Bottle carbonation fix

[DanInSydney]

Have been bottle carbonating a batch of Ordinary Bitter since around 4 weeks and 2-3 bottles didn’t carbonate. Any tips to avoid eating them.

I guess maybe some extra yeast then sugars for carbonation, but I’m just concerned about bottle bombs!

 

[rburrelli]

Either drink them or toss them. Not worth the effort or expense at this point to try and recover. No guarantee of results with your procedure.

How are you priming and capping?

 

[RM-MN]

There will be plenty of yeast in the bottles for carbonation. They ate all the sugar you had mixed in for carbonation but the CO2 leaked out so you can just add the appropriate amount of sugar to each bottle and recap them.

 

[DanInSydney]

Either drink them or toss them. Not worth the effort or expense at this point to try and recover. No guarantee of results with your procedure.

How are you priming and capping?

Carb drops in swing tops. I did approx 30 bottles so only a couple have been affected. I can’t totally rule out forgetting to put drops in as I did all 30 bottles in one go!

 

[DanInSydney]

There will be plenty of yeast in the bottles for carbonation. They ate all the sugar you had mixed in for carbonation but the CO2 leaked out so you can just add the appropriate amount of sugar to each bottle and recap them.

Looks like this one splits opinion but suppose it won’t hurt to give it another shot!

 

[RM-MN]

Carb drops in swing tops. I did approx 30 bottles so only a couple have been affected. I can’t totally rule out forgetting to put drops in as I did all 30 bottles in one go!

I don't use them but I have read that sometimes the gasket on the swing top bottles leak. It wouldn't be a bad idea to put on new gaskets.

 

[thehaze]

Swing top bottles can be tricky, as not all are made equally well and as stated above, gasket issues. Orkney uses for their Dark Island Reserve, 0.75 liters swing top bottles, and that's a very expensive bottle of beer ( 15-20 pounds a bottle ), but never had issues with their beer or the bottles which I eventually used for my own beer.

I would either drink them as is, or pour down the drain, if the lack of carbonation doesn't suit your taste.

 

[ncbrewer]

Looks like this one splits opinion but suppose it won’t hurt to give it another shot!

It could hurt a lot if they explode. It's always possible that they're just very slow to carb up - adding sugar could be a mistake.

 

[beermanpete]

Does the flat beer taste sweet? If so, the Carb Drops did not get fermented. Add yeast. If not, add Carb Drops and replace the seals.

 

[balrog]

I had some brand new swing tops not carbonate. The gaskets were thinner and less pliable (rubbery) than typical. THey did not work well. I replaced the gaskets and have not had issues since.

Swing top gaskets should be suspected.