I bottled a batch of Janet's Brown from morebeer.com about six weeks ago. Some of the bottles are completely flat while others are all foam. My thought is that the priming sugar didn't mix in good enough and that a good stir, without splashing, will evenly distribute the sugar and fix the problem. Any thoughts?
Some bottles too fizzy, some totally flat
- Thread starter jpc8015
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lzrdkng14
Well-Known Member
I had the same problem and it was because I did not evenly distribute the priming sugar...
solbes
Well-Known Member
Probably. It's usually either over/under primed with sugar by inadequate mixing. Or a temperature inbalance where some bottles are much warmer than others. Time of course is an important factor, but 6 weeks sounds like plenty of time for that beer.
cshamilton
Well-Known Member
jpc8015 said:
Did you boil the priming sugar in 1-2 cups of water, then add to bottling bucket, and rack on top? The normal swirling generated by this method is enough to evenly distribute a normal 5 gallon batch. Some people do stir, but unless you added sugar after you started racking - you shouldn't need to.
How long did you chill the beer before opening? It needs at least 24 hours (48 is better) to dissolve the CO2 properly.
jpc8015
Well-Known Member
The beer chilled for a bit less than 24 hours. I just threw a couple of 22 ounce bottles in the fridge and will let them chill for a couple of days.
I will report back.
jpc8015
Well-Known Member
The bottles that I let chill for 48-72 hours were also flat. I am convinced that the priming sugar didn't get distributed properly. I bottled an IPA last weekend and made sure to give the beer a good stir to mix the priming sugar in. Those bottles will have a chance to condition for about 15 weeks because i won't have a chance to get to them until June.
I'll add that I've never had to stir for good mixing (priming solution introduced first at bottom of bucket) until I tried filtering hops by adding a mesh bag to the end of the hose going into the bottling bucket. If you ever take this approach you've gotta stir because the mixing is greatly impacted.
I've just gotten into the habit of giving the beer in the bottling bucket a few gentle stirs. That insures that the priming sugar is mixed evenly throughout the liquid. And I DO NOT pour the just boiled priming sugar into the bottling bucket first...I DO NOT want to melt a hole in the bucket!
glenn514
glenn514
