Beer went flat in the bottle?

[hobohrau]

I have finished brewing my very first batch of homebrew (an American Pale Ale from a kit)! I made the rookie mistake of following the kit directions and let the beer ferment only one week in the primary (no secondary), added the priming sugar that came with the kit, and bottled.

I was so eager to brew that I didn't have nearly enough glass bottles so the beer is spread across various vessels: half gallon growler, a gallon jug left over from some apple cider, ~10 beer bottles, ~24 plastic water bottles.

Everything was sanitized with iodophor and the beer had a good ABV before going into the bottle (4.56%, if I didn't screw up the measurements). I've been tasting the beer as it's been sitting around to make sure nothing went wrong, and I am happy with the taste (will definitely be doing 3 week primary next time).

The beer is finishing up its two week stint in the bottles, but it seems that some of the bottles have gone flat. One of the first bottles I opened about a week ago had a great head and good bubbles, but I opened one last night and it was completely flat (I was opening the ones from the plastic water bottles).

Do you guys think that the bottles are just letting the gas escape or could I have done something that threw off the process chemically? (for example maybe not stirring in sugar evenly enough)? The bottles are sitting in the basement where it stays pretty cool (low 70s), could it be they need more heat?

I would try to open a glass bottle, but I'm trying to save those so I can give friends to try and have it not look so ghetto...

I'm hoping to have enough glass bottles/growlers for next time so I don't have to use any plastic water bottles, but is there a consensus on whether plastic water bottles are a viable container?

Thanks!

 

[Morkin]

1st thing I would do is get the beer out of the growler. Growlers are made of weak glass and can/will explode and shatter. Don't take the chance.

Secondly, what temp are your bottles at? They should be around 70-80 degrees for carbing purposes.

Thirdly, did you make sure your priming sugar was mixed thouroughly? If not, you could get bottles that are over carbed and some that are not.

 

[hobohrau]

Hm, I didn't know that about growlers ... though I think I'm in the clear because it didn't explode in the 2 weeks it has been in there. I'll stay away from that next time.

I will measure the temperature more accurately, but I believe they are probably around the low 70s (70-72 range, I'd guess). Maybe I'll move a few bottles up a floor where it is warmer and see what happens.

I thought the sugar was properly mixed. I didn't have siphoning equipment so what I ended up doing is adding the sugar water to a pot, then ladling the beer into the pot -- I think that created enough turbulence that it all mixed through (also stirred it afterward).

I saw in another thread that I could measure the gravity again to make sure that the yeast has finished doing its work.

 

[Morkin]

Woa, hold up.

How did you fill the bottles if you don't have siphoning equipment?

Also, it's a good rule of thumb to wait at least 3 weeks for bottles to carb. I would still be concerned about that growler.

 

[hobohrau]

A sanitized funnel and a sanitized ladle. Is that a bad idea?

 

[OHIOSTEVE]

A sanitized funnel and a sanitized ladle. Is that a bad idea?

yeah, it will allow oxidation. Also you said you bottled in plastic water bottles? Those will not hold pressure and will leak out your carbonation I would think. IF you are in a pinch, soda bottles would work, but not water bottles.

 

[Morkin]

+1, without using a siphon, you are not getting consistant headspace in your bottles, which is a huge problem with how the C02 being produced will dissolve into the beer.

Go online asap or to your local homebrew shop and get an auto siphon, tube, and a bottling wand. All in all may cost you $20.

I'd say that the way you bottled is surely why your beers are flat.

 

[hobohrau]

Gotcha. Thanks. I guess the first time out I just wanted to see if I could brew something that wasn't a complete failure before investing more money (those poor grad student instincts, you know )

I'm going to the brew store tomorrow to get another kit so I'll pick that stuff up.

 

[Morkin]

Also, PET water bottles will work, if they have a twist on cap. Did you use the ones with a pop up push down top?

 

[hobohrau]

They were all twist caps.

 

[hobohrau]

Everyone seems to warn you that you shouldn't overfill the bottles so I was pretty conservative with the amount of beer in each bottle (too bad I didn't know that not filling enough was also a problem).

So I just want to make sure I sort of understand what is going on here. If I leave too much room in the bottle then essentially the CO2 will just sit on top and won't actually build up enough pressure to dissolve into the beer, right?

 

[CortexBomb]

CO2 will build in the head space as long as the bottles are at room temperature. When you chill them it will dissolve back into the liquid in the course of a day or so. Having some space in the bottle is fine, a couple of inches or so; as others have said, this is much easier with a bottling wand, which is cheap.

In general: the bottles are definitely the culprit. You need to use bottles that can actually be sealed again so that the CO2 doesn't escape, and for the most part, this means craft brew bottles, though some artisanal sodas and root beers would also fit the bill. Twist off beer bottles don't work and plastic cap water bottles definitely don't. Growlers don't for the same reason, they're just twist caps, that's why growlers are always meant for drinking within 48 hours or so of being filled, as the brew will lose carbonation with time. As others have said, an additional, and non-trivial element with growlers and non-craft bottles is that they're often made of thin glass which can explode if a decent amount of CO2 does manage to build up in them. Bad news.

 

[Justibone]

So, here's what you did right: you boiled the sugar and added the beer to it.

After that, your choice of bottles was less-than-superb. If whatever came in it is carbonated then it is usually okay for carbing up your beer. The one major exception to that is -- screw top growlers.

Flip-top growlers (Grolsch style) are usually only half the size regular growlers, but they are good for fermenting. 20 oz soda bottles are good for bottling when desperate, but 2L soda bottles are less good (because they go flat so fast, and not many people drink 2L of homebrew in 1-2 days). Champagne bottles are great, and many cappers will work to put normal beer caps onto them, though check up to see if you have to adjust their crimping plates or something first.

Juice bottles, canning jars [Mason(TM) jars], water bottles and milk jugs(!) are all bad for bottling. So are wine bottles of every size and type -- EXCEPT ones with flip-tops (very rare).

So, generally, if something carbonated came from a factory, it's container can be a beer container.

 

[hobohrau]

Gotcha. All great tips. I'll definitely be more prepared for the next brew. I saw some flip top 32oz bottles at ikea and picked up a few (after seeing on the forums that people have had generally good results).

The bottles I tested out weren't well-chilled and they definitely let off *some* gas when I open them, so I guess they're not totally flat, but maybe I'm not getting any head since I'm not letting them cool down enough first.

But yeah the siphoning equipment/wand is definitely on the to buy list for next time.

 

[Morkin]

Also, TIME!

3 weeks is usually the min time for them to be compleatly carbonated.

Do what I do. After 1 week, place one of your bottles in the fridge in the morning before you go to work or school. That night, open it up to check the carbonation level.

Do this again at 2 weeks and 3 weeks to make sure they are carbing correctly.

I've had a beer take 4-5 weeks to carb because of low temperatures in my basement. If you are hearing a little gas coming out, I'd suggest waiting a bit longer for full carbonation.

 

[LaurieGator]

Also, don't forget about your local recycling center as a great place for beer bottles! I usually give my recycle person a 6 pack of home brew and she lets me put as many bottles as I can fit into the back of the Dodge Ram 1500 pickup truck. Just be sure to get the bottles that are NOT screw off lids! There are usually lots of Sam Adams, Bass Ale and other bottles to take home.

I usually give them an overnight soak in Oxyclean to remove the labels and the crap inside the bottles, give them a good clean with a bottle brush and Voila! Cases upon cases of beer bottles for next to nothing!

 

[Justibone]

Also, don't forget about your local recycling center as a great place for beer bottles!

The hunter I swap homebrew with (for venison, yum!) does this for me, too.!

 

[hobohrau]

I just wanted to give an update in case someone finds this thread and is wondering what the outcome was.

I've slowly been working through the plastic bottles and they've all be completely flat, however I finally got to a glass bottle and it had amazing head, nice and bubbly. So basically I'm guessing that for all my mistakes, the key is really to skip the water bottles and go with something that you know can withstand the pressure of the carbonation.

That said, I still enjoy the flat ones -- the brew is bitter as hell, just the way I like it.

Also, I went to the supply store and got a carboy along with siphoning equipment and a bottling wand. Gonna do my next batch right (Pumpkin spice porter which smelled amazing while brewing last night)

 

[Moonpile]

Hey, you live and you learn. The important thing is that you made another batch!

And the good news is bottles are easily obtainable at your local beer store!

If you're near Pasadena, I have some unwashed 12oz bottles out in my shed. Need cleaning and labels removed. Probably about a batches worth. PM me if you want them.

 

[Justibone]

+1 to Moonpile, the important thing is that you give it another shot.

The first time I brewed was in 1996, then I didn't even try getting back into it until 2009! More than a decade of brew experience was lost because I didn't have the support and information available here, on the Internet, back in '96.

So, keep at it!