EZ Cap Bottles lose all carbonation upon chilling

So I'm getting ready to sample my first batch, a doppelbock with an OG of 1.070. I ran this batch with 2-2-2 [2 weeks Fermenting (10 days Primary then racked to secondary), 2 weeks carbonating, and 2 weeks warm conditioning]. So being very anxious to sample my efforts, I quickly chilled one in the freezer and found that it had nice carbonation at first, but it seemed to gradually flatten in the glass as I was drinking. It did have a good flavor though. So I decided to give it another week and try again. This time I placed 2 bottles in the refrigerator for a couple of days to chill and found that all the carbonation had left the bottle. I used 3/4 cup of corn sugar for priming this 5 gal batch. Has anyone else had experiences like this with EZ cap bottles?

I haven't ran into that. Are your rubber gaskets in good shape?

Just a few thoughts

You may just not have the sugar mixed evenly throughout the batch causing some bottles to be undercarbed.

When you chill your beer the beer absorbs more CO2 than when it is warmer.

The bottles may not be sealed properly, letting the CO2 out of the bottle.

The seals need to be in good shape. If they are compressed or rotted, they won't seal properly. The clasp should require some effort to close.

Tom

If the bottles have only been conditioning for a couple of weeks, they probably just aren't carbed up sufficiently. That yeast is pretty tired out, with a fairly high level of attenuation, so it might take four weeks or more for them to carb up the bottles (assuming the gaskets aren't leaking). Keep it at 70 degrees for about two more weeks, then stick one in the fridge for 24 hours and try one. I bet it'll be much better!

I've been fighting carb issues with a couple of brews as well.... and I'm using the 16 oz ez caps. Looking back at the ones that are carbed and the ones I'm fighting, I'm of the opinion that I didn't get enough yeast into the bottling bucket. I think just a second or two of sucking off the bottom of the primary made the difference on the ones that have nice carbing.

But, this is all based on only 6 total batches, so don't put too much weight in that.

Thanks for the replies. My EZ cap seals are brand new and this is the first batch they have been used with. So it shouldn't be do to rotten seals or something like that. I did notice that when I opened the ones in the refrigerator I didn't get the pop that I got from the others and even after unlatching, the seal had to be pulled off. So it seemed like it still had a good seal, but then again I didn't have any carbonation either so I'm not sure. When I primed the batch I just gently siphoned on top of the sugar solution. Should I have gently stirred to mix? At this point I'm just trying to determine if the cause is the EZ caps or the way I primed the batch. I have another batch in my secondary that will be ready to bottle in about a week. So I'm wondering if I need to try different type of bottles.

I only use EZ top bottles now. Since they are new....barring that they just have some funky design to them, I would first start experimenting with your brewing techniques. Natural carbonation can be tricky: as you need the right amount of yeast still in suspension, sugar, and time. What was your FG? A greater attenuation means less yeast cells stayed remaining in suspension. Sounds like at least some of your bottles didn't have enough carbonation. I found I had quite a bit of unevenness with my carbonation if I didn't let my sugar mixture cool down first before putting the beer on top of it (even with stirring). I'd first double check your priming technique: make sure your sugar water is at a similar temp as the beer and do lightly stir the mixture. Adjusting transfer to secondary, etc, might give you better results as well.

More time... that is all you need. That's a big beer, give the yeast a break. Store these warm for another month or so, then go crack your next one.

If you need a quick turn-around beer, pick one with an OG below 1.045.

OG was 1.070 and FG was 1.018. When I primed it is true that I didn't let the sugar mixture cool down and I didn't stir. With my first batch I left a good quart of room between the racking cane and the trub when racking to secondary. I recently racked my second batch to the secondary. This time I pulled closer to the bottom and didn't leave very much behind. In both batches I used Wyeast American Ale II (1272). I'm hoping that making these changes will help out my second batch to carbonate better.

I have heard that higher OG beer tend to take longer to carbonate. My second batch has a lower OG so maybe it will turn around quicker then.

Yeah, just wait it out a little longer and quit worrying. 3 to 4 weeks minimum in the bottle to develop any appreciable carbonation normally for an OG that high.

An update for others readers...

It has been a month since I bottled and still No/Very little carbonation in the brew. I have chalked it up to bad siphoning technique. I siphoned from my secondary to the bottling bucket about 2.5 quarts off of the trub. I figure that I didn't get enough yeast into the bottling bucket to fully carbonate my batch and the yeast I did get are shot after a fermenting a high gravity brew. My plan is to wait longer and if I still don't see any carbonation I will use a few grains of dry yeast in each bottle and see if that gets the job done. In the mean time this brew serves as a good marinade and good ingredient for cooking. My second batch with an OG of 1.045 carbed up fine.

Thanks for the update. I've been fighting carb isssues on one batch in the newer ez cap bottles. The ones with the smooth sides. I decided to add a little sugar and yeast and on at least one of them, it's definitely a seal problem. Caught it bubbling right past the rubber seal a day or so later. I'm hoping that a change of seals will solve the problem.

I have heard that dish soap residue will create problems with the beers head and maybe it messes with the carbonation, try using a different cleaner/soap

Some soaps have additives to stop water spots and some are anti bacterial and on and on.....

You may be killing the yeasts? Is there any sweetness to the flat beer? If the yeast are missing or dead the beer should still be sweet and no carbonation. Otherwise the beer ought to just be flat if the Co2 escaped the bottle seals.

Are there dead yeast(powder) in the bottom of the bottle?


Just some things that raced through my mind.

Brewminator said:

I have heard that dish soap residue will create problems with the beers head and maybe it messes with the carbonation, try using a different cleaner/soap

Some soaps have additives to stop water spots and some are anti bacterial and on and on.....

You may be killing the yeasts? Is there any sweetness to the flat beer? If the yeast are missing or dead the beer should still be sweet and no carbonation. Otherwise the beer ought to just be flat if the Co2 escaped the bottle seals.

Are there dead yeast(powder) in the bottom of the bottle?


Just some thing that raced through my mind.

Click to expand...

Do you realize you are bumpng up a year old thread? How did you even find this, let alone decide to make this your innaugural post?

Welcome anyway.

And the yeast at the bottom of the bottle is not dead, it's dormant. It's prolly very tired, but it is very much alive.

Revvy said:

Do you realize you are bumpng up a year old thread? How did you even find this, let alone decide to make this your innaugural post?

Welcome anyway.

And the yeast at the bottom of the bottle is not dead, it's dormant. It's prolly very tired, but it is very much alive.

Click to expand...

My apologies to the yeast that I prematurely buried.

Being new I was just browsing and that post started me thinking, I guess I wasn't so much thinking about the time line as the questions and who knows, maybe they figured it out by now.

It was like reading a book with the last page torn out....

I liked the forums and signed up, I haven't made any wine for a few years and recently started brewing beer again. I have to warn you I posted to another old thread. I'm catching up and I guess you're paying the price by having to read it all again.

I am having the same problem with my EZ Caps. Normal caps are fine and all have been properly carbed. My EZ Caps have been used about three times. The first batch was fine, but now about a third of my bottles are flat as a pancake.

I have since moved to kegs, so will be bottling only occasionally - and will go with standard bottle caps when I do.

Actually I can chime in (now that I know for sure what happened) on the EZ Cap bottles... Every beer that I have bottled in the larger EZ cap bottles have not carbonated due to leaking pass the seal. I have long since set those bottles aside and I either keg or use different bottles. The EZ cap bottles I have that work every time have the seals that are slick plastic looking and the seals that didn't work were rubber like seals. I have since brewed that same beer twice and it fully carbonated in 2 weeks time with good seals.

Just to keep the old thread going, I also have given up on swing tops from the home brew store. The dozen I got had problems with at least half of them. I tried bending the wire bales, getting new gaskets, making my own gaskets, and then I put them on a shelf to never be used again. Bottle caps for the win!