Curious in bottle carbonation

I bottled my first batch of beer last sunday, everything went just peachy.

I noticed one thing that struck me as odd. I bottled 47 bottles (a few short to drinking my Gravity readings ), and the curious thing i noticed is that after 5 days 46 of them are "flat" looking ( with no bubbles or anything) , but #47 has about an 1/8 inch or so head of bubbles on top (head i would say), now...what would cause all but one of then not to have that (oh ...and yeah...i can already see the "its infected...mail it to me" replies)

but i'm accualy interested in the process and what would cause one bottle to do that (and i double checked it for leaks).

thanx in advance

Joel

It could be a number of things...Maybe a stronger concentration of priming sugar in that one bottle. Could be an infection (unlikely) Give all them 3 weeks at 70 degrees. Make your judgement then. I suspect you will be fine.

The yeast has to eat the sugar first. Maybe that's the first bottle or last bottle and it got a higher concentration of active yeast. It takes time for the CO2 to be absorbed by the liquid. That's why when I posted this same question on my second batch, someone connected the mantra, "21 days, 70 degrees," mantra over and over again.

I remember my excitement on my first and second batch. I recommend that you drink one sunday night, another next sunday night, and another the following sunday night. This will help satisfy your curiosity and your anxiety and will ultimately help you with patience in the future.

My first thought is that the bottle is leaking CO2 - how did you check it? A balloon stretched over the neck for a couple of days will tell you for sure.

Other than that, I don't know.

I was concerned I had some bleeders on my first batch, so I put them all under water in a cooler to observe. No leaks, no problems. I left some of them in the water too long though, because when I cracked them open, there was some oxidation in the shape of the crimp in the cap. Iron oxide, not beer oxide... So anyway, you can check it that way. Just don't leave it there longer than a day or so.

devaspawn said:

I remember my excitement on my first and second batch. I recommend that you drink one sunday night, another next sunday night, and another the following sunday night. This will help satisfy your curiosity and your anxiety and will ultimately help you with patience in the future.

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thanx for the info.

and i also had planned on drinking one every sunday till they seem ready!heh....at least i got that one right! appreciate the help

Joel

So, it is one week today that i bottle by 1st batch! so today was the day to try one!
so i decided to pick the one with the bubbles (just in case if was bad), so i put it in the fridge for a few hours. later on i got my beer glass ready, got the bottle opener ready , and proceded to pop the top off , the whole time waiting for the "hiss", soo....here i go...POP....and the whole top INCH of the bottle came off in my hand!.... so...i would assume that the bubbles were from the crack in the neck!heh....

Oh well...the next one is in the fridge...i just hope i didnt crack all the necks with my Hulk like strength!:fro:

lesson learned!

Joel

PS: I make many mistakes so you dont have to!

How long was it in primary before you bottled? Did you use a secondary? Did you mix the priming sugar in thoroughly when you bottled?

3 weeks primary, 3 weeks secondary, and so far 1 week in bottle (just trying one a week) ...(yes i accually seem to be a patient newb!heh)

and i am not sure about the sugar, i did rack on top , but did NOT stir it, alotho next time i will (very carfuly of course)!

im afraid that i was just to hard on the two handed capper!

You might have ended up with uneven distribution of the priming sugar in the bottling bucket but most likely it just needs more time to fully carbonate. Give it two more weeks on the shelf and try another one and I bet you'll be much more satisfied with the results.

I've had a similar problem... even when I brewed my first few batches years ago. My first batch in years is finally about ready. 1 week in primary, 2 in the secondary, and two in the bottle. There is carb in the bottle... nice hiss when I open the bottle, but the beer doesn't form a head. Is it just a matter of allowing more time to bottle condition?

Go figure... I just popped a couple tonight and they form a beautiful head. Just a few days ago this was not the case. I opened a third just to be sure. I guess what you guys are consistantly saying about "giving it time" is the key. Patience and homebrew together are virtue.

That foam on top originally was bottle krauzens,,,,just the yeast doing their job and carbing the bottles....most people walk away from their bottles in a closet for 3 weeks and never notice it....

Read this for more info on bottling,,,and watch the video https://www.homebrewtalk.com/558191-post101.html

planned on drinking one every sunday till they seem ready

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I do this and find out that once they are at their BEST . . .there are none left because I start drinking them with joy after 3 weeks. Then once Week number 6 or 7 come around and they are REALLY good . . . I have 4 left.

THUS - brew a TON of batches so this will not be a problem.

WarlokJoel said:

later on i got my beer glass ready, got the bottle opener ready , and proceded to pop the top off , the whole time waiting for the "hiss", soo....here i go...POP....and the whole top INCH of the bottle came off in my hand!.... so...i would assume that the bubbles were from the crack in the neck!heh....

Oh well...the next one is in the fridge...i just hope i didnt crack all the necks with my Hulk like strength!:fro:

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Nice! The same thing happened to me when I was bottling my last batch...darn bottle just didn't feel right under the capper so I went to pull the capper off and pop, off comes the top inch of bottle. Oh well, this stuff happens.