Issue re mixing of priming sugar

[rwberne]

I have been brewing for a few years now, generally partial mash. I use a bottling bucket, and I put my dextrose (boiled in water) in the bottom, and siphon from the fermenter into the sugar, assuming this would adequately mix it. I have had occasional flat bottles, or overcarbed ones, but never really connected that to the mixing of the sugar. Today I bottled a five gallon batch of Fat Tire, and at the bottom of the batch there was only enough to fill a half bottle. Normally in the past I would just pour it into my dog's bowl (she LOVED beer), but she's gone now, so I drank it myself. It was very sweet. For curiosity, I tasted the first bottle I had filled, and it was much less sweet. Seems pretty clear the sugar did NOT mix just from the siphoning. I decided to take a chance (what the heck) and took the first dozen and last dozen bottles, gently poured them back into the bottling bucket, stirred and rebottled. Hopefully I won't have problems from the extra exposure to oxygen.

The obvious answer is in the future I should be using a sterile spoon to stir the bottling bucket after it's filled, and maybe even once in the middle of the bottling. I had always assumed that siphoning was all the mixing you needed. Any thoughts or insights?

RWBERNE

 

[earwig]

I stir for about a minute with the racking cane and have never had any issues.

 

[pelipen]

I also always stir. I use a sanitized spoon and use a lifting motion from the bottom to the top, churning but not splashing.
I believe this also knocks some dissolved CO2 out of solution, so I prime based on little to no residual. No bottle bombs yet.