Ooops! Any problems with delaying bottling for one day after priming?

[FearItself]

I was bottling (my fourth batch) yesterday, and I hit a snag. I racked my beer into a bottling bucket and primed it with sugar (about 3 oz. of table sugar for a 4-gallon batch, dissolved in boiling water, then cooled). Then I filled all my bottles, but when I went to put caps on, I couldn't find my capper!

Well, after an unsuccessful search, I decided to just a stall the process and buy a new capper today. I can get it and finish capping this evening, about 24-30 hours after I'd originally planned. In the meantime, I put the caps (which were sitting in a bowl of sanitizer) on top of the filled bottles without crimping them, to keep the bottles clean until I can finish.

I assume there's no great risk of infection; the worst factor there is probably that the uncapped bottles sat exposed to the air for an hour or two while I was hunting for the capper and figuring out what to do.

It seems like the biggest downside is that this batch might come out a little flatter than it otherwise would because the pressure from the first day of carbonation will bleed out under the loose caps. I can live with that, but I want to make sure I'm not missing anything else I should pay attention to.

I'd appreciate any advice.

 

[brewshki]

I was bottling (my fourth batch) yesterday, and I hit a snag. I racked my beer into a bottling bucket and primed it with sugar (about 3 oz. of table sugar for a 4-gallon batch, dissolved in boiling water, then cooled). Then I filled all my bottles, but when I went to put caps on, I couldn't find my capper!



Well, after an unsuccessful search, I decided to just a stall the process and buy a new capper today. I can get it and finish capping this evening, about 24-30 hours after I'd originally planned. In the meantime, I put the caps (which were sitting in a bowl of sanitizer) on top of the filled bottles without crimping them, to keep the bottles clean until I can finish.



I assume there's no great risk of infection; the worst factor there is probably that the uncapped bottles sat exposed to the air for an hour or two while I was hunting for the capper and figuring out what to do.



It seems like the biggest downside is that this batch might come out a little flatter than it otherwise would because the pressure from the first day of carbonation will bleed out under the loose caps. I can live with that, but I want to make sure I'm not missing anything else I should pay attention to.



I'd appreciate any advice.

The biggest issue I can see is that the yeast may have already started eating the priming sugar. This is bad because the bottles weren't capped and therefore weren't trapping Co2. While a loose fitting cap would keep actual bugs out and dust from falling in, I don't think it would keep any Co2 in. Now that they are capped, I would wait the normal amount of time and see if they carbonate. If they done, I would add more priming sugar and recap them. What kind of beer was it? Any chance the yeast are also in a high alcohol environment?

 

[FearItself]

The biggest issue I can see is that the yeast may have already started eating the priming sugar. This is bad because the bottles weren't capped and therefore weren't trapping Co2. While a loose fitting cap would keep actual bugs out and dust from falling in, I don't think it would keep any Co2 in. Now that they are capped, I would wait the normal amount of time and see if they carbonate. If they done, I would add more priming sugar and recap them. What kind of beer was it? Any chance the yeast are also in a high alcohol environment?

It's a big beer, an IPA with about 9% ABV. That means the yeast should take longer to metabolize the sugar, right?

I figure I'll go ahead an crimp the caps this evening, after I'm able to get the capper, then do as you suggest: wait about 3 weeks, and if the beer is too flat, re-prime the bottles and recap. I just want to be sure I don't overdo it and create bottle bombs.

 

[Maylar]

A day shouldn't matter. And any CO2 being produced will only help fill the headspace. I think you'll be fine.

 

[FearItself]

Well, I finished capping them the next day, and they turned out fine. I opened one after one week, and it was pretty flat, but by two weeks they had carbonated fine.

 

[Anyhowe]

Yup we need to remember we are brewing beer and not doing brain surgery. Outside of infection and high fermentation temps beers is damn tolerant to all the bad things we try to do to it.

Glad it turned out well.