Why you should not batch prime with Mr. Beer

A lot of homebrewers talk about batch priming and is something a lot of brewers recommend that you do. However, when brewing with Mr. Beer we feel that that is not something you need to do or even something that you just might want to avoid in general.

So what is batch priming? Batch priming refers to the process of adding your priming sugar (sugar which creates carbonation) to the entire "batch" of beer, instead of the individual bottles.

Fans of batch priming list simplicity and consistent carbonation from bottle to bottle as the primary benefits. Bottling 54 separate bottles (as you would with a 5-gallon batch & 12 oz bottles) and measuring the proper amount of priming sugar for each is a particularly daunting task.

When beer styles call for very precise levels of sugar, for example, 1 5/6 tsp for each bottle, we can also see why priming the whole batch sounds much less tedious.

With brewing with Mr. Beer, you don’t need to do this, and we actually advise against it.

First, you are brewing 2-Gallon batches, and it is some extra work and additional equipment to do batch priming. Its most likely more work that its worth. To batch prime, you would need a second fermenter to rack to, tubing with which to rack, and sanitizer for both. These added expenses seem unnecessary when all that is required is a bag of Carbonation Drops.

If you are concerned that you are getting different carbonation levels in each bottle, then use our Mr. Beer Carbonation drops. This will help make sure each bottle as the proper amount of sugar.

Batch priming allows for possible oxidation. All this movement – getting the beer from one fermenter to another, then to the bottles – means exposing your beer to oxygen. If instead you've got a bottling wand handy, as we suggest to all our brewers, this would mean your beer isn't exposed to oxygen until you open it. [Closed fermenter during fermentation, carbonation drops in each bottle before bottling, bottling wand for bottling/conditioning – your beer can completely avoid exposure to oxygen!] Also, bottling wands allow you to fill all beers to the same level, for complete consistency. If you press and open the valve until the bottle is full, then pull away, closing the valve, the liquid level will drop slightly, leaving the right amount of headspace.

We are all about keeping things simple here at Mr. Beer, but in this case, batch priming is more of a challenge than bottle priming and conditioning. Even if you are brewing larger batch sizes using carbonation drops and a bottling wand will be a better benefit than batch priming.

Cheers,

Robert