Creative thinking excercise: 1/2 my beers are uncarbonated.

[woozy]

Five weeks ago I bottled a batch of California Common and I carbonated half with carbonation tabs and half I didn't carbonate at all (no priming sugar at all).

So the first two were utterly flat so I figured I had forgotten the sugar for all of them. So I pull them out. I open one on toss in a carbonation drop. The beer foams up and pours over the side and dribbles onto the floor. Okay.... So I open a second and pour a tiny bit into a glass. It bubbles and carbonates. Then I remember... oh, yeah, I had put tabs in half but at the time I hadd gotten fuddled and thought I might have not put them in the second.

So, puzzle solvers. How do I tell which bottles have and haven't been carbonated and how do I carbonate the un-carbonated ones?

[Jeez, I am *not* having a good week. Seems like my first five batches have gone off without a hitch, but my second five have just been cluster-effed from the start.]

 

[AlCophile]

If yeast carbonated after capping, you should see small coating of yeast on bottom of bottle.

 

[woozy]

If yeast carbonated after capping, you should see small coating of yeast on bottom of bottle.

I wouldn't see that on the bottom of the uncarbonated bottles? How can I tell the difference between that and the sediment that the uncarbonated beer has?

 

[worksnorth]

If yeast carbonated after capping, you should see small coating of yeast on bottom of bottle.

I'm with alcophile, it's probably your best bet, the uncarbed bottles may have a little sediment but the carbed ones will hopefully have more.
Good luck

 

[woozy]

Well, I'm pretty sure I will not be able to tell the difference. The uncarbbed ones both had a lot of sediment. I'm going to have to open them one by one and if they are uncarbed drop the drop in and if not drink 'em.

[I am in such a *bad* mood right now...]

 

[texcan2000]

My first couple of batches are in bottles for 12 days. I've noticed some caps have the round dot in the center raised and others do not. The ones that are popped up like a turkey pop up thermometer are possibly a sign the beer is carbed.

 

[woozy]

My first couple of batches are in bottles for 12 days. I've noticed some caps have the round dot in the center raised and others do not. The ones that are popped up like a turkey pop up thermometer are possibly a sign the beer is carbed.

Round dots in the center? What kind of caps do you use?

 

[texcan2000]

They are the plain gold crown caps from Norther Brewer.

 

[texcan2000]

Thinking about it the indentation and now pop up might be from capping itself using an old Italian brand capper.