Weird carbonation discrepancy

Hello guys,

I recently brewed a moderately high gravity porter (1.072) and it finished out around 1.019. I bottled it after three weeks in primary @ 68F , and as per my custom, I opened a bottle to check the carbonation after a week(usually to make sure I'm not making bottle bombs).

I set the last three I bottled aside, so I picked one of those. The last bit of the bottle bucket was a little chunky by the time I bottled those, so they were a good candidate in my eyes to sacrifice for carb check. Cracked one, giant hiss, beer shooting six inches out of the bottle.

Next one, same deal.

The last third, even worse, the whole bottle emptied out by itself in the sink.

So naturally I panic, saying to myself, "Idiot!!! It wasn't done fermenting!!!" So I randomly pick one of the beers out of the rest of the batch. No problem at all, exactly where I'd expect after one week, tasted great. I pick another, no problem same deal. Then another, no gusher.

So I'm kinda stumped. Did any of you guys experience gusher problems with the last couple of bottles from the bucket? I'm thinking of going through them, opening them up one at a time, if no gush, then quickly recapping.

exactly how do you mix the sugar into the beer when bottling?

my bottling bucket is never 'chunky' in the bottom. to me it sounds like you had a LOT more priming sugar in those 3 bottles than the rest of the batch.

always boil a cup of water, mix sugar in that, then pour into bottling bucket, and rack your beer onto it.
you can optionally stir the bucket very gently, every 12 bottles filled. most find this last bit unnecessary, but I do it anyway.

Not yet...but my stout was under carbonated, at least the test bottles I grabbed...and they were from the last gallon of my bucket as well...So I've been wondering about discrepencies in the bottling bucket mixture myself.

I know that midway through, my siphon hose floated to the top. Yesterday night when bottling I tried something different and took a couple of binder clips, sanitized them and attached them to the end of my hose to weight it down....

I know we have to be careful of oxidation, but I'm wondering if a quick stir to insure a good mixture of beer and boiled priming solution wouldn't be a smart thing.

When I first started brewing, I had problems with inconsistent carbonation between bottles. I did as the directions said, boil some sugar and water or whatever you are using and then put it in the bottling bucket and add the finished beer. My method that I use now has made a change in inconsistent bottles. I add a little of the priming solution at a time.....siphon into my bottling bucket about 1/4 of my batch...add about 1/4 of my priming solution...keep filling up to about 1/2 way on my bucket...add another 1/4 of my priming solution and then again at 3/4's and then when it's full. It might not be foolproof, but it works very well for me.

Loop

loopmd said:

When I first started brewing, I had problems with inconsistent carbonation between bottles. I did as the directions said, boil some sugar and water or whatever you are using and then put it in the bottling bucket and add the finished beer. My method that I use now has made a change in inconsistent bottles. I add a little of the priming solution at a time.....siphon into my bottling bucket about 1/4 of my batch...add about 1/4 of my priming solution...keep filling up to about 1/2 way on my bucket...add another 1/4 of my priming solution and then again at 3/4's and then when it's full. It might not be foolproof, but it works very well for me.

Loop

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I thought about doing that last night. I'll try it next time. Thanks.

I boiled my priming sugar with a cup of water, poured into the bucket, and racked the beer into the bucket with the hose coiled, so the beer sort of spiraled as it flowed in. I didn't stir it, and I'm starting to think that some priming solution was stuck on the bottom, so when I tipped my bucket to get those last couple bottles, a lot of sugar went into them. I am having trouble believing THAT much went in, but it seems the most probable cause.

By chunky, I mean a little trub from the fermenter.

Sometimes you can get a little bit more crud (bits of hops, etc) in the last few bottles you fill. This provides lots of nucleation sites for the carbonation, so it all escapes at once. Also, do you chill down your bottles first? Carbonation is different at room temp than fridge temps, the bottle is under greater pressure the warmer it is.

svraines said:

Sometimes you can get a little bit more crud (bits of hops, etc) in the last few bottles you fill. This provides lots of nucleation sites for the carbonation, so it all escapes at once.

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I've noticed this as well. Bottles with a lot of sediment will sometimes foam more than bottles with less sediment.

BTW, welcome to HBT, svraines.