Ugh bottling might be my downfall.

[argodzilla]

So, I bottled my APA 2 weeks ago. I added the 4.25 oz of dextrose to a cup of water...added it to the bottling bucket...then I siphoned the 4.6 gallons of flat beer on top of it.
I bottled away into a mix of 1 liter and 12 oz bottles. Last week after 1 week I popped a 1 liter bottle. It went off like a shot...the beer tasted great and the carbing was perfect. I wait 4 days and I pop another and it's flat. Now I just popped a 12 oz bottle and its way over carbed. Lets assume bottle # 2 a flip top leaked. These bottles have been sitting in a dark 65 degree room. I have picked them up and looked at the yeast settling out...I would assume I have stirred them up a bit.

What it going on?

 

[gcdowd]

Impatience is going on I think. Beer takes much longer than 10 days to carb. Just wait it out, they'll carb up. Sounds like your priming process was sound, just wait it out. All shall be good. Also, throwing them in the fridge for 3-4 days after they are carbed up will help the CO2 dissolve into the beer

 

[wormraper]

So, I bottled my APA 2 weeks ago. I added the 4.25 oz of dextrose to a cup of water...added it to the bottling bucket...then I siphoned the 4.6 gallons of flat beer on top of it.
I bottled away into a mix of 1 liter and 12 oz bottles. Last week after 1 week I popped a 1 liter bottle. It went off like a shot...the beer tasted great and the carbing was perfect. I wait 4 days and I pop another and it's flat. Now I just popped a 12 oz bottle and its way over carbed. Lets assume bottle # 2 a flip top leaked. These bottles have been sitting in a dark 65 degree room. I have picked them up and looked at the yeast settling out...I would assume I have stirred them up a bit.

What it going on?

sounds like it wasn't mixed in properly...ORRRRRRR you haven't given it enough time. give them another couple of weeks and try again. bottles can carb at different rates so give it some time to balance out. on the other hand you might not have mixed the sugar in enough when you bottled. when you're siphoning into your bottling bucket with the sugar on bottom stir the WHOLE time it's siphoning... that ensures proper mixture. I've done that for every one of my batches and never had a bad one.

 

[argodzilla]

I totally didn't mix it when siphoning in...my local hbss guy told me the siphoning would mix it adequately. Guess I put them in the basement a month at 56. Bottle bomb damage will be better contained.

 

[OhReally]

All of the above, plus:


There's a school of thought that suggests putting the bottles in a warmer (70-75 degree) area to help the yeast do their little happy dance more efficiently.

Warm it up, and wait it out.

Cheers

 

[Ridire]

I totally didn't mix it when siphoning in...my local hbss guy told me the siphoning would mix it adequately. Guess I put them in the basement a month at 56. Bottle bomb damage will be better contained.

I don't think you need to mix it if you racked onto the sugar water. I stirred my first brew for this concern but totally forgot about doing it on the second. They both carbed about the same...no bottle bombs in batch #2.

 

[gcdowd]

I don't think you need to mix it if you racked onto the sugar water. I stirred my first brew for this concern but totally forgot about doing it on the second. They both carbed about the same...no bottle bombs in batch #2.

Agree. I never used to stir when I siphoned my beer onto my priming sugar. It always mixed well and I had even carbonation

 

[BlackGoat]

yeah, I'm agreeing with everyone... impatience is the culprit. 3 weeks at 70 degrees should be the basic guidelines for conditioning, some take more time some take less time. If you're getting inconsistent carbing on your first couple bottles, its probably just because it needs some more time. Stash them away for a little longer, give them time to do their thing and then give it another go. If you are still having issues a few weeks down the line then you can start to think in terms of troubleshooting. In the meantime, I'd just do some "research" by drinking some quality craft beer.

 

[BigFloyd]

Your beer should be fine with time (3-4 weeks) at the right temp (70-72*F) followed by 3+ days in the fridge. If it's cooler, you have to give it even longer.

Sorry, that's the way it is.

 

[argodzilla]

So we think the over carbonation of bottle 3 is ok? It will fix itself with time? I'm just trying to be extra careful, because I have something that I already love in my primary and I don't want to ruin it. Thanks guys!

 

[Mutt98]

I had a few over carbed bottles in my first couple batches. I've always stirred while siphoning since. I'm not sure if impatience can cause over carbed bottles but it will definitely cause some under carbed ones.

 

[BigFloyd]

So we think the over carbonation of bottle 3 is ok? It will fix itself with time? I'm just trying to be extra careful, because I have something that I already love in my primary and I don't want to ruin it. Thanks guys!

Most likely it's not over-carbed. It just hasn't had time enough (both at room temp AND in the fridge) to have the CO2 fully absorb into the beer.

I always stir gently as well, even if I think that I may not need to.

 

[OhReally]

Another suggestion:

Different styles sometimes call for different levels of carbonation, so the 4 or 5 oz. isn't perhaps always appropriate.

I make extensive use of priming sugar calculators (specifically the one at TastyBrew.com) which will tell you how much to use according to what style you're making. I've used it for 15+ batches and it has never let me down.

Cheers

 

[hehawbrew]

Newb here-

I've been following recipes from the Brooklyn Brew Shop book. They call for honey and maple syrup most the time, 3 table spoons per gallon. I've been making two gallon batches since I'm in a townhouse, but my carbonation has worked well so far.

I like the maple syrup because it seems to mix easily. I guess the big disadvantage is $$ at the end the day since its expensive....

 

[BigFloyd]

Newb here-

I've been following recipes from the Brooklyn Brew Shop book. They call for honey and maple syrup most the time, 3 table spoons per gallon. I've been making two gallon batches since I'm in a townhouse, but my carbonation has worked well so far.

I like the maple syrup because it seems to mix easily. I guess the big disadvantage is $$ at the end the day since its expensive....

For carbonation, the priming agent serves as extra food for the yeast to consume and produce the desired level of CO2. Stuff like honey, syrups and the like are harder to measure accurately (best way is by weight) for priming than corn sugar, cane sugar or DME and really contribute nothing to the beer. Some things, like molasses, can leave a bad flavor even in small amounts.

 

[hehawbrew]

Makes sense.

I do have some priming sugar I bought from my lhbs.... Just need to buy a scale now.

Out of curiosity, could you prime a bottle with a slice of strawberry, some blueberries, etc?

 

[BigFloyd]

Out of curiosity, could you prime a bottle with a slice of strawberry, some blueberries, etc?

You could, but I don't think that it will give you the flavor that you're looking for after the yeast gets done eating away the fermentable sugars.

There's also the risk of contamination to consider.

First, learn to make good beer that stands on its own flavor. If you want to start adding fruit later, find out how to do it right (from someone who actually does it successfully) and go for it.

 

[unionrdr]

You can't carbonate by mearly shoving a fruit wedgy up the beers arse. But fruit juice will work. There's a sticky about it. And to the guy putting beer in a 56F basement to carb,fuggetaboutit. Way to cool for carbing & conditioning. Gotta be 70F or better carbing in bottles. Ferment temps do not equal bottle carbing temps. Period. But those cool temps are good for storage after carbing & Conditioning.

 

[hehawbrew]

Cool. Just curious. That's all.

 

[Revvy]

There are no carbonation problems, only patience ones.

The 3 weeks at 70 degrees, that we recommend is the minimum time it takes for average gravity beers to carbonate and condition. Higher grav beers take longer. Beers stored cooler than 70, take longer.

Stouts and porters have taken me between 6 and 8 weeks to carb up..I have a 1.090 Belgian strong that took three months to carb up.


Temp and gravity are the two factors that contribute to the time it takes to carb beer. But if a beer's not ready yet, or seems low carbed, and you added the right amount of sugar to it, then it's not stalled, it's just not time yet.

Everything you need to know about carbing and conditioning, can be found here Of Patience and Bottle Conditioning. With emphasis on the word, "patience."

Carbing is foolprrof. You ad the right amount of sugar, leave it at the right temp, and it will carb.

If a beer isn't carbed by "x number of weeks" you just have to give them more time. If you added your sugar, then the beer will carb up eventually, it's really a foolroof process. All beers will carb up eventually. A lot of new brewers think they have to "troubleshoot" a bottling issue, when there really is none, the beer knows how to carb itself. In fact if you run beersmiths carbing calculator, some lower grav beers don't even require additional sugar to reach their minimum level of carbonation. Just time.

 

[BigFloyd]

I do wish that more brewers would read and heed Revvy's copy & paste carb/conditioning post before hitting the "new thread" button.

He gives the answer to 99% of their issues right there. Sometimes, they just don't wanna hear it.

 

[argodzilla]

Turns out my issue was flip tops leaking co2. The ones that didn't leak are perfect.
I'll have beer for Easter! Thanks