Cold Crash - Batch prime - bottle bomb :)

[Supabru]

A month or so back, I racked a cold crashed brew onto dissolved priming sugar in my bottling bucket, then proceeded to bottle. 3 weeks or so later... Booom! A chunk of the sugar solution must have sat on the bottom of the bottling bucket and over-primed the last few bottles as I tilted it. I quickly and carefully put it all in the fridge (literally with safety glasses on!). 3 or so bottles were ruined - over carbonated and sickly sweet - plus the 1 explosion of course. I'm guessing a cold primed batch should be stirred a little in the bottling bucket, or the temperature let rise to room (23c) before racking (as I normally do). Thoughts?

This is how we learn

 

[RedlegEd]

A month or so back, I racked a cold crashed brew onto dissolved priming sugar in my bottling bucket, then proceeded to bottle. 3 weeks or so later... Booom! A chunk of the sugar solution must have sat on the bottom of the bottling bucket and over-primed the last few bottles as I tilted it. I quickly and carefully put it all in the fridge (literally with safety glasses on!). 3 or so bottles were ruined - over carbonated and sickly sweet - plus the 1 explosion of course. I'm guessing a cold primed batch should be stirred a little in the bottling bucket, or the temperature let rise to room (23c) before racking (as I normally do). Thoughts?

This is how we learn

Another technique is to dissolve your priming sugar in a cup of boiling water, put that solution into the bottling bucket, then carefully rack your beer on top of the priming solution (don't worry about the heat, the gallons of cold beer will not be affected by only a cupful of hot sugar-water.) The other benefit is it will mix thoroughly as the beer is being racked. Ed

 

[Supabru]

Another technique is to dissolve your priming sugar in a cup of boiling water, put that solution into the bottling bucket, then carefully rack your beer on top of the priming solution (don't worry about the heat, the gallons of cold beer will not be affected by only a cupful of hot sugar-water.) The other benefit is it will mix thoroughly as the beer is being racked. Ed

Thanks Ed! Yeah, that's more or less what I did, except I let the sugar-water solution cool down to room temperature before racking onto it. You reckon that doing it while it's still boiling hot should mix it in better? Cheers!

 

[derekcw83]

I recommend mixing. This has happened to me plenty. Not the bomb but finishing bottling and seeing a slurry of beer colored sugar at the bottom of the bucket. Even with room temp beer. I definitely recommend stirring ever so gently ensuring all the sugar solution at the bottom dillutes equally into the beer. But I just switched to kegging so I won't be experiencing this very often any more.

 

[Supabru]

I recommend mixing. This has happened to me plenty. Not the bomb but finishing bottling and seeing a slurry of beer colored sugar at the bottom of the bucket. Even with room temp beer. I definitely recommend stirring ever so gently ensuring all the sugar solution at the bottom dillutes equally into the beer. But I just switched to kegging so I won't be experiencing this very often any more.

Thanks Derek, I think I'll do all of the above on my next batch, just to be safe. Making the move to kegging is a dream of mine, but as I'm currently living in Dubai, I can't just pop down to the local 'keg shop'! Will just have to make do for now.