Carbonation drops & inverting bottles

I bottled my second batch of beer 2 nights ago. It was a special bitter that had been in the primary for 3 weeks. I had some carbonation drops (priming suger in a candysize form) so I decided to use them. Now the specific instructions for using the carbonation drops according to the manufacturer is to:

1 drop in each 12oz bottle
Fill the bottle with beer
Cap it
Invert the bottle a couple times

I used a drop in each bottle, filled them, and capped them. However, it wasn't until last night (~24 hours after having bottled) that it dawned on me that I had forgotten to invert the bottles. So last night, again ~24 hours after bottling, I figured I'd invert the bottles then.

Should I not have inverted the bottles a day after bottling? Have I increased the odds of my bottles exploding? Or perhaps will the beer be flat?

nope I dont think it matters. 3 weeks youll be fine

You will be fine. In fact, I think it works BETTER to invert those bottles a few times after they have sat for a day. The idea of this is to get all that sugar mixed equally into solution in the bottle.

The problem with those drops is that they tend to slowly dissolve at the bottom of the bottle and form a big, gelatinous lump of sugar that takes FOREVER to ferment (and hence, carbonate). Inverting the bottles a few times or gently rolling them along a table mixes up the sugar and helps the fermentation/carbonation process.

Regardless, expect it will take a full month for them to carb up using drops. It might be quicker, but I wouldn't count on it.

When I was using the carbonation drops, I would invert the bottles at bottling time and once a day thereafter. Worked pretty well for me.

Thank you all for the info. Glad to know I didn't ruin this batch. I will even invert the bottles every day or so.

Thanks again.

Eves said:

Thank you all for the info. Glad to know I didn't ruin this batch. I will even invert the bottles every day or so.

Thanks again.

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If you insist, go ahead and do this until the gelatinous clump is gone. Afterwards (say 2-3 weeks), you needn't bother inverting them because you'll just be remixing yeasties that have otherwise already settled out. Beer clarity is quite nice.