Bottling Dilema...

[bobbycheetah]

Hi. Sorry this is so long winded, but I wanted to be thorough with my explanation. I've been brewing for years and have not had this issue before.

Bottling day. Prepare priming sugar solution, let it cool a bit, then pour into bottling bucket (sanitized of course - not going to mention sanitization for the rest of this story). Prepare other bottling gear, take FG reading/sample (expected results were achieved. Sample had no sweetness. This was a standard creme ale that I've brewed many times. Xfer beer from fermenter via gravity/siphon to bottling bucket. Complete the bottling process (all 22 oz glass bottles) with the very last bottle being a 12 oz. After this, i still had just under a pint leftover, which i just pour into a glass and drink it. That last glass of beer was super sweet. In my experience, the xfer from fermenter to bottling bucket via siphon was sufficient for mixing in the priming solution naturally - but evidently not? 2 weeks go by, and i decided to open the 12 oz bottle. It was a volcano, WAY too much carb. After pouring and letting it settle down, the taste was very sweet (undrinkable - like my sample on bottling day). So then, I opened a 22 oz, no carb at all. At this point i don't care how this all came to be, but, instead of dumping the batch, I am thinking about: Opening all the bottles and pouring into a bucket, then gently transfer to keg, OR opening the bottles into a bottling bucket, add priming solution (stir well), and re-bottle using the same bottles - because they'll still be sanitized. Regardless, oxygenation is going to be a factor and it is what it is - right? I just wanted to post/vent here and see what y'all think. Thanks for listening!

 

[Velnerj]

Since oxidation is inevitable, perhaps the least amount of oxidation is uncapping, carb drop, recap. That's what I'd do.

 

[davidabcd]

It's a bummer.
Like you said, the sugar should have mixed evenly. You said the sample had no sweetness and then the one with almost a pint that was left over had too much sweetness. That does sound like the sugar might not have been mixed.
I definitely wouldn't add more sugar and rebottle since you can't be sure of correct priming amount (that I know of).
Kegging is the way I would go.

 

[bobbycheetah]

Thank you for the reply. Ahhh. that is a good point. But, what about the fact that I don't know how much they are carbonated to begin with? Due to the priming solution not getting mixed up well enough, i'm afraid that some will be: adequate; over carb'd or under-carb'd. I could try to go by the sound when I remove the caps but I don't trust my ears. I've had beers that were carb'd perfectly fine, but yet there wasn't much of a sound when uncapped.

 

[Velnerj]

Yes it's a calculated risk. Lose some bottles to overcarb or the whole batch to oxidation....

Carb drop on the low side and hope to split the difference.

 

[PCABrewing]

So then, I opened a 22 oz, no carb at all. At this point i don't care how this all came to be, but, instead of dumping the

Are those the only two bottles you have opened?
I ask wondering if the 22 had a bad cap seal and lost the carb as it developed.

 

[bwible]

It does sound like the sugar solution did not get mixed in thoroughly. I always add priming sugar to the wort in the bottling bucket last, right before starting to fill bottles, and stir. And I stir it again halfway through filling the bottles just as a precaution.

It doesn’t matter if the sugar solution is still hot, the ratio of beer to sugar solution is so great it will cool it right away no problem. Even doing 3 gallon batches like I do. In my case I’m boiling around 2 ounces of corn sugar in just a couple ounces of water. Its such a small amount relative to the amount of beer.

 

[bobbycheetah]

Thanks for everyone's replies. I just opened another 22 oz on Wed nite. It didn't have much of a sound when uncapped, but it still had good carb. I think at this point, I'll leave it all alone and just take whatever i get.