• Welcome to the new forum! We upgraded our forum software with a host of new boards, capabilities and features. It is also more secure.
    Jump in and join the conversation! You can learn more about the upgrade and new features here.

Questions Regarding Carbonation in Beersmith 2

Jiffster

Brewer
Joined
Aug 3, 2015
Messages
39
Reaction score
0
I followed a recipe for a 5 gallon batch from John Palmer's "How to Brew". In it, he called for using 4 oz corn super when bottling. So this is what I did.

I decided to enter the actual numbers from my brew and found the recommended amounts to be different. Also, the numbers were different between the "Carbonation Tool" and the levels recommended in the "Fermentation" tab.

I cold crashed the beer at 32F and bottled right after removing from the cold crash so the beer was near 32F.  Beer smith says in the Carbonation Tool that I should have used about 2 oz. of corn super.

Am I going to have issues?

One term used in the Carbonation Tool is confusing to me. "Bottling or Keg Storage Temperature" to me would mean 'what temp are you going to store your bottled or kegged beer'. In the directions, however, it means 'what temp is the beer your bottling or what temp are you going to store your legged beer'.

This, IMO, should be changed to avoid confusion.

So what amount should I have used and why are there differences within Beersmith 2?

 

Attachments

  • IMG_2261.jpg
    IMG_2261.jpg
    1.5 MB · Views: 372
Corn sugar for carbonation in a fully fermented beer tend to run from 0.8 to 1.1 oz/gal. The amount will be less, if the beer still has a little gravity left to go before being finished.

I think the 2 oz amount given by BeerSmith isn't accurate. It seems that one or more variables is incorrect.
 
What is your carbonation target? 

Just quickly looking at my recipes, BeerSmith is calculating around 55 grams (2 oz) for a 10 liter batch to carbonate to 2.4 volumes.  This would be about half of what is needed for a 5-gal batch, so around 4 oz of corn sugar sounds correct.

 
Oginme said:
What is your carbonation target? 

Just quickly looking at my recipes, BeerSmith is calculating around 55 grams (2 oz) for a 10 liter batch to carbonate to 2.4 volumes.  This would be about half of what is needed for a 5-gal batch, so around 4 oz of corn sugar sounds correct.

I'm not sure. This is my 2nd batch so I just blindly followed the recipe.
 
In your recipe on your 'design' page, you will find towards the bottom the profile for 'carbonation'.  Next to that, is an entry box titled 'carb level'.  The number entered into the box is the volumes of CO2 level you want to carbonate your beer to.  This level affects the amount of carbonating sugars are added during bottling.
 
Back
Top