Forgot the priming sugar...well sort of

[dunz]

So I bottled my first batch on Sunday, a true brew kit of German Light. I took gravity readings on days 7, 8 & 9 and it held a constant 1.012.

Everything was going well, I had about 12 old grolsch bottles (cleaned and sanitized) filled and the tops on when … SWMBO asked, "Aren't you suppose to add sugar?" After a short period of banging my head into the wall

, I dissolved the priming sugar into a cup of sugar and brought it to a rolling boil.

I then poured the 12 bottles back into the bottling bucket, yes there was a bit of splashing and glug-glug-gluging as I emptied the bottles into the bucket. I then poured the sugar/water mixture (was still hot) into the bottling bucket and with a quick dip of the bottling wand into my bucket of SaniClean (1oz to 3 gal) and a shake dry, I used the wand to stir the beer a bit aggressively to get the sugar mixed in well. I re-sanitized the bottles and then went on to bottling, capping, and storing them in a dark place.

Now (after reading many posts on this site) I understand that introducing air (oxygen) into the beer at this step is not desirable and that I should have let the sugar/water mixture cool. My question is, what effects will this have on the beer and what should I look for as the beer ages? Anyone else have a similar experience? How did the beer turn out?

Thanks in advance for your advice and wisdom.

 

[TipsyDragon]

the temp of the sugar isn't that big of an issue. 5 gallons of beer cooled it enough. now the aeration on the other hand isn't a good thing. you probably oxidized your brew. i would suggest drinking your bottles as soon as posable. as the beer ages, if it is oxidized, will develop a cardboard taste. if thats the case there isn't much you can do about it.

 

[Nyxator]

This is hypothetical, but does the yeast go through a second life cycle in the bottle, meaning that they will first use oxygen to reproduce, then ferment the available priming sugar? I would think they would to some degree or another.

I agree that there isn't much you can do except wait and see. I would definitely hold on to a few bottles and see how long it takes to develop the cardboard taste, if at all.

 

[johnnyc]

I wouldn't sweat it, if this is your first batch you'll go through it before it has time to develop the oxidation flavor, at least I did

 

[IceFisherChris]

You'll be fine. I don't understand why people say you HAVE to cool to the sugar mixture. It's not going to kill enough yeast to even notice.
Many times, events like this are GOOD. Sometimes I'm guilty of it too, but it seems like everyone is so paranoid about everything.

"When I pitched my yeast, the wort was 80 degrees instead of 70. Will i ruin my beer?"
"I waited a couple hours to add my yeast, did I ruin my beer?"
"There were drops of water in my bottles when I bottled my beer, should I dump it?"
"My hops weren't sanitized"

Spend 10 minutes on this forum and you will see a hundred posts like these.

Unless you royally screwed up something that we don't know about, I bet $50 that you will enjoy your beer. You'll probably enjoy it enough to say that you'd be comfortable "gurgling" 12 more bottles back into the bucket of your next beer.

 

[dunz]

Update

First thanks for the replies.

It has been over six weeks since bottling and no cardboard taste as of yet. I taste tested every week since bottling and since the first bottle the most noticeable flavor is a sharp apple flavor. The sharpness has mellowed a bit but it is still the most noticeable taste.

Since it was my 1st brew I am not worried about it but I am curious if this is a common off-flavor and what some of the causes might be? The brew was a partial extract boil that was in the primary for only 9 days before bottling. Dry yeast was pitch at about 90deg and fermentation started quickly. I am thinking it is because of the short time in the primary but without much experience your thoughts are welcome.

 

[DavidHawman]

The 90F pitch may have caused the apple flavors. At 90F it could have taken hours to cool down to proper fermentation temps, especially with the yeast getting active and generating their own heat. That flavor should continue to fade as the bottles age. My first batch had a fruity taste but now at 1 month its nearly gone.

 

[IceFisherChris]

Update

It has been over six weeks since bottling and no cardboard taste as of yet.

Is this proof there is an exaggerated fear of oxidation in the brewing community?

 

[whatisitgoodfor]

Is this proof there is an exaggerated fear of oxidation in the brewing community?

Yes.

Live beer has those handy dandy little yeasty buggers who really love eating oxygen.

In filtered beer oxidation is much more of a concern, since there's nothing in the beer that will scrub the O2 out of solution before it can damage the beer. In homebrew, not so much.

 

[dummkauf]

If it makes you feel any better, the brew I am drinking as I type this was my first attempt at dry hopping, and after getting my racking cane plugged repeatedly by hop particles as I tried to siphon into my bottling bucket, I got stuck with a half full carboy of beer and after many repeated attempts to restart the siphon I finally gave up. However, there was NO way in hell was I going to dump half a carboy full of beer, so out came a grain bag, soaked in star-san along with my hand, and over the end of the carboy it went as I dumped the rest in the bucket. I'm sure I aerated the hell out of at least half the batch right before bottling, but it is still delicious!!! Though I will probably not age this one for very long , but seeing as this is the best batch I've ever brewed I doubt it will last long......been in bottles 2.5 weeks now and the first 12 pack is already empty, and I haven't been sharing with anyone yet either

 

[NorCalAngler]

Yes.

Live beer has those handy dandy little yeasty buggers who really love eating oxygen.

In filtered beer oxidation is much more of a concern, since there's nothing in the beer that will scrub the O2 out of solution before it can damage the beer. In homebrew, not so much.

I will say that my very first homebrew was horribly oxidized and undrinkable after a month in the bottle. It was a stout and I couldn't figure out the damn siphon and ended up pumping a ton of air into the beer. While it may be exaggerated, it's still a concern. I don't think mild splashing is going to oxidize it like I did.

 

[BulldogBrewer]

I wouldn't sweat it, if this is your first batch you'll go through it before it has time to develop the oxidation flavor, at least I did

Aint that the truth. My first batch or two I had a hard time making sure there was any to share. And while I'm sure there were a number of things wrong with it... IT WAS GOOOOOOOOD...

Just drink it and enjoy that you made your own brew!

 

[whatisitgoodfor]

I will say that my very first homebrew was horribly oxidized and undrinkable after a month in the bottle. It was a stout and I couldn't figure out the damn siphon and ended up pumping a ton of air into the beer. While it may be exaggerated, it's still a concern. I don't think mild splashing is going to oxidize it like I did.

What did you do to oxidize it that much?

 

[NorCalAngler]

What did you do to oxidize it that much?

I got a 1 gallon all grain kit from Brooklyn Brew Shop. The instructions had me siphon my beer into a pot with maple syrup as the priming sugar and then siphon from the pot into bottles. I didn't have a bottling bucket and there wasn't much liquid so I couldn't keep the siphon primed. I didn't understand I needed to give the autosiphon a good pump to get it started so the beer kept falling back into the hose. I ended up creating a frothy mess of beer trying to get it into the bottle. I have a single bottle left out of the 11 that the 1 gallon kit made. I learned a ton about the entire process though.

 

[scorchingice]

So I bottled my first batch on Sunday, a true brew kit of German Light. I took gravity readings on days 7, 8 & 9 and it held a constant 1.012.

Everything was going well, I had about 12 old grolsch bottles (cleaned and sanitized) filled and the tops on when … SWMBO asked, "Aren't you suppose to add sugar?" After a short period of banging my head into the wall

, I dissolved the priming sugar into a cup of sugar and brought it to a rolling boil.

I then poured the 12 bottles back into the bottling bucket, yes there was a bit of splashing and glug-glug-gluging as I emptied the bottles into the bucket. I then poured the sugar/water mixture (was still hot) into the bottling bucket and with a quick dip of the bottling wand into my bucket of SaniClean (1oz to 3 gal) and a shake dry, I used the wand to stir the beer a bit aggressively to get the sugar mixed in well. I re-sanitized the bottles and then went on to bottling, capping, and storing them in a dark place.

Now (after reading many posts on this site) I understand that introducing air (oxygen) into the beer at this step is not desirable and that I should have let the sugar/water mixture cool. My question is, what effects will this have on the beer and what should I look for as the beer ages? Anyone else have a similar experience? How did the beer turn out?

Thanks in advance for your advice and wisdom.

To me, this seems like too much second guessing.

Personally, unless you are entering some competition and trying to tweak a perfect taste, I think you will be fine.

Sometimes I add my priming sugar into the bucket so hot I have to kick the dogs out of the way to make sure they do not get burned running to the bucket. (otherwise the Vet bills take away from my beer money)

Somedays I forget to turn the stove on and the sugar water never even boils.

Sometimes I forget to add the sugar as I siphon the beer into the bottling bucket and then I add it and stir it up...
Personally I find that at this stage, Stirring never bothered the beer outcome. You should be fine.

If you got an apple taste, most likely the beer needs 2 more weeks to age. There is a sticky post here somewhere, that Aging a beer fixes everything. And honestly, unless you Really messed something up, it is true.

And to be honest, there are a lot of festivals that would love a beer with a bit of apple taste, Maybe you should get a copyright !

But the main point is people make mistakes. However the ones you mentioned are not ones that will cause a problem with your beer. It WILL come out fine.

Self Confidence * (Most men lack it) * (Most Women Want it) * Beer brings it out in everyone. **CHEERS**