No Carbonation in capped bottles

I just finished writing a long explanation of my problem and when I clicked submit post, it gave me 404 error, so I'm gonna condense.

First homebrew batch ever: 5 gal Nut Brown Ale extract kit
primary: one week
secondary: one week
bottled for 2 weeks

My problem: I bottled into some Grolsch swingtops, some 12oz capped bottles. Upon trying the brew after 2 weeks in bottles (i know, i know I'm impatient), I opened a Grolsch bottle and POW! well-carbonated. Then a regular capped bottle...barely a whisper of carbonation.

Could it be from the capping procedure? type of caps? age of caps and their seals? Maybe beer is still premature? There is definitely a good amount of yeast sediment on the bottom of the bottles.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

What did you use for priming sugar? Did you stir the sugar well in the bottling bucket? Sometimes if you don't stir the sugar isn't evenly distributed throughout the beer.

Is there a flavor difference between the carbonated Grolsch ones and the uncarbed capped bottles?

Were all of the bottles stored in the same area?

were your capped bottles used screw off top bottles?

I used corn sugar (3/4 C: 2 cups water) mixed well in bottling bucket

Did not use screw top bottles

And there is no flavor difference. They both have the same nutty, caramel taste of beer, the bottled ones are just flat.

They were all stored in an unplugged freezer (around 74F)

Thx all.

what kind of capper do you have I noticed some bottles didnt work so well with the wing style so i got a bench capper havent had problems yet

If the flavor is the same, but you didn't get any pop-hiss from the smaller bottles, then odds are good that the bottles were leaking on you.

Smaller bottles can have a tendency to take longer to carbonate, but if they were mostly conditioned they would have spewed foam all over the place, and if they were barely conditioned they would taste like cider.

I'd also like to recommend that you let your Grolsch bottles age for another 2-4 weeks, then taste them again (just so you can see the pure awesomness that non-green beer develops.)

so no flavour difference (no sweetness) means it sounds like your capping procedure may be the issue. Im guessing that you boiled the corn sugar with beer/water before adding to the bottling bucket to allow for easy even distribution?

Basically if it tastes the same with both batches then any sugar that made it to the bottle has been converted to alcohol and CO2 and CO2 could have been lost through a leak? Easy way to test would be to give a bottle a shake just before opening then listening to hear gas escape and letting us know what happens

@jppostKW: I have a wing style capper, which I noticed doesn't always fit around the neck of some bottles. So I just used bottles that didn't have bulging necks.

@whatisitgoodfor: Yeah, I know I should wait, even for the Grolsch's, but once it hit my lips, I couldn't stop popping more open!

Anyway, I plan on giving the bottles another few weeks, and if they are still not carbonated by then, well, I'm still drinking them. But I'll update you guys and let you know how they turn out.

Yeah, it's tradition that for your first brew, the only one that you actually let condition long enough to be peaked is the last one.

It really motivates you to expand your pipeline enough that you can afford to let all your beer mature fully.

two weeks should generally be enough for some carbonation though, if it were me i would check the caps are on tight because if they arent then air will be able to get in and they might get worse as they age rather than better due to infections.

If you like brewing and plan on doing much more of it, think about getting a bench capper. They are not much more $$ after all. The only thing I can think of is that either the caps are bad ( not likely unless they are 20 years old) or the capping process has a flaw, which a bench capper will likely correct.

Shook em up and didn't here any hissing.

Here's how the caps fit:
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y74/bloussant/DSC_0008.jpg?t=1269456965

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y74/bloussant/DSC_0007.jpg?t=1269457072

Here is the wing capper I used:
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y74/bloussant/DSC_0010.jpg?t=1269457115

Also, I'm bummed, because I just finished capping my 2nd batch last weekend. I'm hoping this doesn't happen again. If so, I'm buying a bench capper to see if that's the problem.

Is there such thing as filling up the bottles too much? You can see the fill line in my first pic.

I had carbonation problems with Corona bottles. After capping, I could push them off with my thumb. Most of these lost their carbonation.

My LHBS guy also told me that if you see sediment on the bottom of the bottle, carbonation did occur and you lost it through the cap.

He was right on in my situation. I had been worryed about the priming sugar not getting evenly mixed up prior to bottling, but it was not the case for me. Ever since I quit using Corona bottles, I have had no problems.

I have heard that with a bench capper, Coronas work OK.

If there is not a flavor difference in your capped bottles and your flip-tops, I would say its a matter of science. A flip-top releases the pressure all at once and air is forced into the top of the bottle's neck, which make a big popping sound, but when opening a capped bottle, your releasing the pressure slowly. This can be experienced when opening a bottle of champagne. You can pop the cork or release the pressure slowing and a pop will not be heard.

Good news. My dad and I decided it was time to crack open another capped bottle to see if carbonation had increased. We moved the bottles from the closet into the refrigerator for about a day before we opened them. Keep in mind at this point, the bottles have now been conditioned for about 3 weeks. Success!

We were surprised at the increase in carb from week 2 to week 3. We attributed the fact partially to giving each of the bottles a swirl to rouse up the yeast back into suspension back in week 2. We're not 100% positive that's what did the trick, but the capped bottles are now producing the same amount of head as the Grolsch swing caps.