Our 5 gal. batch of IPA tasted delicious at bottling, but when time for enjoying it came, the bubbles were missing. It acted as though no priming sugar had been added.
Is there anything that can be done to resuscitate this fine brew now that it’s in the bottle?
Thanks.
How long has it been and was the beer at room temp?
+1 to dave’s comment.
Also describe how you went about bottling. How much priming sugar was added? How did you ensure the sugar was evenly distributed in the beer? (this is the most common carbonation problem, the sugar is not evenly distributed so some bottles don’t get enough and some get too much). How long has it been in bottles? And st what temp has it been stored during the conditioning period?
We always put 4 oz. of corn sugar into the 5 gal. bottling bucket (covered) without any difficulties until now. It’s possible that it didn’t get mixed well and the other bottles are better.
It’s been in those bottles since Dec. 16, about 3 weeks today at room temp which is 70 to 74 degrees F.
Any suggestions for mixing the priming sugar at bottling time in the bottling bucket without excessive exposure to air? Shake the bucket like I shake the fermenter after pitching the yeast? Oxidation is a concern.
Thanks.
Add the dissolved sugar into the bottling bucket first, then rack beer on top. It dissolves pretty uniformly this way.
I rack on the dissolved sugar and then give one slow swirl with a sanitized spoon. Don’t shake!!!
You said 4 oz but was it dissolved or just straight in?
Dave
I would have warned against that, but it probably depends exactly how you do it. I stir slowly for 30 seconds and it’s pretty consistent.
If the sugar solution is hot it will mix more uniformly. I’ll pour just off the boil and add it after a couple quarts have drained into the bucket. The natural swirl of the beer mixes it very well. So well I never even stir.
That’s exactly how I used to do it.
That’s a good idea too!
I always racked on to the sugar when it was still warm/hot as mentioned , and positioned the hose in the bottom to create a good swirl. I never had a batch where the carbonation wasn’t consistent. +30 to my keg system though !
+1000 to kegging! I only bottle high gravity stuff now. Belgian quads, barleywines, etc…
All good suggestions. I know because I use them. I boil 4 oz. corn sugar in about 2 cups of water, siphon around 1.5 quarts into the bucket and then dump the boiled solution into the still siphoning beer.
More research in the form of bottle opening tonight will have to be done to see if the total batch is bad or just that one or a few bottles.
Kegging is coming soon, hopefully.
Well I hope the tasting goes well! Cheers! ;D
How hot is the sugar water when you mix it with the beer? Maybe you killed the yeast.
Good luck. Sounds like you may have had some bad bottles. Before opening them, can you identify 2 that were filled at different times? One at the start and one at the end of bottling. See if one is carbonated?
Just a thought before cracking open all your bottles.
Dave
I had thought about that. Possibly due to uneven priming sugar distribution, some bottles were under primed and others got too much. Further “testing” revealed that it all seems to be flat.
It’s difficult to go back and “should have done” something, so we went forward.
My wife has a SodaStream device made for infusing carbonation into H2O for bubbly water. We just wondered. We tried it. Let me tell you, this is the solution to a problem I hope never to have again. One blast from the CO2 bottle and I had wonderful head and fizz. Forced carbonation baby step. I have no keg or CO2 bottle, and it wouldn’t have helped in the bottle, anyway. This is a solution for those in that unfortunate position.
Thanks to all for great advice for my next time at the bottling bucket!
I have been wondering how well this works. I brought a growler to a friends house that was flat. I’m still having issues bottling from keg to growler or bottle. They had a sodastream but no co2 canister so I never got to try it. I’m glad to hear it worked.
I have a bottled Christmas ale that has been slow to carbonate, the same amount of time as yours. I gave most of them away knowing they might not be fully carbonated by Christmas and told people to wait a week or so before drinking them. The ones I have opened recently were still flat. I used the same process I always do, which is pretty much the same thing you did and others suggested, and for some reason they werent carbonated. I can only think that the temps in our house were low and slowed the yeast down…or there is a problem with the yeast. Still tastes good. I might have to check one tonight.
glad you figured out a solution!
Another thought I had on the cause was a bad capper. My capper will sometimes leave one crimp a little up from the rest. I have taken to turning the capper a quarter turn and re-crimping. You didn’t mention that the beer tasted sweet so it seems like the priming sugar must have fermented so unless you a) didn’t add it in the first place or b) accidentally used way to little priming sugar it seems like it must have escaped as or after it was generated.
I’ve read about folks who will put a balloon over each bottle neck to make sure the caps are on. seems like a huge PITA to me but I suppose if it is a continuing problem it’s a place to look. I hope for your sake that this won’t be an ongoing issue for you!
I used to worry about that, but then I realized I was adding a cup of boiling liquid to 5 gal. of room temp. liquid. That negates the temp difference pretty quickly. I’ve never had a problem putting boiling primer into a bucket, then siphoning beer onto it.