Weird infection? Some one help, please!

The honey wheat I bottled is amazing. The problem is, half of the bottles are good, but the other half taste weird, and just different than the others. I sanitized the bottles, bucket, hoses, caps, boiled the priming sugar, etc. I even used all of the exact same bran new bottles. The good bottles have smooth tasting beer with lots of head. The bad bottles are bitter and don't have a whole lot of carbonation. It also seems the the bad bottles have condensation inside of them at the top of the neck. The difference isn't huge, but it's confusing and I don't want it to happen again. Why did this happen and what can I do?

Did you get a good seal on the bottle caps of the bottles in question?

Did you stir to evenly distribute the sugar in the beer before bottling?

Those are the only two things that come to mind...

How long have they been bottled?

Are the bottles longnecks (i.e. Sam Adams) or stubbies (i.e. Sierra Nevada)?

If they are stubbies, are you using a bench capper or a wing capper?

Yes, the caps are good and tight, put on with a new capper and brand new caps. I stirred the sugar for a minute or less. The bottles are all identical brown long necks and they have been in the bottles for almost three weeks.

Save the bad ones to give to the in-laws at gatherings

Any noticable visual differences between them? Different amounts of yeast? And how did you add the priming sugar? Did you dump it in and then stir? I always add mine to the bottling bucket and then make a whirlpool as I add the beer. It really sounds to me like you have carbonating issues. Beer does seem to taste more bitter if it's not as highly carbonated (which seems to be the issue here)

IceFisherChris said:

I always add mine to the bottling bucket and then make a whirlpool as I add the beer. It really sounds to me like you have carbonating issues. Beer does seem to taste more bitter if it's not as highly carbonated (which seems to be the issue here)

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+1 I completely agree. I rack on top of the priming sugar and let it whirlpool too.

Also, to the OP, I noticed you said there was some condensation at the top... is there any kind of solid precipitate at the beer-line? Because that's how I first read it and that is indeed an indicator of an infection

Thanks guys. It's gotta be poor carbanation, because yes, I just poured it in and stirred it, instead of doing the whirl pool thing that I've always done in the past. And there is no solid percipitate at the beer line. And if it was infection, you'd think it would taste a lot worse. These are just not as good, but not bad. Do you think that letting them sit longer will help out with carbonation? I also read in a book that I could open the bottles and add more priming sugar, but it didn't say how much. Should I even bother, or should I just give them to the in-laws?

cheddy007 said:

And if it was infection, you'd think it would taste a lot worse. These are just not as good, but not bad.

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That's not necessarily true. I've had a couple bottles get infected and I just left them alone for another month or so and they were delicious!!

cheddy007 said:

Do you think that letting them sit longer will help out with carbonation?

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Most definitely. Leave them alone for another few weeks

cheddy007 said:

I also read in a book that I could open the bottles and add more priming sugar, but it didn't say how much.

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Meh, it doesn't seem worth it. THAT may lead to infection Just RDWHAHB and check back in a couple weeks to confirm whether or not time has healed your brew, as it does all things.

i had the same problem 3 weeks ago. 1 case was perfectly carbonated and the second case was flat. Some said this was impossible, loose caps, etc. I say the priming sugar did not mix well. Let it swirl in with the wort then stir to be sure.
sims_l22