Bottle colour and conditioning.

[gazzy3005]

Hi all. This may seem a bit of a daft question really.
I bottled my first brew a month or so back and have been trying a few of them.
I used bottles that I had previously bought and washed/sanitised them etc and have a mix of brown and clear glass.
I conditioned all the bottles the same and as per the instructions that I was following.
I find that the brown glass bottles are far gassier even to the point that when I open them it mixes all the settled sediment into the ale, so it becomes really cloudy again. I don't seem to have this problem with the clear bottles. Is this just something that happens or is one better than the other? I know brown protects better from uv but they are stored in the dark in my garage anyway.
Any thoughts on why this may be?
Thanks.

 

[ong]

There shouldn't be a connection between the color and carbonation level. Did you maybe bottle one color
first, then the other? I'd suspect the gassy bottles have too much priming sugar.

 

[gazzy3005]

I think that that may be the issue. I did them all at the same time and probably a mix of colour and colourless. I've got another brew on so I may reduce the priming sugar slightly next time.

 

[jfr1111]

Do you use a priming solution or drops/sugar in each bottle ? This might be a really stupid question, but if the brown bottles are smaller than the clear ones and you are using drops/sugar, it's normal for the carb level to be different.

 

[MaxStout]

Just taking a stab here...maybe the clear bottles didn't seal up as well and less CO2 in them?

 

[gazzy3005]

I just used normal sugar to prime them, not drops. I followed instructions that told me that the normal granulated would be OK, but maybe I should use brewing sugar next time!
The bottles are of all shapes but probably all are 500ml. Wouldn't think that the clear ones were any less/more sealed than the others but could be a possibility.

 

[bruteforce]

I use table sugar for priming most of the time, no issues. You will need to adjust the amount slightly as table sugar ferments at 100% vs 90%ish for corn sugar. Did you add sugar directly to the bottle or boil is and mix it into the bottling bucket?

 

[gazzy3005]

I assume that table sugar is the same as granulated. I added the sugar to the bottles before filling them. I syphon the beer from on fermenter to another and then from the fermenter to the bottles. I thought about the sugar tablets but the only ones I could find in the UK were one table for 750ml and I'm using 500ml bottles.
Is there any benefit to boiling and fixing into the bucket? I'd have to work out exact quantities and I can be pretty rubbish at that!

 

[bruteforce]

You can get a more even distribution if you boil the sugar in a cup or two of water and add it to the bottling bucket, then rack the beer on top of it. I use this calculator which makes it super easy.

http://www.brewersfriend.com/beer-priming-calculator/

 

[jfr1111]

I assume that table sugar is the same as granulated. I added the sugar to the bottles before filling them. I syphon the beer from on fermenter to another and then from the fermenter to the bottles. I thought about the sugar tablets but the only ones I could find in the UK were one table for 750ml and I'm using 500ml bottles.
Is there any benefit to boiling and fixing into the bucket? I'd have to work out exact quantities and I can be pretty rubbish at that!

That's what I was getting at in my post: since you are feeding by hand an amount of sugar from a spoon into each bottle, bottle size and just the sheer variation in spoonfuls means there's zero chance you'll get consistent carbonation. It'll carb all right, but you'll have what you are describing.

Just get an accurate scale and go by weight instead of volume for priming calculations and prime the entire batch making a priming solution. It is simpler, less labour intensive and a lot more precise than what you are doing right now. Just make sure to pour the priming solution in the bucket and rack on top of it: the gentle whirlpool from racking is enough to mix it adequately to the finished beer. You don't even need to cool it down before pouring it in the bucket.

 

[gazzy3005]

Wow, that's great. I'll have a go with this on my current brew. So I only need a couple of cups of water to dissolve the amount of sugar it well me, I put that in the bucket and then syphon my beer on top of it? Them I can just bottle into empty bottles?
Sorry if it's daft questions, I'm really new to it and this forum is amazing.

 

[jfr1111]

Wow, that's great. I'll have a go with this on my current brew. So I only need a couple of cups of water to dissolve the amount of sugar it well me, I put that in the bucket and then syphon my beer on top of it? Them I can just bottle into empty bottles?
Sorry if it's daft questions, I'm really new to it and this forum is amazing.

1. Measure your priming sugar with your scale (Beersmith has a nifty calculator for this).
2. Dissolve in water. Bring to a boil. I use a cup water or just eye ball it.
3. Pour the still hot solution in your sanitized bucket.
4. Rack the beer on top of it.
5. Bottle as usual.

 

[solbes]

Yes and Yes to your questions. Dissolving all of the sugar into boiling water, adding to the bucket, and racking on top is a precise way of bottle carbing beers.

The only time I deviate is when I bottle a sour where I don't want to contaminate my bottling bucket. So each bottle got 3/4 tsp of dry sugar (if I'm remembering the qty right). That turned out okay too actually.