Newbie Questions

I am a Brewing Newbie.  I got a Mr. Beer for Christmas and managed to get a surprisingly "not bad" beer out of it.  for my 2nd Mr. Beer batch I didn't have the carbonation pellets so I used table sugar (cane Sugar).  After 1 week in the bottle It seemed pretty flat (Both batches had fermented for 2 weeks before bottling).  I haven't opened another one yet (Its now 2 weeks since bottling).

I've done a bit of reading  & upgraded my equipment and got a couple of 5 Gallon Brew kits and brewed them up 10 days ago.  I One of these kits came with "priming sugar"  which appears to be powdered sugar. 

Question 1:  Is there a difference between "priming Sugar" and Regular Cane Sugar ? 

This past weekend I transferred one batch to a secondary fermenter (glass carboy), and I will do the same for the second batch today or tomorrow. My book suggested using Gelatin for "fining" to make a clearer beer while transferring from the primary fermenter to the secondary fermenter.  I bought some plain gelatin at the Grocery Store.

Question 2:  Any tips on using the Gelatin for Fining?  How does the gelatin make the beer clearer?

For both these 5 Gallon Batches I maintained an airtight tight seal with an airlock during (primary) fermentation as well as secondary fermentation.  One of my readings advocated a tight seal during fermentation, another advocated loosely covering the batch during primary fermentation then airtight during secondary fermentation.  As I think  about it I recall my Microbiology class and the Krebs Cycle where Anaerobic metabolism results in Lactic Acid...

Question 3:  should I use an  airtight seal for primary fermentation ?


Thanks

First of MB B is notorious for using incomplete instructions.  Most successful MR B brewers use 3 weeks in the LBK and a total of 4 weeks carbing & conditioning in the bottle.  I would highly recommend you check out the site Beer Borg  There are a lot of MR B brewers there.  A very helpful group of brewers

That powdered sugar was most likely corn sugar.  I used that for the longest time.  Cane sugar will leave a slightly cidery taste, so I don't recommend cane sugar.

I use mostly DME (dry malt extract) now.  I use honey from time to time also.

You shouldn't add the priming sugar (no matter what sugar you choose to use) to each bottle.  You should bring it to a boil in two cups of water, then pour it into the bottom of your bottling bucket and siphon your beer on top of it.  This will allow it to gently blend evenly through the entire batch of beer and will result in very consistent carbonation levels from bottle to bottle.

Adding it individually to each bottle has three negative results possible.
1.  You have to measure out each dose individually and they won't be very exact, no matter how careful you are.
2.  It's a lot of work!
3.  Your chances of having a sanitation issue increases because of all of the extra handling, touching, etc.

I've never used the carbonation tablets, but I personally don't know anyone that uses them currently.  Those that have used them that I've talked to have stated that they aren't very consistent and they didn't like the results.

I personally keep DME in my inventory just for bottling.

Do Grocery Stores have Corn Sugar?

I used regular table sugar in every batch I bottled or primed in the keg except maybe 2 and I never noticed nor did I ever receive a comment from a taster or judge saying there was any cidery off flavours.

It's cheap, readily available and works perfectly well, use table sugar. or get creative, use honey, maple syrup, or Lyle's golden syrup. Northern Brewer has a good carbonation calculator for various sugar types.

on the airtight vs. non airtight, I don't think it really matters much in primary. There is so much positive pressure from the yeast activity that nothing is getting in including o2 in any significant amounts.

Except in a few specialized situations I would skip secondary all together. it's an unnecessary step and, if you are impatient,  you risk moving the beer from the yeast before the yeast is done cleaning up after itself.

..."you risk moving the beer from the yeast before the yeast is done cleaning up after itself."

What do you mean "cleaning up after itself"??

First thing to do is get John Palmer's book How To Brew. Always use airtight container with a air lock, you want to keep the good things in and the bad things out. Gelatin is used when bottling, Polyclar is used in the secondary. I rarely use them . I don't know if the Gelatin sold in a grocery store is the same thing that is used in beer.

First thing to do is get John Palmer's book How To Brew.

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And you don't even have to go buy it at the store. It's free!

http://www.howtobrew.com/intro.html

If you do go to the store to buy a book or two, I'd recommend both of Papazian's.

Extra lite DME gives you more flavor over all. I had the same issue with table sugar. It gave me a bit of a "green bottle" effect.
But that may have been the type of beer I brewed, and I haven't done it that way in years. I usually use honey or DME

cptozzy said:

..."you risk moving the beer from the yeast before the yeast is done cleaning up after itself."

What do you mean "cleaning up after itself"??

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during the various phases of fermentation the yeast are producing alot of other things besides alcohol and co2. some of these we want, some we never want and some we want sometimes depending on the style. Esters (fruity aromas and flavours), Phenols (spicey, herbal, medicinal, plastic like aromas and flavours) are things that may or may not be wanted and at varying levels depending on styles. others like diacetyl you never really want.

so after the yeast have eaten all the sugar they are going to eat they start reabsorbing some of these compounds and changing and converting others. it's a lot of work and if you remove too much of the yeast they won't be able to do it in a timely manner. so you can end up with a green apple flavour or a fake buttered popcorn flavour that would have gone away if the beer had more time in contact with lots and lots of yeast.

Scott Ickes said:

That powdered sugar was most likely corn sugar.  I used that for the longest time.  Cane sugar will leave a slightly cidery taste, so I don't recommend cane sugar.

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Er.  no.  Myth.

I have recipes that are over 10% CANE sugar.  As do countless brewers, professional and amateur.  No cidery taste.