Bottling issues

[csh]

I just bottled my first (real) batch of home brew, a Fat Tire clone. I have some problems with head retention but I'm marking that up to running the bottles through the disk washer with jet dry and dishwasher detergent (to remove label bits and glue).

The beer tastes ok but it is weakly carbonated. There is no layer of yeast in the bottom of the bottle. This batch did a week in primary and then three weeks in secondary (procrastination combined with a last minute trip out of town). When I racked to the bottling bucket, there was good layer of crud in the bottom of the secondary. I'm wondering if the batch spent too long in secondary and I didn't get enough yeast into the bottles to carbonate it well.

The other possibility is that the bottles sat at 78-80F for a week although I thought that temp was reasonable for bottle conditioning.

I'm thinking it's a yeast issue as I drank three of these bottles without discarding the last 1" in the bottle and I wasn't running for the bathroom...

One other question, I'm moving into kegs but I'm wondering if there's a problem with bottling 12 bottles from a batch and putting the rest into a 5gal corny. Obviously, I'd want to rack the keg beer to the keg, then add the bottling sugar to the beer I'm reserving for the bottles... but otherwise any comments?

The point is to keep some of each batch around to see how it ages after a few months and to refine my bottling technique. And to use all the damn bottles that I've collected. Anyway, you can't drag a keg to a competition.

Thanks!

 

[IFMracin]

Give it more time to carb, 1 week is pretty early.

Also, your time in secondary is not an issue. Lagers sit for months and will carb.
Just be patient.
Let them sit another couple weeks and I would bet you start to see a difference.

And, the longer they sit in the fridge (week +) the more the yeast will settle to the bottom.

 

[inhousebrew]

1st: A month in primary and secondary combined is perfect timing. I personally like to let my beers sit a minimum of three weeks before even thinking about looking at them. So that's not your issue.

2nd: 78-80* is pretty good for carbonation temps. You actually want the bottles warm so the yeast is active and will carbonate the beer properly. A lot of times people have the bottles too cold so they don't carb so I don't think that is your issue.

3rd: Go right ahead and bottle some beers and keg the rest. Sometimes I only brew three gallon batches but still put them in the five gallon keg. You can also bottle pretty easily out of a keg. There are a lot of ways to do it, some expensive, some cheap but effective. Look it up on here.

So, the one thing you didn't mention is your priming sugar. How'd you go about doing that and how much did you use?

 

[csh]

So, the one thing you didn't mention is your priming sugar. How'd you go about doing that and how much did you use?

This batch was my first non-kit, so I used a chart that was in "how to brew" also on the internet: http://www.howtobrew.com/section1/chapter11-4.html

I was not sure what to use for the temp at the time and I'm thinking I didn't use enough sugar. I *thought* that the temp was of the beer -- before I bottled... but now I'm guessing its the temp while the bottle is sitting (78-80F). I used 4oz of white bottling sugar because I was going for 2.5 volumes and the temp was 68F in the bottling bucket. :-(

Was that right or not? This Saturday will be two weeks, so perhaps things will be better then...