Problem bottling??

I just broke into my second batch over the weekend (an American Ale, kinda like a Goose Island Honkers).

For part of the batch I used liter sized bottles with the Grolsch style tops. I've only opened one of them so far, but it completely lacked carbonation - it was almost completely flat. I fear that the rest of the beer in those bottles will have the same problem.

Beer bottled in 12 oz and 22 oz bottles (with standard caps) from the same batch was fine (in fact, it had quite a thick head).

So, did I do something wrong? Can I expect all of the liter bottles to be flat, or was that one just a fluke? Should I let the larger bottles condition longer? Does this have something to do with the Grolsch style caps?

Help! I don't want to make the same mistake again!

When did you bottle, and how much priming sugar did you use?

This one was probably just a fluke, perhaps due to uneven distribution of the priming sugar, or not enough time conditioning.

You should be fine with the flip tops, I use them whenever I can.

- magno

I bottled two weeks ago this past Friday (October 20th). I used a 5oz. pack of priming sugar (it was part of a kit).

The larger bottles will take a longer time.... just relax and drink the small ones first...or wait!

Thanks, I'll wait another week or two and see how they turn out. (Of course, it'll be a long wait!)

Thanks for the help.

more time....

If more time doesn't work try replacing the seals and adding carbonation drops

Update:

Okay, so Friday night I opened one of the bottles to see how it was. The carbonation was fine. This bottle had sat in the fridge since the week before, when I opened that first bottle that was flat.

Yesterday, I put two more in the fridge and opened them last night. They were both flat.

Is it possible that spending a week in the fridge helped facilitate the carbonation with that bottle I opened Friday? Should I just stick all of the bottles I have left in the fridge? Or am I still looking at putting carb drops in the remainder of the bottles?

What happened is when you placed the bottles in the fridge your yeast went dormant.

For carbonation, you need to let them sit at room temp if it's about 70F for a week or two BEFORE you place them in the fridge.

It's possible that the week in the fridge did help your carbonation. The capacity of beer to absorb CO2 increases the colder it gets, but the yeast can't produce CO2 if it's so cold that they go dormant. That's why a some of recipes recommend conditioning for two weeks @ 70F then storing at 50F (or less). It takes time for the beer to absorb the extra CO2 which might account for why the bottles stored for a week had good carbonation as opposed to the ones stored for just a couple of days.

Then again it could just be that your priming sugar wasn't completely mixed in and you have a knack for picking bottles.

If your bottles were not new, the seals might be shot. Replace the gaskets, and add carbonation drops, then let them sit again.

The bottles are brand new, and all of the gaskets are good.

I'm putting a couple more in the fridge tonight to open next weekend. If they turn out okay, I'll just put the rest in the fridge. If not, I'll get some of the carb drops and try again.

Thanks for your help, everyone.