priming problems

I just finished bottling my first home brew. I mixed the priming sugar into boiling water for about 15 minutes, when I took it off it was a very thick syrup. I poured it into my bottling bucket, which I was also using as my fermenter and gently stirred it with a sanitized spoon. Since I did not put the sugar in the bucket first and then siphon the beer into the bottling bucket, there was no whirlpool effect to mix the sugar. I only gently stirred it and I am worried that the sugar did not fully dissolve.

Did the sugar most likely dissolve or not? it was a very thick syrup...

will my beer be flat?

Only time will tell, but your priming sugar solution shouldn't have came out as a syrup. You only need to bring 2 cups of water to a boil, pour in the sugar and boil until the water runs clear, then flame out, and cool the solution. Sounds like you boiled off too much. The final solution should pretty much look like regular water. As for the mixing, I doubt pouring a syrup into the fermenter, and gently stirring did enough to sufficiently mix the solution. Hope to hear that it did, but only time will tell.

Next time you bottle, mix the priming sugar into a more watery solution. If ou have a refractometer about 1.040. Now you get to play russian roulette with your beer. Or if in canada it's called beer hunter eh. I'd guess that some will be carbed right, some will be flat and some may explode due to pressure buildup. Put those beers on a towel or another something to keep your floor clean when they do pop. This is how we learn, there are no born prodigies.

I have made the mistake of forgetting to put my priming solution into the bottling bucket before racking the beer over. I stirred the solution in gently, as you did, and mine came out great. However, the amount of water you likey boiled off in such a long boil may comprimise the effectiveness of your priming significantly. A viscous solution certainly will make it more difficult for the mixture to become homogenous. That said, only time will tell. Best of luck to you!

Guys...a syrupy concoction is not going to ruin the priming/conditioning of this beer. Some people use maple syrup in place of sugar, for example. You may get some inconsistent carbing, but I have a hard time believing you are really going to get bottle bombs. Why were you bottling out of the same bucket you used for fermentation? Sure, it has a spigot, but there are reasons we use bottling buckets for just bottling...and this situation you found yourself in is a perfect example.

I have personally experienced "bottle bombs" due to not mixing the priming sugar well enough before bottling. Lesson learned for me. But go ahead and make our own mistakes. Again, this is how we learn, there are no born prodigies

hopefully the beer comes out ok and is consistently carbonated. I guess only time will tell...next time I will definitely use a different bucket for fermentation. And not boil the priming solution as long.

potosky36 said:

hopefully the beer comes out ok and is consistently carbonated. I guess only time will tell...next time I will definitely use a different bucket for fermentation. And not boil the priming solution as long.

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I'm still a little confused. Are you saying you fermented in the bucket then poured and priming soln/syrup directly into the same bucket without transferring and stirred? If this is the case I would be more worried about the fact that the entire yeast cake and trub has been stirred into soln and is now in your bottled beer.

yes...but I dont think too much got into the beer, as there was a large cake of yeast and trub at the bottom of the bucket when I was finished.

Ewwww. I hope that beer doesnt give you a yeast infection. Lol. When you pour those beers into a glass, I'd pour slowly without glugging it to avoid putting the yeast back into suspension. Also I'd leave the last ounce or so in the bottle. Pour it out, one for the homies.

potosky36 said:

yes...but I dont think too much got into the beer, as there was a large cake of yeast and trub at the bottom of the bucket when I was finished.

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Here's the problem as I see it. If you didn't stir enough to break up and mix in the yeast cake/trub there is no way you stirred enough to disolve and evenly mix the syrup. I would plan for bottle bombs even though you might not get them.

In general you want to rack your beer off the trub before bottling. If you want to go straight from primary fermenter to bottles you need to add the priming sugar (powder or ganular sugar, a volume of a sugar solution, or carb tabs) to each bottle.

it depends on how long the thick syrup was allowed to sit in the beer, the sugar will want to dissolve into the beer given enough time, say, half hour or 45 min. i bottle straight from the fermentor too, never had a problem.