Stirring priming solution (or failure to do so).

[wingnutp]

I just bottled my first AG brew. Actually, last time I homebrewed, period, was like 17 years ago. Aaand I forgot to stir the priming solution. I poured it in as I started racking to the bottling bucket. And the siphon tube was coiled at the bottom, filling the bucket in a whirlpooly-type fashion (at least as whirlpooly as 3/8 tubing will allow). Should I wait a week and test the first and last bottle filled? Take a gravity reading on the first and last bottle now? Bomb-proof the closet?

 

[Scriv]

I've never stirred, just pour it into the bottling bucket while it flows in from the fermenter. It's worked fine for me so far. You'll need to wait more than one week, I'd say 2-3 weeks before sampling.

 

[kinshane]

I only stir the priming solution about half of the time and I've never had a bottle bomb. As long as you put the solution in before you rack onto it I don't think it should be any problem.

 

[wingnutp]

I wouldn't say it was in there before I racked so much as contemporaneously...once my wife finally made it over to assist me and there was an inch or two in the bucket.

 

[Gavin C]

Sounds ideal. Stirring is a bad idea when racking to the bottling bucket which is in my view the step during which oxygenation is at its highest potential to occur given the surface area of the beer exposed to the air.

I'm not suggesting all bottled beers will have oxygenation at detectable levels but if you stir (which you have not done) the real risk becomes ever more apparent.

Sounds like your methods are spot on aside from not putting the priming solution in at the very start. After an inch or so of beer no worries I would say.

I keg now but have bottled with mixing in the manner you describe. Consistent carbonation was the result. Stirring is absolutely not needed and potentially harmful. Best avoided. Others will cite the mantra, I stir and do xxx and my beer is great or I prime in the FV and stir and my beer is great. Lots of variants on this. Opinions and rear ends... everyone got one, sometimes they stink.

Not recommended by the experts procedure x and my beer is great.

You followed best practice, your beer is likely to be great.

Edit: assuming the beer was finished fermenting and the correct amount of priming solution was added bottle bombs are not a concern here.

 

[wingnutp]

Thanks! It was done (1.002). And I carbed 4.5 gal to 2.5 volumes using an online calculator and digital scale. (4 oz of priming sugar)

Hopefully it gets carbed consistently.

 

[GunsNBeer]

I echo Gavin's comments. I've stirred and not stirred, and the end product has come out the same. If I do stir, it's only very gently and slowly as the bottling bucket gets close to full and the natural swirl action from the siphon hose isn't quite as strong. If I don't stir, it's because I forgot to sanitize my big spoon. I bottled a Blue Moon extract clone yesterday and stirred gently.

Bottle bombs would only be a problem if there was absolutely NO mixing involved (somehow? don't know how that would even happen) and one of your bottles got an abnormally high percentage of the priming sugar. No worries here.

 

[Jwin]

I always melt my priming sugar in a small saucepan with a small amount of water.
I bring the water to full boil, cover and let it sputter for 10-15 minutes to sanitize, then remover from heat, ad sugar, return to a boil, uncovered.
Remove from heat and recover, allowing it to chill in a larger pan of water or a plugged sink while I sanitize everything else.
I add about a third to my bottling bucket before I start siphoning, then add small amounts by running it down the wall of the bucket as I siphon. I hold my hose at a angle so it slowly spins the beer in the bucket as it fills.
No stirring needed and I feel by adding in increments, it ensures even distribution.
I've never added straight dextrose to beer to be bottled, but I have added it to fermenting beer adlnd it seemed to disolve.

 

[wingnutp]

I always wonder what the hell happened when there's no follow-up or resolution to threads from the person who started it. So, here's a follow-up.

The beer ended up great. The carbonation was varied a bit bottle-to-bottle, but all but one was within a normal range. The difference in the beer from moderately low to high carb was interesting.

 

[GHBWNY]

Start racking, add priming solution, great beer.

 

[Gavin C]

I always wonder what the hell happened when there's no follow-up or resolution to threads from the person who started it. So, here's a follow-up.

The beer ended up great. The carbonation was varied a bit bottle-to-bottle, but all but one was within a normal range. The difference in the beer from moderately low to high carb was interesting.

Thanks for the follow up. Nicely done. Glad to hear things panned out reasonably well. You should aim for no variation from bottle to bottle. It is a readily achievable goal. That's beside the point. Nice job on the follow up.

 

[hopkincr]

I always melt my priming sugar in a small saucepan with a small amount of water.

I doubt you are melting your sugar, you're just dissolving it in hot water.

 

[Jwin]

I doubt you are melting your sugar, you're just dissolving it in hot water.

Thank you for the clarification.