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Mr Beer Booster for bottle conditioning?
I have a few bags of Mr Beer "Booster" left over from some kits that I bought. I used DME in the recipes instead. I'm basically just using the hopping extract out of the kits to make smaller batches.
I'm pretty new at this, so my question is... can I use the Booster to bottle condition the beer? I read the booster package and the ingredient list says, "Corn Syrup Solids."
Is that the same as corn sugar, or should I just chunk these bags and get some regular corn sugar for bottling?
Anyone ever try conditioning with Mr. Beer Booster?
I have some left over DME that I thought about using, but I read that the DME isn't 100% fermentable, and it takes longer to condition the bottles.
Corn syrup solids should mostly be corn sugar. They can't call it corn sugar since it's not refined, they likely just dehydrated the syrup which left behind all the sugars and possibly some other small compounds. I wouldn't worry about using them, though I do think DME is a better idea provided you don't mind waiting a bit longer for carb up. Ever since the very experianced guys on here discussed corn sugar off flavors, I can't help but to notice them, and my beers don't seem free and clear from that flavor until a month after bottling anyway.
Good Brewing,
Edds
Thanks for the feedback. That clears things up. I was leaning toward the DME just because it's a more documented process... less mystery involved, so I think I'll try that on my 5 gallon English Brown. I have a couple of smaller batches fermenting now... I may experiment with the booster on one of those.
Shrom, without knowing the make up of corn syrup solids and how fermentable they are, I'd go out and buy some corn sugar. But that's just me and how I'd approach it. After one of my batches came out flat I don't leave it to chance. Corn sugar is cheap, I buy it in 4lb bags for less than 5 bucks.
You can use DME to carbonate. I've done it multiple times but you are right and it is not 100% fermentable so you will have to add more than you normally would when using corn sugar. There are plenty of carbonation calculators you can find with a simple Google search.
Edds, I don't know who's been discussing corn sugar off flavors but I'm going to have to disagree with it. I think these off flavors that are produced when using simple sugars are a result of something else. I think this common misconception dates back to the old "kit and kilo" beers kits that used a can of LME and a kilo (2.2lbs) of corn sugar but using poor fermentation practices, ie: low pitch rates and high fermentation temps.
I believe that corn sugar can be used up to 10% of a grain bill. I recently used just under 7% in a barleywine and though its only a few months old, I think it tastes great. A lot of Belgian beers use simple sugars to attain higher original gravities and lower final gravities. It is also suggested for extract brewers who have problems reaching their intended apparent attenuation to sub out a pound of malt extract for roughly a pound of corn sugar to help dry out their beer. I don't extract brew anymore but last summer I made a raspberry wheat summer ale and added honey, a simple sugar, in hopes of ending up with a drier, crisper beer and it finished around 1.007.
In November 08's BYO, Jamil Zainasheff's Imperial IPA recipe, which is a Pliney clone supposedly, uses 1.25lbs of corn sugar to reach a lower FG and that's for an all grain recipe. If there's one guy who I'm going to believe when he tells me its OK to use corn sugar, its going to be him. OK, I'll get off my soapbox now...
One question about the DME. I've read that some will pitch a little yeast for conditioning with DME. Is this necessary? Makes me a little nervous about creating a bunch of beer bombs.
Thanks FirePitBrew. That takes me back to something I read about DME causing an overly malted taste sometimes when used for conditioning... and then I read about the yeast thing as well. Just to keep it simple I think I may just head out for some corn sugar.
I've never added yeast back to the beer when bottling just because I'm using DME. There's always been plenty of yeast in the beer to carbonate it just fine. Bottle bombs become an issue if you're bottling your beer too early when your beer hasn't finished fermenting. You're using a hydrometer, right? Take some readings and make sure you've hit your final gravity.
srhom wrote:
Thanks FirePitBrew. That takes me back to something I read about DME causing an overly malted taste sometimes when used for conditioning... and then I read about the yeast thing as well. Just to keep it simple I think I may just head out for some corn sugar.
I suppose that because DME isn't 100% fermentable, technically its going to add some sweetness but I haven't noticed an over powering malt taste when using it. Sticking with the corn sugar sounds like a good idea to me. I use it in almost all of my beers that I bottle and its a lot cheaper than DME.
Oh yeah and welcome to BKB!
FPB,
How long are you letting your beers condition? Across all of my styles I am finding a taste that I can only figure is corn sugar. It's there after my beer is carbonated, and it's not there when I taste my green beer before it goes into bottles. I usuall allow 2 weeks to condition before drinking, but maybe that isn't long enough. DME seemed like a good idea because remaining sugars may not stand out as much. Are you not getting any flavor mods from the CS?
Good Brewing,
Edds
I usually let my beers condition 3-4 weeks before cracking one open to allow enough time for carbonation but some beers may take shorter or longer times to really come together. My Oatmeal Stout was OK after a month or so but didn't start tasting really good until 3 months.
I don't notice much of a difference taste-wise when it comes to bottling with corn sugar or DME. I guess its possible that you're picking up a flavor due to it being bottle conditioned though I would say that most people aren't able to. I can't, but I think there was a recent thread where Thirsty said he's able to pick up on it. But I think just because he can tell if it was bottle conditioned didn't mean it attributed anything negative to the beer.
A lot of people use corn sugar to bottle and I don't think that would be the case if it were causing off flavors in peoples' beers. How much corn sugar do you carbonate with? It could be carbonic bite you're picking up if your beers are over carbed or if you're palate happens to be sensitive to it.
What kind of flavor(s) are you picking up where you think corn sugar is the cause?
The flavor is somewhat bitter, like plant matter that's not edible. It's only there when it first hits the tounge, and if you let the beer linger in your mouth for a bit before swallowing it it goes away. It's like when I first take a drink I'm expecting some combination of malt and hops flavors, but instead I'm getting a lightly bitter, greenery taste. It's really strong in the cali common I just brewed, and I added CS to the bill to get my gravity up (~12%). Maybe 2 weeks @ 70* just isn't enough time. It seems to be done carbonating, but I suppose there may be more work for the yeast to do in terms of cleaning up after itself, or maybe it's just plain not finished at that point. I've never used more than 5oz of CS in a brew, with 4 being the norm.
Edds, it could just be green beer and another couple weeks in the bottle may be beneficial. Just because a beer is carbonated doesn't mean its ready to drink yet.
When you say you added corn sugar to get your gravity up (~12%), did you mean you used about 12% corn sugar in your grain bill or you added sugar to boost your ABV to 12%?
another option is to try mintons carb tabs or coopers carb tabs. I've used muntons and they work great. 4 tabs per 12 oz bottle. the coopers are larger and one tab per bottle is used. I put the tabs int he bottles and syphon the beer onto it and cap.
DC
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