Priming sugar sank to the bottom of my bottling bucket

[LAKing]

I just finished bottling my 5th batch of beer, the Saison recipe from Brewing Classic Styles. OG 1.064, FG 1.008. After cold crashing, I primed with 4.75 oz of corn sugar boiled in 2 cups of water. After filling all of my bottles, I poured a glass from the bottom of the bottling bucket and it tasted really sweet. I measured the gravity of the sweet tasting beer, and it was around 1.075. I then poured out the 12th bottle that I filled, and it measured right at the FG of 1.008.

I'm pretty sure I am going to get some sort of uneven carbonation across all of my bottles. Should I be worried about bottle bombs from the last few bottles I filled? Am I going to get some flat beers, some adequately carbonated, and some bottle bombs?

I'm pissed, because everything had gone perfectly up until this point. Nailed OG and FG, and the beer tasted great out of the fermenter.

 

[Germelli1]

Many of us bottlers pour the sugar into the bottling bucket. Then place the siphon hose in the bottom of the bucket so it siphons the beer in a swirling motion. I will usually give it a minute or two of gently stirring after that.

It may be in adequately mixed, and the only thing I can think of to do is gently pour them back into the bucket and re fille. But that would be a pain in the ass and guaranteed oxydation.

 

[LAKing]

I am assuming because the SG of the bottom of the bottling bucket was 1.075 that almost none of the priming auger made into out of my bottles. I am afraid that the last few bottles got a big dose of sugar and will probably explode.

 

[jonmohno]

I stir but if you racked and got a swirling effect and had a good boil for 10 min with priming sugar it should mix.Now i have been kind of not really worrying about temps when i do it so adding it warm, weather it mixes better im not shure but if i knew for shure i would do it. Some people dont really bother to cool it much before priming, but unfortunatly for me if i boil sugar first then do every thing else to bottle its cooled by then any way, so my guess would be if its warm then maybe it would distribute better? Just a guess. Just in the future you could use a sanitized spoon after and randomly stir it while bottleing being carefull not to splash it and oxidize it . As far as stirring it do it,it looks the same as racking it as long as your not splashing it around.
I usually just stir it a bit with the end of the tube after racking about a minute ,never had issues yet.
Oh and this is also why i drink my bottles from last bottled to first.

 

[LAKing]

I'm definitely going to stir better next time. Should I be worried about bottle bombs though? I'm pretty sure the last few bottles must have had a lot of sugar in them. 1.075 is REALLY high.

 

[ozzy1038]

Rack onto the priming solution and there will be no need to stir. As mentioned if your hose is in the bucket and there is a swirling motion the solution will go into solution. LOL. As it fills from the bottom it is constantly mixing and diluting the solution with your beer. Stirring is not needed and may inadvertently oxidize your beer.

 

[Germelli1]

Rack onto the priming solution and there will be no need to stir. As mentioned if your hose is in the bucket and there is a swirling motion the solution will go into solution. LOL. As it fills from the bottom it is constantly mixing and diluting the solution with your beer. Stirring is not needed and may inadvertently oxidize your beer.

I always stir...but make sure I don't splash. Just extra insurance against uneven carbonation.

Op...I hate to say it but I would hate for you to have to clean up a mess. 1.075 with without a doubt, definitely cause bottle bombs. A change as little as .003 (disclaimer figure) to .005 (more all encompassing) can cause bottle bombs. You can bet .060 will do the trick:cross:

 

[ozzy1038]

Not that this helps, but if you keg, this will never be a concern again.

 

[wolfstar]

+1 ^

 

[LKABrewer]

I started kegging for this exact reason. I had the same experience, and had a whole batch undercarbed.

 

[BradleyBrew]

I would just mark the bottles you suspect to have a lot of priming sugar and drink them young.... yes, if you have to much sugar then you have th potential for bottle grenades.

 

[unionrdr]

The whirlpool effect is lesser with small diameter tubing,greater with larger diameter. I have one FV with a barrel tap that needs 5/8" tubing that swirls pretty fast. The others use 3/8" tubing & swirl pretty slow. So I like stirring it gently some 12 times to make sure. The ones I didn't stir are a bit uneven. And gentle stiring never oxidized any of my ales. You just have to take it easy,we're in no hurry here with any part of the process. Hurrying causes mistakes.

 

[boostsr20]

Not sure about others here but 1 problem I see is that it sounds like you didn't let the beer warm after the cold crash. Dumping a sugar solution into cold beer will result in the solution dropping to the bottOm and not mixing well no matter how much stirring.

 

[LAKing]

Doesn't warming up the beer defeat the purpose of cold crashing the first place?

 

[seabass07]

Id open the last bottle that was filled to see what the sg is. That should give you an idea of whether you will get bombs.

 

[boostsr20]

Doesn't warming up the beer defeat the purpose of cold crashing the first place?

Nope, once the yeast/proteins/hops drop out they have never come back into suspension for me.

 

[Face Eater]

I am assuming because the SG of the bottom of the bottling bucket was 1.075 that almost none of the priming auger made into out of my bottles. I am afraid that the last few bottles got a big dose of sugar and will probably explode.

Happened to a few of my batches before I realized that it was similar to this issue. I started racking the beer into the bottling bucket and pouring the sugar water on the top gently. Also gently stirring to make sure it is evenly distributed. I never did before because I heard of oxidation issues but my last few batches seem to be better and evenly carbed. Before I used to put the sugar water in the bottling bucket and then rack on top without stirring. Had bottle bombs on about 3 batches and many that were unevenly carbed.

 

[Face Eater]

Not that this helps, but if you keg, this will never be a concern again.

I have been kegging a lot more cause of this issue and I built a 8 tap keggerator which I need to keep filled! I still bottle certain beers but kegging is much easier IMO.

 

[BrewMeThatBeer]

Not sure about others here but 1 problem I see is that it sounds like you didn't let the beer warm after the cold crash. Dumping a sugar solution into cold beer will result in the solution dropping to the bottOm and not mixing well no matter how much stirring.

I'd tend to agree. If there's a big difference in the temperatures of the sugar solution and the beer, they'll obviously separate out (assuming similar densities). In the past I've always cooled the sugar solution down to roughly the beer temperature and poured in and then stirred. Never seemed to have a problem with uneven carbonation.

 

[boostsr20]

I came to that conclusion myself as well by dumping a bit of the priming solution when warm into a glass of cold water (fridge temp). Even after stirring with a spoon you could see lacing of sugar floating throughout the glass. I usually just take the fermenter out of the freezer the day before bottling and get it set in the bottling "stance" so I don't disturb it on bottling day.

 

[unionrdr]

I let a few inches of beer rack into the bottling bucket before slowly pouring my 2C priming solution into the swirling surface of the beer. Then about 12 gentle stirs after racking is finished to make sure it's well mixed.

 

[MikeinCT]

Don't you all disolve your priming sugar into a pint of water boiled on the stove before you add it to the wort? I do. Then stir well, but be careful not to airate.

Mike

 

[Zeal]

I don't even dissolve in water before hand, just pour some in and stir never had a problem.

 

[unionrdr]

I dissolve the measured amount of priming sugar in 2C of boiled water. Then chill down to beer's temp in front of a small turbo fan with a lid on it. Takes only 10 minutes.

 

[LAKing]

In the original post, I mentioned that I boiled the priming sugar in 2 cups of water and racked on top of that.

I believe the consensus is that since I cold crashed the beer, the priming sugar sank to the bottom of the priming bucket. Next time I will let the beer come up to room temp before racking it to the bottling bucket on top of the priming sugar solution.

I'll report back if I do indeed get bottle bombs.

 

[seabass07]

And stir. No reason not to.

 

[Maj_Chunks]

Seems to me that if you're going to cold crash... ...rather than warming it up and then mixing in the priming sugars, just put your priming solution in the bottling bucker before you rack in... ...or just go with some cooper's carbonating drops or tabs and skip the solution step altogether.

 

[Kealia]

I cold crash and immediately rack to a bottling bucket without letting it warm back up. Cool the priming solution, rack half the beer, pour the solution in, then rack the second half.

Stir gently with a sanitized spoon for a minute or two and then bottle away.
No issues here either.

 

[norciabrewmonk]

I have learned the hard way to just give it an extra few stirs. I always put my priming solution in the bottling bucket and rack on top of it. Usually the swirling of the beer being racked mixes enough, but when I made an IPA and had dry hopped without a hop sack (another lesson to remember ) the hops kept clogging the racking cane, so the solution did not mix well. Some bottles were either flat, or others were too sweet. Thankfully I didn't have any bottle bombs or gushers, but now I make sure I stir my beer before bottling, makes a huge difference between a good batch and an either inconsistent or explosive batch

 

[Bierenliefhebber]

Next time, you might want to consider bottle-priming, as opposed to batch priming, which eliminates many of the problems associated with batch priming: uneven distribution, unwanted aeration, and exposure to possible contamination. Although I've posted details of my unusual method on the "bottling and kegging" section, in a nutshell, it consists of making up a standard (I use 1:1 volume:volume) solution of dextrose, boiling it, then using a sterile 10 or 20-ml syringe to add a measured volume (4-8 ml, depending on desired level of carbonation) to each bottle before adding the green beer and capping. It's quick, repeatable, and safe.

 

[ACESFULL]

Next time, you might want to consider bottle-priming, as opposed to batch priming, which eliminates many of the problems associated with batch priming: uneven distribution, unwanted aeration, and exposure to possible contamination. Although I've posted details of my unusual method on the "bottling and kegging" section, in a nutshell, it consists of making up a standard (I use 1:1 volume:volume) solution of dextrose, boiling it, then using a sterile 10 or 20-ml syringe to add a measured volume (4-8 ml, depending on desired level of carbonation) to each bottle before adding the green beer and capping. It's quick, repeatable, and safe.

This sounds like a good idea however it seems even more labor intensive and opens the possibility of an infection. Have you had that issue?

 

[Oaky]

here is a suggestion:
wait 2-3 weeks at room temp (65 degrees +) to make sure the yeast did carbonate. Once you're done with that , look at the bottles. The ones with the most sediment will be the ones you will want to watch out for. In my experience whether the sediment is the yeast that happens in carbonation or whether it's a how you racked it (ie more yeast in the last ones bottled) the ones with most sediments are the gushers or exploding ones.

Take the ones with the most sediment and put them in a colder than normal fridge. The cold will mean more absorption of Co2 into the liquid and will minimize the chance of explosions. Lastly - an explosion in your fridge is not as bad as in the house. Trust me on this one.

While Kegging is a plus for this sort of stuff, you can also get grolsch style bottles and just open it up and add some where needed, or release pressure. One thing to remember however, exploding grolsh bottles can be worse than capped bottles.

Lastly - if you do this after 2 weeks, you will also significantly slow down the yeasties, and thus also inhibit further Co2 emissions.

 

[unionrdr]

I've been finding 3-5 weeks in covered boxes at room temp. Then 2 weeks in the fridge gives a very thick head,& good,fine bubbled carbonation.

 

[Bierenliefhebber]

This sounds like a good idea however it seems even more labor intensive and opens the possibility of an infection. Have you had that issue?

I have to agree on the labor-intensive, but it's not really that much extra work- you pull a few ml of sterilized sugar solution into a syringe and squirt it into the mouth of each bottle. Adds maybe 5-10 seconds of work per bottle.

As far as the infection issue goes, my impression is that the chance of infection is considerably lessened, because you go directly from the secondary into the bottle, without exposing the beer to possible contamination in your priming bucket. One does have to take care not to let the syringe tip come into contact with anything but the boiled sugar solution while you're priming and filling the bottles, but beyond that, this method introduces no new sources of possible contamination. Rather than priming as you fill, you can also prime the bottles all at once, before filling, laying the sterile caps loosely on top of each sterilized bottle after you squirt solution into it, to keep any wayward airborne particles from falling in.

 

[Bierenliefhebber]

The ones with the most sediment will be the ones you will want to watch out for. In my experience whether the sediment is the yeast that happens in carbonation or whether it's a how you racked it (ie more yeast in the last ones bottled) the ones with most sediments are the gushers or exploding ones.

I meant to mention that I found this information spot-on! This has been my experience as well. Your remark about giving those with more sediment a bit of extra chilling to tame the geyser effect also jibes with my experience. I second your good advice.

 

[wwgiese]

Hey. It's heavier. That’s why it sank. When I used to prime and bottle I always stirred it up for a while, plus I but the priming mixture in the bucket first then siphoned to it from my carboy. That mixed it pretty good before I stirred it up

 

[wwgiese]

I always boiled a small amount of water with my primer in it then put it in the bottom and racked the beer into that. I never had a problem.