Some bottles carbonated, others not at all

[timschram]

We brewed a double ipa a few months ago and only three or four of the bunch (25 or so bombers) carbonated. Most of them are completely flat even with a hard pour, but those three or four are perfectly carbonated. Any ideas??

 

[day_trippr]

Bad capping would be my guess...

Cheers!

 

[snowcrawl]

It's possible to have some issues with the priming sugar not being adequately dissolved or mixed in the bottling bucket. Especially if using regular white sugar. When I transfer from the carboy to the bottling bucket, I try to move the racking cane around on the bottom of the bucket to encourage the priming sugar to mix in a little more.

 

[Chadwick]

How did you prime the bottles? Did you dose sugar for each bottle or did you dose the whole batch and then bottle them?

 

[timschram]

How did you prime the bottles? Did you dose sugar for each bottle or did you dose the whole batch and then bottle them?

Dose the whole batch

 

[snowcrawl]

I think that ideally the priming sugar would reach a homogeneous mixture in the beer in the bottling bucket. It isn't surprising to see that this doesn't always happen, given that the sugar needs to be completely dissolved in order to mix well, something that doesn't automatically happen. I mix the priming sugar with the minimum amount of water needed to dissolve it, and bring it to boiling point. Vigorously stirring it with a spoon a couple different times, before and after it has been heated, then once brought to a boil add to the bottom of bucket and rack ontop of it. Supposedly the movement of the siphoned beer alone is enough to mix the sugar in, but I think it is good to move the tip of the racking can around gently as the bucket is filling up to encourage even mixing.

 

[HomeDrewBrew]

How much water should be mixed when priming for any batch size?

 

[Hamaki]

How much water should be mixed when priming for any batch size?

I generally go with 4 oz water per oz of priming sugar, boil it, cool it, put it in the bottling bucket, rack on top and give it a gentle stir or two.

 

[oogaboogachiefwalkingdeer]

2nd on bad cap job or bad gaskets if using swing tops. If the sugar was not mixed well and only primed 4 bottles they would have blown up long before now.

 

[GHBWNY]

Bad capping would be my guess...

Cheers!

^^^This

 

[timschram]

Bad capping would be my guess...



Cheers!

I guess it could be bad capping, but I'm not so sure. We have bottled at least 20 batches and never had an issue. The caps used were from a bag that was used on the batch before and after with no issues.

It would be off if either a) we got all of the bad caps from this bag on the same batch or b) we had no bottling issues before or after.

I'm guessing priming sugar is the culprit.

 

[day_trippr]

Well, you could go with that, but it seems pretty unlikely as you batched your primer.

If you assume you capped all 25 bottles perfectly, ending up with four perfectly carbed bottles and the rest of the 25 virtually flat - and of course you bottled every bit of what was in your bottling vessel - you're saying all of the primer ended up in four bottles.

As was mentioned by others: "Not...very...likely..."

At the least, those four bottles would be explosively carbed.
At the worst, those four bottles would have actually exploded.

The odds really favor the proposition that whomever was running the capper was having a bad day...

Cheers!

 

[richarcm]

Solution: Coppers Carbonating Drops. Done.

 

[1975brewer]

Solution: Coppers Carbonating Drops. Done.

Not sure how this would help if they aren't capped well.

 

[richarcm]

Not sure how this would help if they aren't capped well.

I don't know that there is any legitimate concern pointing towards capping.

I do know that I use swing tops and have had similar problems. The drops made a BIG difference.

 

[day_trippr]

I don't know that there is any legitimate concern pointing towards capping. [...].

Really?

Care to offer a compelling alternative scenario?
Or are you just gonna let that lay there...

Cheers!

 

[richarcm]

Bad capping is a possibility but I don't see anything that points to that with certainty. It could just as easily be that the priming sugar was not dissolved well into the beer. And the four bottles that were carbonated received much of the sugar.

 

[Likefully]

I am surprised you didn't have bottle bombs, even just one or two. If you had then it would definitely be a case of not mixing the sugar evenly. Ditto to the others who dissolve the sugar in hot water AND stir it in the bottling bucket...slowly, but thoroughly.

 

[philipCT]

I am surprised you didn't have bottle bombs, even just one or two. If you had then it would definitely be a case of not mixing the sugar evenly. Ditto to the others who dissolve the sugar in hot water AND stir it in the bottling bucket...slowly, but thoroughly.

^^This^^

I have had this exact problem when I didn't mix my priming mixture into the bottling bucket. On subsequent batches where I poured the priming solution into the bucket, racked on top of it, and then stirred thoroughly, but without raising any bubbles, I had perfect uniformity.

Other than that, the only time I've had issues with inconsistency in carbonation is when I've used those stupid sugar drops that NB sells. Argghh. Threw the rest away.

 

[day_trippr]

Bad capping is a possibility but I don't see anything that points to that with certainty. It could just as easily be that the priming sugar was not dissolved well into the beer. And the four bottles that were carbonated received much of the sugar.

- whole batch bottled
- 25 bottles worth of primer
- 21 flat bottles
- 4 perfectly carbed bottles

Sorry, but your explanation is not compelling...

Cheers!

 

[snowcrawl]

Right now I am drinking a beer that I bottled using a twin handle capper. It is on the flat side. After I broke my hand capper, I upgraded to a bench capper. On the beers that I have bottled since the upgrade, I am getting the impression that consistency of my carbonation has improved. So from where I stand, I can appreciate where something could be gained by improving the capping technique.

 

[Hamaki]

Right now I am drinking a beer that I bottled using a twin handle capper. It is on the flat side. After I broke my hand capper, I upgraded to a bench capper. On the beers that I have bottled since the upgrade, I am getting the impression that consistency of my carbonation has improved. So from where I stand, I can appreciate where something could be gained by improving the capping technique.

I cracked a few bottles with my wing capper so broke down & bought a bench capper. It's not very rigid, a lot of plastic. I have a hard time getting it to cap evenly. The only bottles I broke with the wing capper were long necks so I only use stubbies now and have gone back to the wing capper. One thing I do with either one is check the cap to see if it twists with moderate effort. If so, I crimp it again till it doesn't. I used to have more flat beers before I started checking this.

 

[Likefully]

On subsequent batches where I poured the priming solution into the bucket, racked on top of it, and then stirred thoroughly, but without raising any bubbles, I had perfect uniformity.

.

I know you didn't mention oxidation, but I want add: it is obviously best to mix slowly enough not to raise bubbles, but the risk of oxidation from mixing the priming sugar by hand with a spoon is so small it is not something worth getting concerned about - rather err on the side of mixing too much and even getting a few bubbles than not mixing it enough.