Bottle-to-bottle differences in carbonation

[DrDoubleD]

Hi everyone,

I am pretty new to brewing, but I am deep into it now and really keen to understand what is going on. I started brewing about 2 months ago, and just sealed my 8th all-grain batch.

I have 3 batches that are ready to drink and I am noticing that the level of carbonation varies a lot from bottle to bottle of the same batch. Some, I voluntarily lift higher to get a noticeable head, while others, I have to pour super slowly to fit it in the glass. When I bottled, I normally boil 2/3 cup of white sugar in 2 cups of water, cool, pour the sugary water in the bottling bucket, and transfer the beer from the fermenter to the bucket as fast (or as slow) as the racking cane goes. Bottles are cleaned well and sanitized. Why do I see such large differences in carbonation? The only thing I can think of is capping efficiency (I am using the cheap capper they send with the starters kits). On the other hand I see the same variation with flip-top bottles.

Thanks for any input

 

[dmashl]

2/3 cup of sugar seems a bit high if you are doing 5 gallon batches. I usually put in 4.4 oz in 2 cups of water, boil for 5 min. clean and sanitize my bottles while cooling the solution in the fridge. put the solution in the bottling bucket and rack the beer. When I bottle i very gently stir the beer with the sugar in it, before bottling, and do it a couple of more times during the bottling process. It helps that my wife is doing the filling of the bottles.

 

[Mezeron]

I had the same issue with my first batch of beer. I let them bottle condition for two weeks per instructions. Temp range was 68-70. Week one, I cracked one open to see how it was tasting and the carb levels were great. Second week cracked one open and it was almost flat. I lost about 1/2 of the batched to being under carbed and 1/4 of it being over carbed. I racked the priming solution in the bucket then racked the beer on top. I used a swirling motion and thought it mixed enough. What did i do wrong?

 

[sky4meplease]

Mixing in the priming solution thoroughly is important for obvious reasons.
I think a gentle stirring periodically during the bottling process is a good idea though I admit I don't always do that.
I have gotten into the habit of adding fresh yeast at bottling time and am hoping any O2 introduced during the bottling process is quickly consumed by the new yeast and converted into CO2 minimizing the affects of oxidation. FWIW I have beers in the pipeline well over a year old that have no detectable flavors or aroma from oxidation. All stored dark and cool.
I think it is important to exercise some patience with your beer while early in the bottle. Inconsistencies from bottle to bottle will take a few weeks to even out. Reading the product data for the Fermentis F-2 bottle/cask conditioning yeast recently recommends carbonating your freshly bottled beer for two weeks and then cellaring the beer for another two weeks to "round out the flavors" before consumption. I fight the urge to drink beers before they have been in the bottle for a month though this fight sometimes ends after three weeks. It is normally 4-6 weeks before I am thoroughly happy with them and I don't want to be 12 beers into a batch by then.
Other than that, getting the beer to the proper drinking temperature before opening helps to complete the experience.

 

[iamwhatiseem]

I was getting this bad until I changed one thing: I stopped using Oxyclean.
Oxyclean is inherently hard to rinse off and any residue left is harmful to the yeast. Switching back to Easyclean long ago ended the problem for me.
Also when I rack I cut the hose so it is long enough to curl around the bottom of the bucket - so throughout emptying the fermenter the beer swirls steady, but not enough to introduce oxygen.

 

[joshesmusica]

1. Start using a priming sugar calculator. This will ensure the proper amount of carbonation per each style.

This is the one that I use: http://www.northernbrewer.com/priming-sugar-calculator/

2. I use about 250ml water each time, independent of how much sugar. That's about half the amount of water you're using. This step has a wide range of volume though, so you could continue to use the amount you've been using. I just wanted to give you an idea of how much is also acceptable.

3. Gently pour the chilled sugar/water solution into your bottling bucket that has been sanitized using either an iodine solution or starsan. It doesn't matter too much the temperature on this one (in other it doesn't have to match the beer temp), but I usually at least chill it until there is no more steam coming off of it. This takes only a couple of minutes with such a small volume.

4. Siphon your beer on top of the solution into the bottling bucket. Make sure that your siphon is long enough to be able to lay on the bottom of the bucket wrapping around the sides in order to create a whirlpool motion during the racking. This also helps to ensure minimal splashing at the very beginning, after that the siphon should be submerged throughout. For that reason, the siphon hose should've been soaking in a starsan solution.

If you use this method it should be creating a gentle stir throughout the racking process. This is assuming anything great than about 10L of beer. I have found that under that amount and it doesn't really create that swirling motion long enough. I don't prefer to stir my beer after fermentation (possible contamination if the spoon wasn't thoroughly sanitized, and possible oxidation point if you aren't incredibly gentle with the stirring), so if I feel the sugar isn't mixed in well enough, I will put the sanitized lid on the bucket and let it sit for 15-20 minutes.

Even on beers that I have 19L or 25L of, I will still let it sit for a bit after I'm done racking. This is usually when I'm getting the first several bottles soaking in the starsan tub, putting the bottle filler on the bucket, etc. That resting time mixed with the whirlpooling motion that I made sure of during the racking will also help drop any accidental particulate that was brought over with the beer.

P.s. All of this is assuming that you have a bottling bucket and a bottle filler. These are essential pieces of equipment for bottling homebrew. It helps to minimize the amount of yeast in the bottles, it helps to ensure an even mixture of the priming sugar, and the bottle filler helps to minimize oxygen exposure.

 

[The_Bishop]

If you are using any kind of acid based sanitizer (Starsan) there will be *no* residue of any type of alkaline/oxygen based cleanser left on the bottles.