...most folks fail to realize is that most of those supposed "uneven carbonation" issue threads when you follow up like I do, since I probably have answered a few more carbonation questions than all of you combined, is that MOST of those folks who are complaining about uneven carbonation are opening their beer prior to the 3-6 weeks that we recommend on here, and upon followup, after we tell them to wait a few more weeks, most of them come back and say ALL the remaining bottles are perfectly fine.
It's an idiotic notion not to believe that 2 mere cups of liquid are not going to be dilluted by the mere action of the UPWARD swirling of the beer as it is racked on top of it, and rises in the bottling bucket.
Look up the phrase under my name on here, it's there for a reason.....Just because you have a problem and think the cause of it is one thing, and you've totally ignored the observable truth, in this case, that it usually takes 3-6 weeks OR MORE for beer to carb up, and you've opened it before that, doesn't mean that you're right.
You'll find that most folks who have "inconsistant" carbonation when we pursue it further it turns out they're opening their bottles too soon. It's quite easy to blame or assume it's because of something, rather than the truth.
I personally believe the whole "priming sugar didn't get mixed" argument is BS, if you put the sugar solution in the bottom of the bucket and racked your beer, then it couldn't help but be mixed. You're putting 2 tiny cups of liguid into a vessel and dumping 5 gallons into it and the beer is rising as it fills the bucket...believe me, it is mixing.
Most of the time when a beer is acting weired, it's just that it's not fully carbed yet. And if you're below 70, or were below 70 for any period of time during the 3weeks, then the beer hasn't fully carbed yet.
Inconsistant carbonation, simply means that they are not ready yet. If you had opened them a week later, or even two, you never would have noticed. Each one is it's own little microcosm, and although generally the should come up at the same time, it's not an automatic switch, and they all pop on.
A tiny difference in temps between bottles in storage can affect the yeasties, speed them up or slow them down. Like if you store them in a closet against a warm wall, the beers closest to the heat source may be a tad warmer than those further way, so thy may carb/condition at slightly different rates. I usually store a batch in 2 seperate locations in my loft 1 case in my bedroom which is a little warmer, and the other in the closet in the lving room, which being in a larger space is a tad cooler, at least according to the thermostat next to that closet. It can be 5-10 degrees warmer in my bedroom. So I usually start with that case at three weeks. Giving the other half a little more time.
Bottom line, it's not that the sugar's not mixed, it's just that they all haven't come up to full carb yet....Three weeks is not the magic number for finality, it's the minimum time it takes....
How many of you read every thread, and bother to look up the results of threads you've answered in the Past? I PURPOSEFULLY remained subscribed to all the treads I answered questions in. So whether it's the next day or a thread I posted in 4 years ago, if it pops up in my user's CP I follow up.
And guys, just like "infection" threads turn out to be non-issues, a high number of these supposed "inconsistant" carbonation threads turn out to end the same way with the rest of the bottles perfectly carbed.
Just because you open a bottle too soon and it's not carbed while another bottle you grabbed IS carbed, doesn't mean there's something wrong....
I have never stirred my priming sugar in a batch of beer, and I have never had a beer, that when I waited sufficiently long enough, has not been CONSISTANTLY carbed from bottle to bottle. I've had plenty that the first one hasn't been carbed, but then I don't go an open any more beers right away I usually give it another week and try again. But once that first beer is carbed, and it's been 3-6 weeks since I've bottled, I've never had the rest of them NOT perfectly carbed.
But hey, if stirring keeps you warm at night....have at it...but if you open your bottles too soon (and too soon can be 6 months for some beers) and they still aren't carbed up- then what are you going to blame?
