4.5 to 4.75 gallons of beer after racking losses, etc. For the 4.5 to 4.75 gallons of beer most people with carbonate with 3/4 cup corn sugar for most brew and 2/3 cup corn sugar for brews that should have a lower carbonation leve like a stout or a porter. You say you have 5.5 gallons of beer and for all I know that my be normal with the kits from your homebrew supply shop but that would be the reason you need more priming sugar though 1 cup still seems a little more than normal though I haven't done the math ratio to see exactly what it is.