Priming Sugar Calculator — How Much Sugar to Add When Bottling Home Brew
Use this free priming sugar calculator to work out exactly how much sugar to add when bottling your home brew beer or cider. Enter your batch volume, beer temperature, and target CO₂ level — and the calculator gives you the precise amount of table sugar, dextrose (corn sugar), or DME to add.
How to use it
- Enter your batch volume in litres.
- Enter the lowest temperature your beer/cider reached during fermentation (this affects residual CO₂ already in solution).
- Pick your target CO₂ volumes from the style guide below the calculator.
- Read off the exact grams of sugar, dextrose, or DME to add.
Style & CO₂ volumes guide
| Style | CO₂ Volumes |
|---|---|
| Still cider | 0.5–1.0 |
| Lightly sparkling cider | 1.5–2.0 |
| Sparkling cider | 2.0–2.7 |
| British ales | 1.5–2.2 |
| Belgian ales | 2.0–4.5 |
| American ales | 2.2–3.0 |
| European lagers | 2.4–2.6 |
| American lagers | 2.5–2.8 |
| German weizens | 2.8–5.1 |
How much priming sugar should I add to home brew beer?
For a standard 23-litre batch of British ale, use approximately 80–90g of brewing dextrose or 70–80g of table sugar dissolved in 300ml of boiling water, cooled, and added to the bottling bucket before filling. This produces around 2.0–2.2 volumes of CO₂ — the standard carbonation level for British ales and bitters.
What temperature should I enter?
Enter the lowest temperature your beer or cider reached during or after fermentation — this is when it absorbed the most CO₂. If you fermented at 18°C and cold crashed to 4°C, enter 4°C. Entering a higher temperature than the actual cold crash temperature will result in the calculator overestimating the priming sugar needed.
Can I use carbonation drops instead?
Yes — Coopers Carbonation Drops are a convenient alternative to weighing out priming sugar. Use one drop per 500ml bottle (or 1.5 drops per 740ml bottle). No scales, no dissolving required — ideal for beginners.
Table sugar vs. dextrose?
Both work, but dextrose (brewing sugar) is preferred as it ferments more cleanly without producing any off-flavours. You need approximately 10% more dextrose by weight than table sugar to achieve the same carbonation — the calculator above accounts for this automatically.
More free home brew calculators
Ready to bottle? Buy Brewing Sugar, Carbonation Drops, 500ml Glass Beer Bottles, and Crown Caps at BrewCo UK. For everything you need to know about bottling, see our complete bottling guide.