Bottling Question - Priming Solution Half Batch Carbed

So, my first batch bottled ran into some problems. I was unprepared, being my first bottling, and did not have enough bottles, 15% of the bottles I had were bloody twist offs (noticed that too late), and my cheesy wing capper seemed to being working against me rather than for me.

With that said, the first half of the batch (IPA) came out perfect! Nice carbonation that left a nice head. However, the second half of the batch have all been on the flat side, a little carbonation, but not enough.

When I bottled, I put the priming solution in my bottling bucket and racked the beer on top. I'm wondering, do you think only half the batch got carbonated because the priming solution wasn't evenly mixed? Do you think that is what caused the issues? For my most recent batch bottled, I gently stirred the beer post racking to make sure the priming solution got mixed evenly. I'll have to wait a few weeks to see if that helped!

Also, if bottling in a 32oz growler, does it require more of a head space than a 12oz? I used a spring bottling wand and filled the growler to the top and whatever space was left after pulling the wand out, was what I had.

Its possible your priming solution didnt adequately mix. How long did it take those first ones to carb? If it was like a week, then I'd be worried that they are now on their way to OVER carbing or worse (bottle bombs). How much priming sugar did you use?

For the growler question, I wouldnt recommend priming a beer in a growler. Their twist caps are not designed to hold that much pressure. It is an issue of headspace for amount of priming sugar, but its basically negligible with different sized bottles. I've only seen people take it into account in naturally carbing in a keg (way less headspace proportionally)

m00ps said:

Its possible your priming solution didnt adequately mix. How long did it take those first ones to carb? If it was like a week, then I'd be worried that they are now on their way to OVER carbing or worse (bottle bombs). How much priming sugar did you use?

For the growler question, I wouldnt recommend priming a beer in a growler. Their twist caps are not designed to hold that much pressure. It is an issue of headspace for amount of priming sugar, but its basically negligible with different sized bottles. I've only seen people take it into account in naturally carbing in a keg (way less headspace proportionally)

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The first batch have been conditioning for about 5 weeks now. I waited 2 weeks, before cracking any open. I used 4.3oz corn sugar for a 5 gallon batch (my most recent bottling I used 3.93oz sugar).

For the growler, I have the swing top growlers. I also just got a 32oz bottle of Lagunitas Sucks (so good) and I want to reuse the bottle. So you're saying, just fill it up as if it were a 12oz bottle?

Thanks!

The first batch have been conditioning for about 5 weeks now. I waited 2 weeks, before cracking any open. I used 4.3oz corn sugar for a 5 gallon batch (my most recent bottling I used 3.93oz sugar).

For the growler, I have the swing top growlers. I also just got a 32oz bottle of Lagunitas Sucks (so good) and I want to reuse the bottle. So you're saying, just fill it up as if it were a 12oz bottle?

Yeah I would just use the same rule of thumb for a growler or larger bottle. The headspace difference isnt enough to have a big effect on carbonation. Swing top growlers work fine. I've got a number of swing tops that have lasted months