Carbonation problem related to swing tops?

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BrotherFreeman

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So I have 3 different batches bottled right now, an amber, a SMASH, and a high octane belgian. I have been having a hell of a time getting carbonation in my belgian but figured it to be a factor of the high ABV. Well, i just cracked an amber, a beer that has been fully carbonating in all botles I have opened until the one I just cracked. The only common factor has been my swing-top bottles. These are all brand new bottles, brand new gaskets etc... Has anyone had an issue with the bails possible not creating a complete seal? The are closing very tightly, possibly too tightly? Im curious if anyone has run into an issue where the bottles arent sealing completely.
 
Two factors, batch priming being the main one for consistency. The second was explained by Revy quite well once, but I'm too lazy to find it. In short, bottle carbing is not exact, each one is different by just a tiny bit and will take a bit longer/shorter than its neighbor to complete. Has it been a couple months or are you looking at just a few weeks here?
 
Higher ABV brews tend to take longer to carbonate than lower ABV brews, regardless of the bottle type.

IF the seals are centered in the top (easy to align when you're closing them when filling) then you should be fine. It also helps if you got brand new bottles when you started, and/or change the gasket when it starts to show wear (cracking and such).

Also, unless all your brews are the same ABV, you cannot compare carbonation times. It typically (key word there) takes 3+ weeks (notice the '+'?) at 70F to carbonate in bottles. Some batches might take less time, others may take more time. My brew-buddy has a stout that took about 5 months to carbonate.

Another factor is how close to the listed ABV tolerance of the yeast was the finished batch. IME, the closer to that number the batch, the longer it can take to bottle carbonate.

IF you want to carbonate fast, or at the same rate for all batches, then start kegging. It really is the only way to have the same time frame there. Or as close as possible to the same since you're NOT depending on yeast to do something, you're forcing CO2 into the brew in order to obtain your desired carbonation level.
 

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