Uneven Carb

[brewyorker]

Longtime lurker, first post. Thanks to everyone here for all the great ideas and advice so far!

I bottled a batch of a Chimay 500 semi-clone about 5 weeks ago. After opening 3 bottles, one was completely carbed (maybe even a little over carbed) and two were almost completely flat. All the bottles were stored together at ~70F the entire time. Good news is the beer tastes great-even the flat stuff!

Not sure why the carb is uneven, I boiled the priming sugar (about 4.5oz) before adding to the bottling bucket. I also sprinkled a packet of yeast in while siphoning over the beer. Don't remember which yeast, but I can check later.

That said, I care less right now about why the bottles are unevenly carbed than how to fix this batch. I'm wondering if anyone has had luck redosing bottles. I'm thinking of opening each one and, based on the sound, adding a small measured bit of sugar. Thought this might also help relieve the pressure in some potential bottle bombs.

Or would you just play Belgian Roulette?

Thoughts? Cheers!


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[h-bar]

I have never tried re-carbing bottles that seemed flat. Not sure if it would be a good idea...you could end up with a mess if you overdid it. It's difficult to add the same amount of granulated sugar to each bottle and get similar results throughout the batch.

However, I have some recommendations for the future to prevent this from happening again. Add about a third of your priming sugar solution to the bottling bucket, and begin racking the beer on top. After about a third of your beer is in the bucket, carefully pour another third of the priming sugar solution down the side of the bucket. Repeat until all beer and sugar solution are in the bucket. With a long, sanitized spoon, give the beer one smooth stir - no splashing. This seems to keep all bottles evenly carbed, in my experience.

Did you age this beer for a long time? I'm just wondering why you added more yeast.

 

[beergolf]

What is the ABV?

Higher gravity beers can take longer to carb. Just like opening a lower gravity beer early some will be fully carbed but some will take slightly longer. I would not try to fix a problem that you are not sure you really have. I have had some of my bigger Belgians take months to get the right carb level.

Be patient and you should be fine.

A high ABV Belgian takes time to mature anyway, so just let them sit. I do not even check them for a minimum of 4 months because that is about when they start to get good.

 

[brewyorker]

Thanks for the replies. That's a good idea-splitting the priming sugar in thirds.

I had it fermenting for about 4 months in the primary.

It's not a huge Belgian. Miscalculated sparge volume, so it's about 6.5% instead of 9 like I was aiming for. Had great attenuation though. FG was 1.004.

I know it sounds dangerous, though I'm thinking of trying to reprime one or two bottles keeping them in a safe place in case of the BOOM.


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[bloom_brewer]

One thing you can do is stir the bottling bucket every couple of beers bottles to keep the sugar mixed in correctly.

No one else has commented on this yet but is it common to mix in a packet of yeast at bottling? I'd think that might have something to do with the random carbonation from bottle to bottle.


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[brewyorker]

I added a packet of t-58 yeast at bottling time because I read that the yeast left after fermentation might not be healthy enough for bottle conditioning. I got the impression this step was pretty common for Belgians.

Though I suppose that if the yeast wasn't dispersed well that could account for the unevenness. Maybe a starter would have been better?


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[sweetcell]

No one else has commented on this yet but is it common to mix in a packet of yeast at bottling? I'd think that might have something to do with the random carbonation from bottle to bottle.

if the beer has been bulk aging for several months (primary yeast might be dead or weak), or if you think the yeast has been beaten up in primary by high alcohol, it's not uncommon to add more yeast. a full pack is overkill, tho. a quarter of a pack is plenty, you just need a few "insurance" cells. there isn't that much priming sugar to ferment.