noob bottling?

[failbeams]

I brewed "Ryans Face Puncher IPA", (a northern brewer kit) as my first extract brew. I followed the instructions exactly, with my friend who is an experienced brewer. Everything seemed to go well up until I opened the first bottle about 3 weeks after bottling. It was not completely flat, but it was close. A very weak hiss upon prying the lid off. Other than that, it tasted great (like a flat IPA). However, I still enjoyed it, so over the last month I have been having a few. During this I have noticed that some are a lot more carbed then others. Do I need to mix really well in the bottling bucket? Or is it a matter of how much yeast got in the individual bottle? Or am I just a dummy? Any advice would be helpful, as I am bottling my next batch in 2 weeks. Thanks!

note: The recipe called for sucrose, so i dissolved the suggested amount and added it to my bottling bucket before bottling.

 

[Germelli1]

It could be a couple of things. I used to pour the priming solution in my bottling bucket and rack the beer on top of it. I assumed the swirling from the beer being racked over would be enough to mix up the solution. It worked for a while but then I started having unevenly carbed batches. So now I sanitize my long brewing spoon and give it a few minutes of vigorous, but gentle (IE no splashing) swirls. This is just insurance in making sure the priming solution mixes adequately.

The other thing is that the yeast in each bottle could just be working at their own different paces. Even slight temperature differences in storage could cause some bottles to carb faster. Like if the closet you are storing them in has a heat/ac vent or something similar. You could try moving them to a place that is a bit warmer to get them all to carb up faster and fully.

I hope this helps and if you have anymore questions don't hesitate to ask!