22oz v. 12oz

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stungry

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I just finished up my first batch, and will be brewing a second today. This is for down the road, so I can drink enough beer to have bottles in a few weeks.

On my last batch I bottled in 22oz bottles first, and then to 12oz bottles when I ran out. Some, but not all, of the 22oz bottles were sweeter than the 12oz bottles. I suspect that this is just because I didn't mix the priming sugar well enough in the bottling bucket before bottling and that the first ones out got most of the sugar.

I think I'm lucky I didn't have any bombs.

Any thoughts?
 
Poorly mixed priming sugar should only make some bottles more carbonated than other ones, not sweeter, since the yeast pretty much will eat whatever sugar is in the bottle. Maybe the difference in sweetness is due to the 22oz'ers conditioning differently than the 12 oz'ers? How long did you primary/secondary before bottling?
 
The sweeter ones were also more carbonated. When I opened them spewed for 15min or so. A week to 10 days in the primary, and a week in the secondary. Bottled both at the same time, same way.

I also didn't know bottle fillers existed until after I bottled. Leaving different amounts of headroom in the bottles, overflowing. I have since purchased a bottle filler, thankfully!
 
I've run into this too with bottling. I've since left more head room in the 22oz. bottles than in the 12 oz. bottles.
 
The only bottle bomb I've ever had was with a 22oz. I know use only 12oz and haven't had a problem. I know that the 22oz bottle may not have been a factor but I guess I'm superstitious.
 
A week to 10 days in the primary, and a week in the secondary. Bottled both at the same time, same way.

Right there's your problemo, your beer wasn't done yet. ;)

Leave your beer in the primary for around 3 weeks to let the yeast clean up after themselves. Then when batch priming, I always dissolve the priming sugar in around 1 cup of boiling water and drop that into the bottom of my bottling bucket. I then siphon the beer out of the primary (yes I ONLY primary) into the bottling bucket creating a whirlpool to mix the priming sugar. I give that a gentle swirl a few times with my BAS (Big Ass Spoon) to mix it up and let it sit for around 20-30mins before bottling. That gives the sugar some time to mix up a bit more, and also lets any trub in suspension a bit of time to drop out.

Haven't had an issue yet, YMMV.
 
How long has the beer been in the bottles? 2 weeks is close to enough time and 3 weeks would be better. I also would have given more time in the secondary. Did your beer hit the estimated final gravity before bottling?
 
I then siphon the beer out of the primary (yes I ONLY primary) into the bottling bucket creating a whirlpool to mix the priming sugar.

There's quite a lot of stuff on the forum about whether or not to even use a secondary. Leaving this debate aside, secondary fermentation is pretty straight-forward with two carboys. Problem is I only have one. If I am going to use a two-stage fermentation, I would rack to a cleaned and sanitized bottling bucket, dump the trub from the carboy, clean, sanitize, wait.... and then rack from the bottling bucket back into the carboy. Seems like a lot of room for contamination. Any suggestions on how to do a two-stage with one carboy?

How long has the beer been in the bottles? 2 weeks is close to enough time and 3 weeks would be better. I also would have given more time in the secondary. Did your beer hit the estimated final gravity before bottling?

At least two weeks. I was impatient and took my beer on a road trip I went on to the mountains. The change in temperature and pressure probably didn't help. Some of the bottles stayed behind, and conditioned at room temperature for longer - over a month. Those didn't seem to be as bad as the ones I drank first. But, still, the 22oz was a gusher and pretty sweet.

To show my newb status :confused:, I'm still learning how to work my damn hydrometer. I can take a reading if I can get the thing to float. But, I haven't figured out how to take a good reading because I can't get enough liquid to float the thing using my thief. Any fundamental suggestions/tips on how to take a hydrometer reading are appreciated.

So, at this point I am sticking to the "Relax. Don't worry. Have a homebrew" as an approach to my brewing. That said, thanks to all of you who are helping me learn and making my beer better!
 
If I am going to use a two-stage fermentation, I would rack to a cleaned and sanitized bottling bucket, dump the trub from the carboy, clean, sanitize, wait.... and then rack from the bottling bucket back into the carboy. Seems like a lot of room for contamination. Any suggestions on how to do a two-stage with one carboy?
I might be missing something, but you shouldn't need two carboys to do a secondary. Just rack from the primary fermenter into the carboy and leave the trub / yeast cake behind.

But, I haven't figured out how to take a good reading because I can't get enough liquid to float the thing using my thief. Any fundamental suggestions/tips on how to take a hydrometer reading are appreciated.
Maybe you need to take more liquid? With the hydrometer in, you want the level of the liquid right near the top to be able to easily see where the liquid meets the hydrometer. I just use a sanitized turkey baster to get wort into the hydrometer tube - it takes about 2-3 "loads".

A tip I picked up to figure out the perfect amount of liquid / wort is to put the hydrometer into an empty tube. Fill with water until the hydrometer floats and the liquid is near the top for an easy read. Take the hydrometer out and mark the level of the liquid. You now know how much wort to add for an easy hydrometer reading.

When you take your read, fill to the line and gently place your hydrometer in and spin it to loosen any bubbles that might be sticking to the bottom, giving you an incorrect read. Also remember to take the temperature of the wort to adjust (since hydrometers are typically calibrated to 70 degrees). You can find the adjustment scale either in your hydrometer instructions or somewhere on this site or interwebs I'm sure.
 
Right there's your problemo, your beer wasn't done yet. ;)

Leave your beer in the primary for around 3 weeks to let the yeast clean up after themselves. Then when batch priming, I always dissolve the priming sugar in around 1 cup of boiling water and drop that into the bottom of my bottling bucket. I then siphon the beer out of the primary (yes I ONLY primary) into the bottling bucket creating a whirlpool to mix the priming sugar. I give that a gentle swirl a few times with my BAS (Big Ass Spoon) to mix it up and let it sit for around 20-30mins before bottling. That gives the sugar some time to mix up a bit more, and also lets any trub in suspension a bit of time to drop out.

Haven't had an issue yet, YMMV.

My mileage does not vary.
 
I can't get enough liquid to float the thing using my thief.

Totally just buy a plastic hydrometer tube.

And I'll second what mmonacel said, mark the tube with an appropriate liquid level and just fill to that.

When I bottle, I start by filling two 3L plastic bottles with beer (for my Tap-a-Draft) and then just use the bottle filler to fill the hydrometer tube to my marked level. Then I put the tube in the refrigerator to cool down to 60F while I bottle the rest into glass bottles.

I started with 22s, also, until I drank enough beer to get bottles. Now (18 months into my hobby) I have enough cases of clean bottles that I can bottle probably 3 full batches. I'm even selling some of the less-awesome bottles on craigslist because I have so many I can afford to be picky.

I do notice that 22-oz bottles tend to naturally carb more than 12-oz bottles. I'm sure it has something to do with headspace and initial quantities of yeast....
 
There's quite a lot of stuff on the forum about whether or not to even use a secondary. Leaving this debate aside, secondary fermentation is pretty straight-forward with two carboys. Problem is I only have one. If I am going to use a two-stage fermentation, I would rack to a cleaned and sanitized bottling bucket, dump the rtrub from the carboy, clean, sanitize, wait.... and then rack from the bottling bucket back into the carboy. Seems like a lot of room for contamination. Any suggestions on how to do a two-stage with one carboy?

You're exactly right. I've had to do this, haven't had problems with contamination. I got a 2nd carboy so I didn't have to do this, and filled it up. Then I got a 3rd carboy to avoid this, and filled it up as well.
 
You're exactly right. I've had to do this, haven't had problems with contamination. I got a 2nd carboy so I didn't have to do this, and filled it up. Then I got a 3rd carboy to avoid this, and filled it up as well.

Primary in a bucket works fine, and buckets are cheap. My carboy is used for the very rare beer that I secondary, and for apfelwein.
 
I might be missing something, but you shouldn't need two carboys to do a secondary. Just rack from the primary fermenter into the carboy and leave the trub / yeast cake behind.

My primary fermenter is my carboy - I only have one sanitized vessel for fermentation. That's why I have to rack from the carboy to the bottling bucket, clean/sanitize the carboy, and then rack back into the carboy.

It's probably me missing something though...
 
Any suggestions on how to do a two-stage with one carboy?

Use the tube the hydrometer came in and take a couple samples with your thief and drop them in there. Or if your vessel isn't deep enough (which is the case with some of mine, and my Fermtech Thief), then use a turkey baster or large veterinary syringe with a piece of 5/16 tubing attached to the end to draw a sample and squirt it in to your thief.
 
I usually bottle a case of 22's and a case of 12's with each batch. I haven't really noticed a difference with carbonation or taste from bottle to bottle.
 
My primary fermenter is my carboy - I only have one sanitized vessel for fermentation. That's why I have to rack from the carboy to the bottling bucket, clean/sanitize the carboy, and then rack back into the carboy.

It's probably me missing something though...

No, that's my temporary blindness... :D Check out buckets though, they're very cheap as Sumner H says and do the job well.
 
Maybe you need to take more liquid? With the hydrometer in, you want the level of the liquid right near the top to be able to easily see where the liquid meets the hydrometer. I just use a sanitized turkey baster to get wort into the hydrometer tube - it takes about 2-3 "loads".

If you are using the store bought sample jars, then the perfect amount is 1 1/2 of the three part thiefs

I actually have a bigger than normal thief I made from two three part ones just using the two middle parts and the ends off one so I can get it in one pull.
 
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