Ginger Beer not staying carbonated or flavor in bottles?

[lorne17]

Hello there,

I'm writing to try and figure out how to get to the bottom of this. I usually have Ginger Beer on tap in my kegerator. I like to bottle some for family members birthdays that don't drink alcohol.

I bottle with a Counter Pressure Bottle filler from the keg tap. The issue I've been having is the bottles either:

1. Don't stay carbonated
2. They don't hold the flavor

I tested some bottles I bottled 9 days ago last night and while they were plenty carbed, the flavor profile was not nearly as robust. I tested the keg ginger beer to the bottled and the keg was light years better. All from the same batch? The keg had a better tanginess/spiciness that the bottle seemed to have lost. Not sure why!?

Any ideas on how I can get this bottled better? Honestly I think my Ginger beer is some of the best I've had and most tell me the same thing. However, if I bottle it, it's not the best!

Thanks in advance,
Lorne

PS-if anyone knows of a Ginger Beer competition, please let me know. I've been looking for one!

 

[lorne17]

Anyone have any ideas. I’m really trying to get to the bottom of this!

 

[Yooper]

Are you bottling with a beergun with enough line to balance the carbonation, purging with c02, and then capping right away? Oxidation will cause bland flavors, and not having enough line will cause loss of carbonation.

 

[lorne17]

Are you bottling with a beergun with enough line to balance the carbonation, purging with c02, and then capping right away? Oxidation will cause bland flavors, and not having enough line will cause loss of carbonation.

Thanks for the response. I will need to measure my lines on my counter pressure bottle filler. I essentially have a few feet from keg to tap, then connection a bev quick connect to an intertap faucet with I think 4-5 more feet of line to the bottle filler. I purge with CO2 first about 3 times then push beer into bottle.

The filler I’m using is nearly identical to this: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0773QX1R1/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

I’m not sure how I’m oxygenating it when I purge a few times?

How much line should I have to push beer through?

What PSI should I push beer through keg with? What psi should I have in bottle before pushing beer into it?

Thanks in advance!
Lorne

 

[Yooper]

What is the regulator set on in your kegerator? And the fridge temp? We'll figure out the volumes of co2 you have, and then how best to maintain those volumes with line length, chilling the bottles before filling, etc.

 

[lorne17]

What is the regulator set on in your kegerator? And the fridge temp? We'll figure out the volumes of co2 you have, and then how best to maintain those volumes with line length, chilling the bottles before filling, etc.

Regulator is set to 10 PSI and fridge is 37F.

Bottles are room temp.

 

[Yooper]

Ok, that's 2.42 volumes of CO2, a medium carb level.
But you fill from the tap, right? Not directly from the keg? Trying to picture how you do it. With my Beergun, I fill from the keg. Maybe some of the turbulance from going into the tap, and out a line again to the bottle(?) could impact this quite a bit.

I would hook it up with a black QD and some line from the keg, after starting with very COLD bottles, purging them first with CO2. I'd use about 8 feet of line if possible, setting the regulator at about 2 psi to push it the beer to the bottle.

 

[lorne17]

Ok, that's 2.42 volumes of CO2, a medium carb level.
But you fill from the tap, right? Not directly from the keg? Trying to picture how you do it. With my Beergun, I fill from the keg. Maybe some of the turbulance from going into the tap, and out a line again to the bottle(?) could impact this quite a bit.

I would hook it up with a black QD and some line from the keg, after starting with very COLD bottles, purging them first with CO2. I'd use about 8 feet of line if possible, setting the regulator at about 2 psi to push it the beer to the bottle.

Thanks for the reply, I am going to try it with your recommendations now. Let’s keep our fingers crossed!

Would you store the full bottle In fridge or room temp?