In bottle fermentation issues

[MiddleEarthBrewing]

Hello all, this is my first post so apologies if I am off format or anything.
I was wondering if anyone else had this problem and or a solution. I am trying to figure out why my bottling process always goes awry. I am using glass one pint grosch bottles and have tried bottling with both brown sugar and honey and both times I get irregularity in the carbonation: some are flat, some are so over carbonated that when I open them the blow off of pressure is tremendous and either causes the beer to flow out or most recently to crack the bottle.
Also the beer will hold a good flavor but task almost like beer seltzer from the carbonation on your tongue rather than smooth. Any ideas and thoughts would be appreciates.
-Dan

 

[birvine]

Make sure you're batch carbonating - adding sugar to the pail of beer before bottling. Make sure you gently mix it to ensure the even distribution of the sugar.

Once bottled, let the beer condition in room temp for about 2-3 weeks and only then, place a few into the fridge to cool for at least 2-3 days so ensure the co2 fully dissolves.

Finally, are you making sure you ferment for 3 weeks or so in the first place?

B

 

[iron_city_ap]

How are you mixing in the sugar or honey? How much are you using? Have you tried corn sugar yet?

 

[el_caro]

I am unsure what you are brewing but it sounds like a bit of overcarbonation there.

I strongly recommend you bulk prime next time as that will ensure that you get the same amount of carbonation in each bottle.

There are priming calculators to advise you how much to use for each particular style of beer.

Personally I use dextrose for priming but that is just my choice.

 

[statseeker]

You are boiling your sugars before adding them right? I know it's an obvious thing but sometimes people dont know. OG and FG?

 

[RM-MN]

Pour a little honey into some water. Notice that it sinks to the bottom and just stays there? That is what is happening to your priming solution. It is so much more dense than the beer you racked on top of it that it doesn't like to mix. I've had that same problem and overcame it by using a slotted spoon to stir in the priming solution better. Be gentle as you don't want to be adding air to your beer but do stir it for a period to get it to mix thoroughly.

 

[beergolf]

Are you sure the beer was done fermenting. If you had a bottle explode you might have bottled too soon.

How long did you let it ferment?

What was the OG and FG?

Did you boil the sugar with some water, cool it, add it to the bottling bucket, then rack your brew on top?

 

[Revvy]

Everyone (but birvine) seems to have neglected to ask the MOST IMPORTANT question. How long have they been in the bottles and at what temp are you storing them?

99% of the time when a new brewer comes on here with carbing problems the answer lies with the time they've been in the bottles.

he 3 weeks at 70 degrees, that we recommend is the minimum time it takes for average gravity beers to carbonate and condition. Higher grav beers take longer.

Stouts and porters have taken me between 6 and 8 weeks to carb up..I have a 1.090 Belgian strong that took three months to carb up.


Temp and gravity are the two factors that contribute to the time it takes to carb beer. But if a beer's not ready yet, or seems low carbed, and you added the right amount of sugar to it, then it's not stalled, it's just not time yet.

Everything you need to know about carbing and conditioning, can be found here Of Patience and Bottle Conditioning. With emphasis on the word, "patience."

Additionally, A larger volume sized bottle usually needs more time to carb AND condition. I have some pints, 22 oz bombers and other sizes that I often use, but since I enter contests I usually also do a sixer or two of standard 12 ouncers for entering. And inevitably the 12 ouncers are done at least a week faster than the larger bottles....some times two weeks ahead of time...

Also the rule of thumb is 3 weeks at 70 degrees for a normal grav 12 ounce bottle....to carb and condition....It takes longer for the yeasties to convert the larger volume in the bigger bottles to enough co2 in the headspace to be reabsorbed back into the solution...A ration I don't know how much...

Big Kahuna gives a good explanation here...

Simple. It's the ration of contact area just like in a keg. The c02 will need to pressurize the head space (Which takes LESS TIME) in a bigger bottle (More Yeast and sugar, roughly the same head space) but then it has to force that c02 into solution through the same contact area...thus it takes longer.

Your pints take longer than a traditional 12 ouncer, usually.

 

[statseeker]

I figured it had been in there a time because he said some were OVER carbonated and some were under. Which tells me that at least some were bottled for the right period of time. I think that's why most of the answers werent related to time in bottle. But we'll wait to see what answers he has to our replies.

 

[MiddleEarthBrewing]

Wow, this was a tremendous amount of information that has been collectively provided and I am very appreciative. I am going to take a lot of the good ideas here and integrate them into our brewing process.
1. I do not think I was keeping the brew in fermentation long enough, I had been doing 2 weeks in the one gallon carboy and then 2 weeks in the pint bottles.
2. The temperature issue, how exact must this 70 degrees be? I have been storing them in my pantry which fluctuates between 63-68 degrees but I am thinking of moving them to my boiler room which averages about 71-72 degrees.
3. The time in the fridgerator; I was not aware this was even something to consider and previously we had just been throwing them in the fridge for an hour or two before to cool them down and not leaving them for two days.\
4. The sugar and the flatness, I am thinking that there might be some bad seals on the pint bottles and so I will be changing out the plastic seal rings on those and am also going to try a corn syrup sugaring of the whole batch rather than each bottle for our next brew!

Thank you all so much for the feedback, I am sure I will be having more questions but you have been invaulabley helpful this far.
~Dan

 

[bvdubn]

I am pretty new to this too but I would think that the 63-68 temp. In the pantry is an ideal temp. I ferment and condition in my basement which is usually about 67.

 

[johnnyspade]

Wow, this was a tremendous amount of information that has been collectively provided and I am very appreciative. I am going to take a lot of the good ideas here and integrate them into our brewing process.
1. I do not think I was keeping the brew in fermentation long enough, I had been doing 2 weeks in the one gallon carboy and then 2 weeks in the pint bottles.
2. The temperature issue, how exact must this 70 degrees be? I have been storing them in my pantry which fluctuates between 63-68 degrees but I am thinking of moving them to my boiler room which averages about 71-72 degrees.
3. The time in the fridgerator; I was not aware this was even something to consider and previously we had just been throwing them in the fridge for an hour or two before to cool them down and not leaving them for two days.\
4. The sugar and the flatness, I am thinking that there might be some bad seals on the pint bottles and so I will be changing out the plastic seal rings on those and am also going to try a corn syrup sugaring of the whole batch rather than each bottle for our next brew!

Thank you all so much for the feedback, I am sure I will be having more questions but you have been invaulabley helpful this far.
~Dan

Your temperature likely isn't the culprit. I think what may be happening is you're bottling beer that's still fermenting, or at least you hadn't indicated that you tested to see if your beer was done fermenting before you bottled it. Get a hydrometer and check for a stable gravity reading over a few days BEFORE you bottle. You don't want to be fermenting in the bottle, you're just adding enough sugar there for the residual yeast to eat the sugar and produce some carbonation.