Need help troubleshooting my latest batch

A couple of possibilities come to mind.

First, was this a liquid malt extract batch?

If not, my guess would be oxidation. And yes, a loose bottle cap an certainly let in O2 and cause oxidation.

 

When you bottle, how are you doing priming sugar and re-yeasting?

To me it sounds like you have uneven mix of priming sugar and yeast. So, some bottles carbonate and yeast eat oxygen up to reduce oxidation while other remain flat and yeast is not able to scavenge oxygen.

Try mixing your priming sugar into your beer better. I’d recommend dissolving your priming sugar into warm/hot filtered water then pouring that into bottling bucket then racking beer on top, mix well with sanitized stirring device, then bottle from there. This should give uniform priming to your bottles.

 

I may be wrong, but I read the OP as saying that the inconsistencies are from batch to batch, not bottle to bottle.

 

You could be right. I was working off of when he said “What bugs me the most that some beers turned out good while others turned shit”.

If it’s from bottle to bottle it is definitely packaging and I would wager the culprit is homogeneity of priming sugar at bottling.

If it’s batch to batch only, need more info.

 

Sounds like you got a good seal on the first batch of bottles, and didn't seal well on the second batch, which would not only explain oxidation but also lack of carbonation. All the CO2 generated by the priming sugar just leaked through the crown and O2 creeped in.

Really make sure you clean/sanitize the hell out of the bottles that didn't work out. Wing cappers definitely aren't the easiest thing to work with. And the bench cappers aren't much better. Certain bottles take more effort than others to get a good seal, and I've had a few that break during the act of capping as well. Also, not all bottles are created equal (in both quality and dimensions for a given volume/overall shape), and I'm readjusting my bench capper throughout the process (one thing about a wing capper that's easier if you're reusing bottles from commercial beers). Unfortunately, reusing bottles is touch and go and a learn as you go process.

 

Same recipe for all three batches?

Are those two different beers/batches in the second pic, and are all three batches pictured among the two pics? The two in the second have different colors, so I presume they are different and represent the two bad batches?

How long after bottling do the beers taste/look bad? Do they taste and look good before bottling?

It sounds like you may have multiple issues here. One beer is too bitter, one is off color (and very hazy) and one lacks carbonation (the whole batch?).

What are your bottling procedures (bottling bucket with a wand?), especially how well you mix the priming sugar into the beer?

Besides some clarification from questions in the posts above, I think we also need a bit more narration about which beers in the pics have which problems.

 

Not enough information to really diagnose. Here are some things I can think of, many of which I experienced as new brewer, that could be sources of your issues.

Color differences are driven either by differences in ingredients (fresh vs. stale, intentional or unintentional differences in grain selection) or differences in staling due to process differences the introduce O2 or differential staling of the ingredients themselves. Staling in extract is commonly recognized to lead to darker beers, with LME allegedly being more vulnerable than DME.

Differences in head are going to be driven by differences in carbonation or bubble retention. Bubbles are complicated and I am skipping over bubble retention. Carbonation is much easier -- the "ingredients" for developing carbonation in bottle are sugar, yeast, time, and a good crown seal (to retain the CO2).

• Bad seal:To be honest, I don't think I have ever had carbonation issues due to a bad seal. In any event, it would be bottle to bottle inconsistency, not batch to batch.
• Time is simply a matter of waiting long enough until the bottles. It will depend on the sugar amount and the amount of live, active yeast that are present. Lack of patience may lead to premature conclusions of under-carbonation.
• Yeast. I suspect the amount of yeast suspended in solution of a recently fermented batch is rarely a problem in moderate gravity batches; yeast may have a tougher time working in higher alcohol environments, so high gravity batches may take longer to carbonate due to reduce yeast activity. In any event, they'll usually get the job done if you are patient.
• Sugar - differences in the amount of sugar added per volume of beer can make a big difference in carbonation. Use of a measured volume, like 3/4 cup sugar, is imprecise. and will lead to batch to batch inconsistency. The best place to start with determining the mass of sugar you need is to use a priming calculator. Here's an example. Resist the temptation to try the various sugars listed there until you dial in consistency with something simple, like corn sugar or table sugar. Note that the priming calculator tries to incorporate residual CO2 in your beer from the primary fermentation, another source of variation, potentially. Dissolution of sugar into your bottling is important, but will create differences from bottle to bottle.

You didn't mention issues of gushing levels of carbonation. When that happens ask me about bottle infections.

 

That is not the standard method for bottling. What you should do is transfer (siphon) the beer from the primary into a second bucket (i.e., bottling bucket). Add the sugar/water solution to the bottom of the bottling bucket and gently siphon the beer (i.e., make sure the plastic tubing reaches the bottom of the bottling bucket so no splashing occurs). Once the beer has been transferred very gently stir the beer to ensure that the sugar/water solution is completely mixed into the beer.

The reason you are getting inconsistent carbonation with your method is because of incomplete mixing.

I mention the word "gently" above because you do not want to add air (oxygen) into your beer - do not splash! The introduction of oxygen will cause oxidation of the beer.

Cheers!

 

All this...
what mixing the sugar solution into your fermentation bucket does is mix all the stuff from the bottom back up into the beer - that'smost likely why the color is so much darker and the beer is hazier.

Also, those bottles that you bought, are they screw-tops or pry off bottles? It's very difficult to get a good seal on screw tops. Reusing bottles in and of itself isn't usually an issue as long as you clean them well once emptied and stored well, then rinsed again and sanitizsed befor filling. I have bottles I've reused probably a dozen times. Never an issue - just have to take care when sealing and opening. I've never had a bottle bomb, but did lose a growler once that in looking back, I knew I shouldn't have bottled into (I used to fill a couple growlers along with bottles, but I stopped that a long time ago.)

 

You're doing better than a lot of native English speakers on the internet.

 

I transfer before adding priming solution because my bottling bucket is on a scale. That's how I know how much sugar water I need to carb up. That a problem?

 

As long as you can get the sugar solution evenly mixed with the beer without (extra) agitation, you won't have lost anything by adding it after racking.

 

@pants678 I once read on here to use sugar cubes/ dosing each bottle with some before bottling and I tried and have use this method since. I have found that I like my brown ales with a cube and a half better than just one cube. Probably over carbed for most but it’s what I like. Maybe this could be something you try. Plus no need to open up the fermentor to rack to bottling bucket.

 

@Jasonja1474
I've heard of this but would rather carbonate with some degree of accuracy to style (fewer volumes for a stout, more volumes for a saison). When you say over carbed, you're not getting gushing bottles right?