What do you prime your bottled beer with and why

[Fuggled Mind]

I'm just about to bottle a batch of Graham Wheeler's Caroline's Fine Ale which is an all pale-malt ale bittered with Goldings. I've played about with the recipe but overall, it's hasn't strayed too far from the original. I'm going to prime it with DME as I've almost always done. I like the results that you get from DME, I'm convinced that DME gives a smoother flavour but on the other hand, it's been years since I used sugar so I can't really say.

So what do you use when priming bottled beer and why?

Cheers

Jason

[vacant]

Household sugar. Half by weight gets converted to Carbon Dioxide, the other half to alcohol.

I don't know what traces a couple of grams of DME might leave after most of it has been digested by the yeast as above, but I'm sure I wouldn't be able to tell the difference in a blind taste test.

[Oli1979]

I've always used Dextrose, brewing sugar.
Using a measuring spoon, 1 level teaspoon per litre. less for a smooth bitter, heaped for a fizzy lager/ pilsner.
9 Brews so far, still using same bag 1 year later. think it was £2.

[legion]

Dextrose.

Its very easy to test the different options when bottling as you can use a different one in several bottles just ensuring that they are all labelled correctly.

Several years ago I tried dextrose, honey, dme, demera and mollasses. An experiment well worth repeating...

[WobblyTone]

Cane sugar

I use one of those white medicine spoons and use the big size 5ml for fizzy and the small 2.5ml for ale, nice and simple and seems to work fine

[CestrIan]

I use white sugar or dextrose. DME can leave a scummy tide mark inside the neck of the bottle and for me gives no improvement on flavour.

[banjokat]

Table sugar, straight into keg or mixed in bottling bucket. Never thought about experimenting with anything else.

[mozza]

Unrefined cane sugar currently. Seems to leave a little sweetness which I like

[Rick_UK]

I've experimented with DME, cane sugar and Dextrose and find DME works best for bottling. I find it gives finer bubbles and a tighter head over cane sugar - possible because it ferments a little slower. For kegs it doesn't matter IMO as it doesn't force carbonate the beer just creates pressure to give a head on serving.

Rick

[Fuggled Mind]

DME can leave a scummy tide mark inside the neck of the bottle and for me gives no improvement on flavour.

Regarding the scum, this is something I've read before in John Palmer's How to Brew but this has never happened to me in 5 years of brewing. Has this happened to anyone else?

I accept that it probably has little or no impact on flavour though. It's for this reason that I was hoping to experiment with colour modulation using DME.

Cheers

Jason

[Hanglow]

dextrose, measured by weight and boiled with some water to make a syrup, poured into the bottling bucket as I fill it

[Fuggled Mind]

dextrose, measured by weight and boiled with some water to make a syrup, poured into the bottling bucket as I fill it

Which is how I always add my DME, measured out, boiled with water and then added to the bottling bucket. Do you usually cool it? I don't always bother and I've never noticed any difference in the beer.

Cheers

Jason

[Hanglow]

No, it's probably still 60c or maybe more by the time I add it I guess

[Clibit]

I generally use sugar - dextrose, cane, beet, dark brown, demerara, depending on the beer, the mood and what I have. But I must try using DME, will do that with my latest batch. Can't remember ever using it.

[liamtmt7]

Normal granulated white sugar for me as well, handy as its in the house.

Normal weigh out the sugar, mix with boiling water and add it to the bottling bucket.