P.E.T. Bottle Sealing Issue?

[F-Bomb]

I want to start by saying that I am brand new to brewing so if this has been covered before or is a "Be patient and Wait" question, please bear with me.

I bottled a an IPA 2 weeks ago and I decided to try using PET bottle. Mainly because I had lots around and it was a cheap alternative. I used recycled 710ml coca-cola bottles and brand new P.E.T. caps. I find that about half have carbonated really well, the bottles are nice and firm, yet the other half are still very soft. I also notice on a few of the bottles that the beer will seep out of the cap if I hold it at an angle.

Should I try to reseal these bottles? Is the beer still going to be fine after being exposed to oxygen for 2 weeks? Is there still going to be enough yeast if I reseal?

Please, any guidance would be much appreciated!


*note* The bottles were left to carbonate in my basement which is 21C (70F)

 

[ong]

I would imagine that those bottles didn't get exposed to oxygen, since there is only positive pressure from the co2. Opening them again will expose them to some, of course, but if you're careful and quick, shouldn't be too bad. You will have plenty of yeast -- what you need to add is more sugar, since the yeast have eaten most of it. I would either wait a couple weeks until you know most of your priming sugar is consumed, or add a bit less than usual.

 

[unionrdr]

And make sure you get the caps unbelievably tight. You'd be surprised how tight I had to screw on the Cooper's PET bottle caps to get them to seal. If you think they're getting too tight,they're likely just right.

 

[F-Bomb]

Thanks for the advice! I think I will try tightening the caps as much as I possibly can, and leave them for another 2 weeks. If they still haven't carbonated, then I will add some sugar and try new caps.

Thanks again!

 

[unionrdr]

Being new caps,you wouldn't need new ones. Just reprime if necessary & retighten. Those caps are good for 5-6 uses on average according to Cooper's anyway.

 

[RitalinIV]

F-Bomb (nice!),

I agree with unionrdr; you really have to ratchet those caps on.

Besides that, what type of sugar are you using to prime? The reason I ask is because I was in your shoes back when I started. About 1 in every 6 bottles was soft or flat. I found out that regular table sugar (sucrose, to be a nerd) was the culprit. Table sugar ferments very irregularly meaning you can get variable amounts of carbonation across your batch. Because of this, I switched to corn sugar (dextrose/glucose) which is very predictable. I found it solved my problem… and then I switched to bottling in glass shortly after.

Anyway, I thought it would be a cheap solution for you to try if you are interested.

Good luck!

-Ritalin

 

[F-Bomb]

Quick Update! After I tightened the bottles. I mean REALLY tightened them (Almost to the point where I thought I was about to wreck them) They seem to be sealed!!! Out of the 22 710ML bottles I had, 19 of them are ready to go and the rest are starting to become quite firm with the exception of one (Turns out I did wreck one).

Thanks again for the advice!

 

[kh54s10]

Quick Update! After I tightened the bottles. I mean REALLY tightened them (Almost to the point where I thought I was about to wreck them) They seem to be sealed!!! Out of the 22 710ML bottles I had, 19 of them are ready to go and the rest are starting to become quite firm with the exception of one (Turns out I did wreck one).

Thanks again for the advice!

This is interesting that the leaky ones carbonated. I guess that none were truly finished.

I would guess that you will have varying levels of carbonation since you lost pressure in each of the leaky ones at differing amounts depending on how leaky.

 

[F-Bomb]

This is interesting that the leaky ones carbonated. I guess that none were truly finished.

I would guess that you will have varying levels of carbonation since you lost pressure in each of the leaky ones at differing amounts depending on how leaky.

Luckily I caught it pretty quick. I don't think that they will reach full carbonation but I'm sure hoping that they will be close. I will through one in the fridge Saturday and test is on Sunday. Keeping my fingers crossed

 

[unionrdr]

Well,after 2 weeks,I've had some ales that didn't carb very much. Others were fully carbonated in 10 days. so you may get some 3/4's of the carbonation volume you primed for,maybe a lil less. I knew it was the caps. That's always the #1 concern with PET bottles.

 

[Dud]

Well,after 2 weeks,I've had some ales that didn't carb very much. Others were fully carbonated in 10 days. so you may get some 3/4's of the carbonation volume you primed for,maybe a lil less. I knew it was the caps. That's always the #1 concern with PET bottles.

I bottled some cider yesterday in pet bottles and squeezed the air out. Over night air has infiltrated so have wrapped plumbers ptfe tape on threads ( it’s inert) and nipped up caps with pipe wrench. Hopefully this should fix leaky cap problem…?