Flat bottles....

[BA_from_GA]

ok, so i bottled an amber in April, bottles come back flat after 4 weeks... wated 4 more... still flat. I've gotten a total of 3 carbed bottles... and one of them nearly exploded when i popped it open.

Tonight i opend the first bottle of the Triple i brewed in feb, bottled in early april... Absolutely flat... not even a "cask ale" type low carb level. I was using up some Oxygen absorbing bottle caps someone gave me... any way they would impact the priming?

I wasn't too upset about the amber being all flat, but i'm gonna be pissed if the tripel ends up the same way in all or most of the bottles.

how effective is "re-carbing" with carb tabs? Just pop the top,drop in a tab, and re cap?

 

[PintOfBitter]

chances are, you didn't mix your priming sugar into the beer very well. You could try the carb tabs, but you might consider sprinkling a bit of dry yeast in with them. Be ready for bottle bombs, (big rubbermaid tub is good) just in case.

The oxy caps aren't to blame. Is your capper working correctly?

 

[BA_from_GA]

done 7 batches since then -- same process same equipment (not the Oxy caps tho) -- that have worked fine.

 

[JJL]

PoB is probably right about mixing the priming sugar. If you have bottles that are over carbed and under carbed from the same batch, this is usually the case. Best way to mix it is to mix the sugar with 2 cups of water, then boil and cool it, dump it in your bottling bucket and siphon your beer on top of it. If you truly think its the oxy caps, quit using them. I've never used them, and never had an oxygen exposure problem. I personally think they're kind of a waste of money.

You could try recarbing with tabs, but do be careful. The rubber maid tote is a good suggestion. I would also suggest just testing this procedure on a couple of bottles first before you do the whole batch.

 

[PintOfBitter]

butterfly capper or bench capper? there's a small possibility the new cap design isn't jive-ing with your capping process and they're not sealing tight. that does not explain your overcarbed bottles, but it's something to think about.

 

[Lcasanova]

I agree, maybe the cap isn't seated right on the bottle and isn't providing a true seal. Put a balloon over the top of one of the bottles and see if it inflates. If that happens then there is a leak. Higher alcohol beers take longer carb as it is but mixing the priming sugar to ensure good distribution helps. I've used oxy caps with 8%+ beers and haven't had any problems so I don't think it's the caps.

 

[BA_from_GA]

i think the first think i'm gonna try is opening each bottle and adding some champagne yeast. The Tripel was in primary for nearly a month, then another month in secondary. i thought i got plenty of yeast when i racked it to bottling, but maybe not.

I'm going to try the balloon idea too. good tip.