What’s up, my people! Today I want to talk about a priming option that a lot of new brewers ask me about: carbonation drops, like these Coopers carbonation drops.
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First, an honest note
I’ll be straight with you. I have never used carbonation drops myself. For most of my brewing journey I’ve stuck with dextrose for bottle conditioning, because it works and I don’t like to fix what isn’t broken. But I’ve seen these on Amazon, and they’re worth knowing about, especially if you’re just starting out.
What are carbonation drops?
In my post on how to prime your beer for bottle conditioning, I describe them as sugar tabs (think of a cough drop-looking thing) that you drop into each bottle. The idea is that each drop gives the bottle the right amount of sugar to properly carbonate your beer.
Why that can be handy
There are basically two ways to bottle condition: prime every bottle individually, or prime the whole batch. Priming each bottle by hand means measuring sugar over and over. Priming the whole batch means transferring your beer to a second fermenter with an auto-siphon so you don’t stir up sediment. Drops are designed to take the measuring out of the per-bottle method.
Check the instructions
As I mentioned in that post, I’m not sure how drops work with different bottle or keg sizes. The company selling them will have that info, so read their instructions before you use them, especially if your bottles aren’t the standard size.
The bottom line
There’s really no single best way to prime your beer. It mostly comes down to what you feel works best for you. If measuring sugar for every bottle sounds like a pain, carbonation drops might be worth a try. Cheers, and you can brew it!