Advice for bottling issues

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csantoni

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Edit: nevermind. I clearly missed the part where you have to have some pressure in the bottle. Here’s to 5 gallons of flat Best Bitter!

I recently bottled my sixth batch, a partial mash Best Bitter, my first 5gal batch, and it didn't go great. I'm not surprised I had issues given it was my first time with this setup, but I'm curious what I should change about my process that will help the most. Yes I know it would be better to keg but that's not an option for me right now.

I Carbed in my Spike+ with max pressure (about 14 psi before the PRV would kick in) at 60F for 24hrs which should be about 1.8 volumes of CO2. Bottled using a TC-to-liquid-line fitting connected to the butterly valve & dip tube with beer line, a picnic tap, and a bottling wand. Bottles are flip-tops. Purged Spike+ headspace, attached CO2 to manifold at ~2 psi, opened the butterfly valve to full open, and bottled. Didn't chill the bottles or go lower temp during carbing due to space & equipment constraints. I had lots of foam, it seemed to spawn at the flexible tubing connecting the wand to the picnic tap. I thought my best approach would be to fill the bottles until all that comes out the top is beer and then cap them immediately, the wand volume providing headspace in the bottle. I chilled a couple and opened them a few hours later and the carbonation was almost non-existent, no head at all and just a hint of buzz on the tongue.

Questions:
1. At 1.8 vol CO2 for a Best Bitter is it normal to not have any head? I wanted it to be low carbonated but this is barely there.
2. Will the carbonation improve with time in the bottle and it's just my initial samples that were under-carbed? No sugar was added and I'm not trying to bottle condition, just wondering if waiting will help.
3. Would a counter-pressure bottle filler help? It seems like lots of people do what I'm trying to do without one.
4. If something like this happens again, should I do the same fill approach (fill until no foam, just beer comes out the top, then cap immediately)?
5. Having limited experience with picnic taps, I didn't realize I could have locked it open and was holding it down and releasing with every bottle. What impact did this have?
6. Should I control flow a bit more and only open the butterfly valve a tiny bit?

I appreciate any advice anyone has. I've got about three weeks or so until I do this again so I have some time to adjust before my next bottling. The good news is the beer tastes pretty good even without the carbonation, I drank pretty much all my foamy runoff (LOL).
 
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