Strange bottling experience.

I made a very good pale ale (best i have done yet) and bottled in liter bottles, 12 oz bottles and grolsch bottles. All of the liter bottles i have opened have had no carbonation but still had the same great taste. The seals appeared very tight, no spilling or movement and were in the same location as the other bottles. The grolsch bottles were perfectly carbonated and tasted wonderful. All of the 12 oz bottles were good too except for a couple. One developed a large crack during the 3 weeks of priming. I am almost positive that the bottle was not cracked prior to or right after bottling. Bacteria began to build up in the crack. Another 12 oz bottle snapped at the neck when i tried to pop the cap. It took almost no effort, I went to pop the top with a standard bottle cap opener and the neck snapped completely off with the cap still attached. I cleaned all the bottles at the same time and in the same method. Has anyone had similar situations of only one bottle cracking during bottling or a bottle snapping when trying to pop the cap? Assuming that the liter bottles were properly sealed does anyone know of reason for no carbonation?

I have a bunch of 1L ez-cap bottles, and have had no problems with them. Check the rubber gaskets for dry-rot and replace them if necessary. I usually bottle in 1L and then 12 or so 12oz bottles till its gone. Usually drink the smaller bottles first, then the 1L, so maybe give it more time?

My guess would be that you used a bottling bucket and the priming sugar wasn't evenly distributed. Some bottles (the liters) didn't get enough sugar, while others (the snapped necked 12 oz'ers) got way too much.

could have been hairline cracks from capping, that the pressure build up made to spider. what kind of 12oz bottles were they?

the bottle with the crack in it was an amber bottle bought from a LHBS and the bottle that broke at the neck was reused from a local brewery. Yea, i didn't think about a hairline fracture which sounds like could go unnoticed by me and cause the problems.

VA Brew said:

the bottle with the crack in it was an amber bottle bought from a LHBS and the bottle that broke at the neck was reused from a local brewery. Yea, i didn't think about a hairline fracture which sounds like could go unnoticed by me and cause the problems.

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I've always felt that the lhbs bottles seemned thinner than the "recycled" ones.... so I'm not surprised....

I've also noticed that the larger the bottle the longer it takes to carb and condition....12 ouncers take the least amount, while one liter bottles take a heck of a lot longer before they build up the necessary volume of co2 to carb the beer.