Batch #2 Bottling Problems

Boshog · 01-07-2012, 10:36 PM

My first batch came out awesome ! I was pumped and went with the same recipe for the second.

I when I bottle, I mix the priming sugar with boiled water. I add the sugar slowly to the bottling bucket stirring very gently as to not agitate, but ensure the sugar is evenly mixed with the 5 gallons.

The beer was in the bottle for 3 weeks sitting in the basement at about 70 F the entire time. What is strange is some of the bottles are great, meaning carbonated, and others completely flat. All the bottles were washed and heat sterilized together (22 oz) previously.

I'm stumped. My wife capped them as I filled, and they appear to be capped tightly. Any ideas? At this point, I'm real bummed as I had the neighbors over on New Years and gave them flat beer (mine was fine), and I've since brewed my 3rd batch and experienced my first boil over.

Help ! I need hope, ideas? Any feed back on why some bottles are flat and others good would be appreciated as it kills me to pour this flat stuff down the drain.

Pete

**DWavs** · 01-07-2012, 10:42 PM

I usually add the priming sugar (dissolved in warm water) to the bottling bucket first and rack the beer on top of it to ensure an even mixture.

**msa8967** · 01-07-2012, 10:45 PM

If you find that some of your bottles are not fully carbing you can always blend the beer from these bottles with a similar store bought beer to have carbonation in your serving glass. I once had a batch with uneven carbing because some of the bottles were stored too close to the basement wall so I just gently rotated/spun the bottles to remix the yeast at the bottom of the bottle and gave the beer 2 more weeks to carb up in a different spot in the basement.

**Ryush806** · 01-07-2012, 10:50 PM

If you mixed everything good before bottling there's only a few reaons why some wouldn't carbonate. You mentioned most of them above so we know it wasn't them. What's the temperature where you left them to carbonate? A low temperature leads to slower carbonation because the yeast don't eat the priming sugar as fast. It's possible the reason you have some carbonated and some not is because some where insulated from the cold by the other bottles. Just a thought. I'd make sure you keep the uncarbed bottles at room temperature for a week or two and see if that fixes it.

Boshog · 01-08-2012, 01:42 PM

Ok thanks, but they were all in cases together on the basement floor @ 65-70 degrees for 3 weeks. Had towels over the cases too, so the temp should have been consistent.

**3PegBrew** · 01-08-2012, 01:51 PM

3 weeks is nothing really. As a brewer who was in that same situation about a year ago or more, I recommend tipping the bottles upside down a few times very slowly in order to mix the yeasties in the bottom. When you see them resuspended do as the one dude said about room temp. Take them out of your basement for a couple of weeks. Some beer yeast is not evenly distributed when bottling and takes a bit longer to do its magic. If you want to pass time, brew some more beer

Unibrow · 01-08-2012, 02:08 PM

Also - some of the bottles could have been improperly capped. I use a wing capper, and it's very reliable but I'll usually get 1 or 2 bottles per batch that didn't seal perfectly. It's always Heineken or Corona bottles when that does happen...brown bottles with the large lip under the top never have that problem.

OHIOSTEVE · 01-08-2012, 04:22 PM

Do as 3pegbrew recommended. Then move them around. The uncarbed ones may be the ones against an exterior wall and therefore colder. I would wager they will all carb up. As revvy has posted so many time 3 weeks is a MINIMUM.

**unionrdr** · 01-08-2012, 06:00 PM

It sounded like you racked the beer to the bottling bucket,then added the priming solution. I rack a few inches of beer into the bucket,then slowly pour in the priming solution into the surface. When done racking,slowly,gently stir to be sure it's mixed evenly. I think the swirl isn't always enough.

**Revvy** · 01-08-2012, 06:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 3PegBrew

3 weeks is nothing really. As a brewer who was in that same situation about a year ago or more, I recommend tipping the bottles upside down a few times very slowly in order to mix the yeasties in the bottom. When you see them resuspended do as the one dude said about room temp. Take them out of your basement for a couple of weeks. Some beer yeast is not evenly distributed when bottling and takes a bit longer to do its magic. If you want to pass time, brew some more beer

This is more than likely the right answer.

Give it another week. You may JUST be at the point where the bottles are starting to carb, but everything's not quite up to speed yet. Since every bottle is it's own microcosm they don't all necessarily come up at exactly the same moment. And 3 weeks at 70 degrees tends to be the minimum most beers take...You're probably just on the cusp of them carbing up.

Had you waited another week or so, they would more than likely all reached carb level by then, and you never would have noticed.

Personally I think the idea of needed to extra stir priming sugar is bunk.....The movement of racking 5 gallons of beer onto 2 little cups or priming solution is going to mix it up fine on it's own.....