American Amber Ale inconsistent bottling

[machinehead131]

I bottled a batch of AHS American Amber Ale with 1 week in the primary, 2 weeks in the secondary.

Some of the first ones I had after 10-12 days were amazing, with a nice thick frothy head and very smooth.

When I hit 3 weeks I was expecting the same consistency or even better beer, but that was not the case.

It seems like the bottles are less carbed than before without much of a head after 3-4 weeks in the bottle.

Should i keep waiting?
Any explanation to explain those delicious ones I had just before 2 weeks time?

Also, it seemed the beer in the sierra nevada bottles I used were the ones that were excellent.

 

[Suthrncomfrt1884]

Wait a few more weeks and check them again. If you still have the problem, it's more than likely because you didn't get the priming sugar completely mixed in.

 

[marubozo]

+1 on waiting.

But just curious, how did you incorporate your priming sugar into the beer? That could tell us whether or not it's the likely suspect.

 

[machinehead131]

boiled 2 cups of water, added 4.5 ounces of priming suger, heated until boil and boiled for 2 minutes.

Poured directly into bottling bucket and siphoned from primary into bucket, once full started bottling.

 

[marubozo]

Yeah, that process is spot on so the priming sugar should have been mixed in real good. Are all of these bottles stored at room temp or are they sitting in the fridge? And when you do put them in the fridge, how long are they sitting?

Over time the CO2 gets absorbed into the beer so the carbonation characteristics will change over time. In addition, the CO2 gets absorbed even faster when cold, so the length of time it sits in a fridge will impact that as well.

So, early on the bottles may have had plenty of CO2, but most of it might have been in the head space. Now that it's been absorbed it might seem different than it did before. If the short and fat bottles seem carbed differently it could be an issue with the amount of head space left when you filled those compared to other bottles.

It looks like you did everything right in terms of preparing your priming mix so I'd have to say the inconsistency is just a matter of time, temp, and possibly bottle differences that are giving you different results.

 

[machinehead131]

All bottles stored at room temp for the specified amount of time then just in the fridge until cold.

How long should they sit in the fridge? Does that really matter?

 

[marubozo]

IMO I find the beer is better if left in the fridge for a minimum of a few days, but I leave most of my bottles in the fridge for a week or more before drinking. I don't know any science behind it so maybe someone with more experience can chime in, but I feel that the beers left in the fridge for a while before drinking are better than ones I rush to chill just so I can drink one.

 

[Sithdad]

I brewed an American Amber as well. However, mine was based off the recipe in the Brewing Classic Styles book. I tried one of mine around a week and half after bottling just to see how they were coming along. I noticed that there was a lot of carbonation and a good head, but they were both gone in under a minute.
Opened another last night, 3 weeks in the bottle, which had been chilled for about 2-3 hours. Much different. Nice creamy head and I had bubbles coming out of suspension the entire time. I think I am going to let them sit a few more days before I put them into the fridge.
There was a video that someone had posted about how the bottle conditioning changed over a period of weeks. It was really interesting to see and helped me to leave those bottles alone. I'll see if I can find it and post it when I have more time.

EDIT - Should have just searched for it first. It wasn't hard to find. http://iam.homebrewtalk.com/videos.php?u=45723&Video_ID=200#video200

 

[kanderna]

IMO I find the beer is better if left in the fridge for a minimum of a few days, but I leave most of my bottles in the fridge for a week or more before drinking. I don't know any science behind it so maybe someone with more experience can chime in, but I feel that the beers left in the fridge for a while before drinking are better than ones I rush to chill just so I can drink one.

+1. I had no idea going in, but I've noticed significant differences in my beer when left in the fridge long enough to get cold vs. the ones that have been in there for a few days.