Priming blunders - what can I expect?

[dmoore714]

Just bottled my Chocolate Covered BEAVR Nutz porter yesterday. I was checking the bottles for any bombs today and realized that I made two mistakes while priming/bottling.

First, I added the dry priming sugar directly to the bottling bucket. I have no idea why I did this (or why it didn't hit me until today). This is my 3rd attempt at batch priming. The last two times I've done it right - dissolved the priming sugar in boiling water, cooled it, then added to the bucket.

Second, due to underfilling my primary a bit, and some loss during the transfer to secondary, this recipe only yielded about 4 gallons. But for some reason I still added all 5oz of priming sugar.

**Two "good" things I did that hopefully will result in some bubbles in my bottles. After adding the priming sugar, I accidentally gave the bottling bucket a rough ride from the floor to the counter top (almost dropped it). Also, after adding the priming sugar, I got a phone call and had to walk away for a few minutes. Hopefully the slight shake and added time helped it dissolve and disburse into the beer.

So... what can I expect from this beer? Will it still carb? Will it carb too much? Or will the carbonation be inconsistent because it wasnt thoroughly/evenly dissolved? Any thoughts?

 

[prpromin]

Couple questions -
Did you rack on top of the priming sugar, or dump it into the already racked beer?

If you just dumped it in, did you give it a stir (other than the almost dropping)?

 

[dmoore714]

Racked first. Then added the sugar.
And I didnt stir it at all, but I gave the bucket a few little swirls after adding the sugar.

 

[Calder]

Based on what you have said, I would expect you will find the bottles under-carb'd. Sugar doesn't dissolve well in cold beer, so you will have left some in the bottling bucket.

 

[prpromin]

Hmm. If it clumped and went to the bottom, then you might get some uneven carbonation. Certainly, I'd cover your bottles - just in case. Also, if you know which bottles were early in the bottling session and late, maybe test them as they carbonate to check level. Obviously, they are carbed higher than the style guidelines, but who cares at this point? You might be ok since there was some shaking and time, but watch these guys carefully. Even if the sugar mixed well enough, they'll be overcarbed a bit.

And hey! nothing to do about it now. Kick back and have a beer

EDIT: also, what calder said - if it did sink, you'll have undercarbed beer.

 

[Varmintman]

I boil my sugar in 2 cups of water and then put that into my bottling bucket and then rack the beer into that being ever so careful not to make bubbles.

Just because I am anal I will then gently stir the beer a little bit. This step most likely out gases a bunch of CO2 but I really want to insure that my sugar is well mixed in the beer.

As long as I leave it to condition for a month or so doing it this way I get nice even carbonation

Edit But you made beer! How cool is that

 

[dmoore714]

Thanks for the tips guys. I hadn't thought about bottle bombs, but I guess that makes sense. If some of the bottles got less sugar, then some of them probably got more. I'm conditioning this batch in my fermentation fridge. Hope I dont lose any, but if it happens the mess will be contained.

One more silly question. If I open a bottle and there's no carbonation - can I drop in some carb tabs or priming sugar and recap it?
(This beer tastes REALLY good. It would be a shame to settle for mediocre carbonation if I can do something to fix it.)

 

[dmoore714]

After this conversation, I've been hyper-vigilant about checking my bottles. I noticed something yesterday that looked like a hairline crack in one of my 22-ouncers. I realize now, seeing it empty, that its just a defect in the glass. But a serious-enough defect that I will not be re-using this bottle. Yikes!

Anyway... it gave me an excuse to chill and open a bottle of this porter. I realize that it has only been in the bottle for 3 days (and at 65*) so it may not have reached its full potential (carbonation or flavor). But concern for the bottle, and for the entire batch, got the best of me. I just had to try it. It was as I had expected - extremely under-carbonated. Disappointing, but I have to say... this beer is REALLY good, even when its flat. And lets face it. That's what brewing is about, right? Making good booze. If carbonation were the #1 concern, we would all be making soda instead of beer.

The high alcohol content, dark color, and intense flavor make it go down almost like a chilled irish coffee. Honestly, I think it would be weird to fully carbonate a beer like this. It would be like carbonated scotch... or cabonated chocolate milk. Gross.

Fortunately I have noticed that the last few bottles to come off the bucket have more sediment than the first few (this bottle didn't have ANY sediment). So hopefully there will be at least a few carbonated bottles in this batch so I can see what it was supposed to end up like. Either way, I am extremely pleased with how this batch turned out. I do plan to brew this one again (and when I do, I may even go light on the priming sugar again).

For now, the only problem is this. Knowing how good this beer is... will I be able to allow it to age long enough to reach its full potential?
Answer: Doubtful

 

[dmoore714]

Looks like I may have been lucky. I opened a bottle last night and it was extremely well-carbonated. Almost too carbonated for the style. It was one of the first few bottles I filled too (yes - Im a dork and I keep track of that stuff).

I think my problem with the first bottle I opened was just a matter of timing and temperature. It had only been in the bottles for a few days at that point. And I was aging it in my fermenter at about 65*. I took it out and let it age at room temp (about 75ish) for over a week. Now its what I expected.

Im going to have another one tonight after work. I'll try to get a picture. The head is a deep brown and it smells like a reese's peanut butter cup. I highly recommend this recipe. I'm definitely going to do it again (and carbonate it correctly on the next go round).

 

[TopherM]

I would expect a pretty noticible inconsistency in carb levels beer to beer, but no bombs.

You added about 20% extra priming sugar above an expected 2.5 or so atmospheres, so if everything were consistent, you would expect about 3.0 atmospheres per beer, so a little overcarbed, extra foamy and hard to pour. It takes about 4.0-4.5 atmospheres before bottles start exploding.

With adding the dry sugar directly to the beer, you may even have enough undissolved sugar that you'll get most of them back into that 2.0-2.5 range, but it'll probably be inconsistent to the point that you'll still have a few overcarbed beers, have quite a few undercarbed beers, and have the rest somewhere in the middle.

Did you notice any actual residual sugar left over in the bottom of the bottling bucket after you bottled? That would have actually been a pretty good sign, all things considered.

 

[SharonaZamboni]

Sounds good! But I'm having a real hard time finding that recipe.

NVM. Amazon has everything.