Bottling Woes

[jonnyv]

Sorry wasn't quite sure which forum to post this in... it sort of spans a few of them...

I've done a fair few kits and recently acquired a couple of corni kegs which have been great because for some reason my bottling attempts have been pretty dismal.

The first kit I did, bottled and carbonated well but since then, including my mini mash AG attempts the bottles just don't carbonate at all.

I'm batch priming the bottles, and bottling the beer after between 7-10 days so I don't think the yeast is a problem. Generally I'll add 60-80g of brewing sugar to a 23l brew, or 16g to a 4.5l mini mash.

I'm leaving the bottles in the warm @ 20deg, and even after ten days, little sign of carbonation. When opening the bottle I do get a hiss but no head forms when pouring and the beers taste flat.

I'm filling the bottles to within an inch+half of the top - is this too little? Should I try filling one to within 1cm to see if that helps?

With the first AG mini mash, I even went to lengths to hydrate a little yeast and add this to the bottles but this still hasn't made a difference

I'm happy using my corni's but until I do a larger AG batch then I'm destined to use bottles for the 8-9 pints I get out of a demijohn.

I've posted this problem a couple of times before on the bottom of previous threads but I don't know what else to try

[Jim]

If you're hearing a hiss when you open the bottle you've had at least a slight secondary fermentation in the bottle.

It can be tricky to actually pour in such a way as to form a head in the glass without disturbing the yeast sediment, but from what you say the problem is actually insufficient carbonation, in which case I can only think of leaky caps, as Daab has already suggested.

Having said that, 10 days isn't very long to mature a bottle of beer! They may improve with time.

[john1967]

Yeh, I agree with Jim, 10 days is not enough time!!

[stevezx7r]

Yup, leave em for at least 3 weeks (I know, it's hard). You will be rewarded with that sound of fully carbonated beer at +3 weeks in the bottle. If you can , brew something that doesn't need carbing as much, drink that while your waiting for this to carb up. Or, if you have pressure barrels, get an o2 injecton system and use that instead.

[jonnyv]

Sorry should have mentioned, they're glass bottles with crown caps.

I was under the impression that the secondary fermentation happened during the seven days they were in the warm and then little would happen when maturing in a colder environment?

I do usually leave them longer than ten days but I wanted to check to see if they'd carbonated before putting them in the fridge outside. Last time I didn't check and had 40 pints of flat beer

I'd usually use my corni's to force carbonate but in this instance I wanted to pass some on to friends and family.

I'll leave them a while longer in the warm and then a few weeks outside.

[the_great_okapi]

How do you sanitize your caps? You don't dry them in the oven by any chance, or put them on hotter than the bottles?

[jonnyv]

The crown caps get soaked in a cold bleach solution with the bottles for 20 mins then rinsed thoroughly in cold water...

If you put them somewhere cool it will help the co2 pressure to become absorbed into the beer quicker.

I see - so the fermentation is probably happening but the co2's not being absorbed until the bottles go into the cold.

Maybe I'll overprime a bottle with a bit extra sugar when I next bottle to see if that helps - I'd rather it be overcarbonated than under.

[baldyjason]

The crown caps get soaked in a cold bleach solution with the bottles for 20 mins then rinsed thoroughly in cold water...

If you put them somewhere cool it will help the co2 pressure to become absorbed into the beer quicker.

I see - so the fermentation is probably happening but the co2's not being absorbed until the bottles go into the cold.

Maybe I'll overprime a bottle with a bit extra sugar when I next bottle to see if that helps - I'd rather it be overcarbonated than under.

watch out for them going bang

[jonnyv]

Thanks for the advice - guess I need to do a bit of experimentation.

Perhaps a less flocculant yeast would help - I'm using Safale 04 at the moment which drops clear very quickly - even after a seven days in primary FV.

[CyberPaddy66]

You could always rouse the yeast gently a day or two before bottling, Jum or daab can correct me if I'm off the mark