Inconsistent Carbonation

[Tarindel]

Hi all. I brewed up my very first batch of homebrew six weeks ago. I fermented my 5G of brown ale for 3 weeks in a 6 (or 6.5, I forget) gallon carboy -- everything went well. Then it came time to bottle.

I boiled 4 oz of corn sugar in some water, poured it into the bottom of my bottling bucket, then siphoned my beer on top of it. I had quite a bit of trouble with the siphon but eventually got it to go. I submerged the siphon end so as not to aerate my brew, and drained out my fermented but flat beer down to just above the trub. It got some nice swirling action in the bottling bucket while I was siphoning.

Then I bottled it using a spring-loaded bottling tube. Finally, I let it sit in the dark at about 70 degrees for 3 weeks. Then I fridged a bunch of bottles for 3 days. Friday was the first tasting. With all my friends gathered around, we broke out a bunch of the bottles and had our first taste. Not too bad! Definitely beer, definitely drinkable!

However, I noticed that the bottles were inconsistently carbonated. Some were carbonated normally, others were barely carbonated at all. For the life of me, I'm not sure why or how this could have happened.

Any thoughts or ideas?

There was also less yeast in the bottles than I expected to see. I'd heard that you're supposed to leave the last bit in the bottle when you pour, but I could barely see any yeast in that bottom bit. Is it possible I didn't get enough yeast into my bottles somehow?

 

[Revvy]

You could lay some on the side and roll them to rerouse the yeast, then let them sit for a couple more weeks...or you could just let them sit for another week without rousing the yeasts and see. 3 weeks is just sort of a rule of thumb, some beers take longer...I've had porters and stouts that have taken 6-8 weeks...

Brown Ales may take 4-6 weeks with or without rousing....

I did notice that you used 4 ounces of corn sugar...That may be a little low for full fizzy carb.. The standard pre-measured packs that come in kits are usually 4.5-5 ounces... SO you are a half ounce to a full ounce under.

Looking at the carbonation by style the volume of co2 for an american brown ale on Aussie Homebrewer the range of Co2 for that style is between 1.5 and 2.5...To achieve the full 2.5 volume of co2 you need to use 4.47 (4.5 +-) ounces of Priming sugar...So your brown may not be as highly carbed as you're ued to, but still carbonated.

On the other hand an English Brown has between 1.5 and 2.3...To acheive 2.3 you need 3.93 ounces to prime...so you are actually close to the carb level for and English Brown...

 

[Tarindel]

Revvy, thanks for the awesome reply.

On the other hand an English Brown has between 1.5 and 2.3...To acheive 2.3 you need 3.93 ounces to prime...so you are actually close to the carb level for and English Brown...

The recipe was for a mild brown that I converted to a northern english brown.

Can you point me in the direction of a resource that would teach me how to convert Co2 volume to oz of priming sugar? That's something I'd like to learn how to do, and I don't remember reading about it in Palmer's book (maybe I've just forgotten though).

Thanks!

 

[Revvy]

Revvy, thanks for the awesome reply.



The recipe was for a mild brown that I converted to a northern english brown.

Can you point me in the direction of a resource that would teach me how to convert Co2 volume to oz of priming sugar? That's something I'd like to learn how to do, and I don't remember reading about it in Palmer's book (maybe I've just forgotten though).

Thanks!

You're welcome.

THere's 2 online calculators that I know of.

http://www.tastybrew.com/calculators/priming.html

and this one.

http://www.geocities.com/lesjudith/AlcoholChart/PrimingCalculator.html

A couple of weeks ago I had found an scan of a book page that listed all the desired co2 volumes by style....Wish I knew where it was.

 

[Dr_Deathweed]

If your carb level is inconsistant between bottles, you may have some poor seals on your caps. How did you sanitize your caps? If you boiled them that could have warped the little seal on the inside. Also if you happen to be using a wing capper you may not have gotten the cap seated correctly when you used it (some bottles are harder than others to get it on good IMHO) Also, if you are using twist off bottles with a wing capper, it is very possible to not get a good seal with your caps.

Hope this helps!

 

[Tarindel]

If your carb level is inconsistant between bottles, you may have some poor seals on your caps. How did you sanitize your caps?

Yeah I'd had that thought (and then forgotten it). I sanitized my caps using star san. It was my first time using the capper though, so there was definitely a bit of a learning curve. Maybe I didn't get some of those caps on very tight.

Also if you happen to be using a wing capper you may not have gotten the cap seated correctly when you used it (some bottles are harder than others to get it on good IMHO) Also, if you are using twist off bottles with a wing capper, it is very possible to not get a good seal with your caps.

I bought a bench capper and have not been using twist offs at all.

Thanks for the thoughts guys. Appreciate it.

 

[BierMuncher]

Give them more time to get consistent.

When you bake a batch of cupcakes, even though everything seems identical going into the oven, some cupcakes get fully baked than others.