drank my first homebrew yesterday, difference in bottles

[Dutch_Brewer]

Hello All,

I just drank my first homebrew yesterday and the first bottle was very sweet, like candy. I was worried the whole batch would be so sweet, but the second bottle actually was not sweet and had much more co2.

How can this be? I think I mixed the sugar solution in the bottling bucket very well.

 

[myndflyte]

Sounds like the 1st bottle didn't get as much priming sugar. It's like drinking flat soda, it's totally over sweet. How did you mix in the priming sugar? Did you put it in the bottling bucket and then rack beer on top of it or add it to the already racked beer?

 

[cubalz]

Did you put it in the bottling bucket and then rack beer on top of it or add it to the already racked beer?

^Yes this is how you should do it. I am sure your problem is due to not getting the priming sugar thoroughly mixed.

 

[Dutch_Brewer]

I put the sugar solutipn in the bottling bucket and rack the beer on top and then stirred it. How can it be sweet when it did not get enough sugar? I have more beer to bottle next week and I don't want to make the same mistake.

 

[myndflyte]

How can it be sweet when it did not get enough sugar?

Because carbonation changes your perception of the flavor. Take a fresh coke and drink it. It has a nice carbonation bite. Now shake it to release all the CO2 and make it flat. Now it tastes overly sweet. Same soda, 10 min apart, drastically different flavor. The same thing with your beer. An undercarbed beer is going to taste sweeter.

 

[beermanpete]

Perhaps the first bottle did not finish fermenting out the priming sugar. How long ago did you bottle the beer and how have you stored the beer?

 

[balrog]

Perhaps the first bottle did not finish fermenting out the priming sugar. How long ago did you bottle the beer and how have you stored the beer?

This. Has it been 3 weeks at 72°F since bottling?

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

I agree that perhaps the sweet under carbed bottle just wasn't finished. How did you store them after bottling?

 

[Dutch_Brewer]

2 weeks at 19c and then 24 hours in the fridge.

 

[mgortel]

I always left mine 3 weeks to bottle condition......2 weeks was borderline....3 weeks always got it done.....you may want to take them out of fridge and let them go another week at room temperature....give each bottle a little shake to wake up the yeast

 

[beermanpete]

My experience is that the taste of the priming sugar is gone after about one week but the carbonation is not stable until a second week has passed. I have noticed variations in the CO2 level from bottle to bottle within a batch even when stored at room temperature for six to eight weeks but the taste is generally uniform. Did you taste the beer before priming it and after priming it during bottling? The sample from the hydrometer jar (taken before priming) is a good indicator of what the beer will taste like. I always end up with a bit in the bottling bucket at the end and drink that as well. This gives you a good reference for the taste with the presence of the priming sugar.

 

[r4dyce]

Something to consider in the future, look up priming with sugar cubes. Just drop a cube into each bottle and rack beer directly into each bottle. It's pretty much the same as using "carbonation" drops you see in homebrewing stores/sites. You obviously can't control the exact co2 you get, but it gets you to about 2.5 vols. Your sacrifice customization for consistency, and it eliminates a transfer. I find it works well for many styles but I still go back to batch priming if I want to be more exacting on my carb level.

 

[ncbrewer]

19C is a little cool. My beer used to condition at about 65F during the winter, and it took about 5 weeks to carb up good.

Also - When you racked to the bottling bucket, did the beer enter at the bottom, at the outer edge of the bucket on a tangent? If the tube was too short and it entered mostly downward, it won't mix in well.