Weird Carbonation Problem

Didn't cap the bottle good? How many bottles have you opened? How many brews have you bottled?

 

Incomplete crimp, bad seal on the cap, capper wear,

Or incomplete mix of sugar in bottling bucket

 

Whether I add priming sugar before or after racking the beer to the bottling bucket, I always sanitize a big metal spoon and stir the beer to ensure good homogenization.

 

I always give my bottles a twist with a bare hand to see that they're secure. I don't think there is anything to be gained by getting a wrench out and testing your capping.

 

This is very highly likely the reason for your inconsistent carbonation. I know because I've done it. Now I gently stir my beer in the bucket 4 times during the bottling process so that it stays in suspension. I use an upward stirring motion with my spoon to get the heavier sugar solution that is trying to sink to move back to the top of the beer and disperse.

 

I wonder if a possible solution to the solution problem is to mix the priming sugar with more water, so that it's not so heavy. I don't know how much more that is.

 

When I bottle, I dissolve priming sugar in 1-2 cups of boiling water (off the burner) and make sure it is dissolved completely. Than I add it to bottling bucket as I fill the bucket, giving it a few gentle stirs when the bucket is fill. 10-15 min later, I bottle. No problems with consistency.

 

I mix my sugar with a quart or so of water. I try to plan my 5-gallon batch to be just a quart short so that the sugar solution tops me off.

 

Well, you've had a hint of 50-50 carbonated and non-carbonated, so I think you'll have a full range of carbonation in between, or possibly just outside of what you've experienced so far (i.e. over-carbonated to the point of potentially being a gusher). If you get a gusher you'll probably want to chill all of them to slow down or stop the remainder of the carbonation from continuing (if any sugar is left). So, be close to the sink whenever you open any of these bottles and have a glass ready. If you used the recommended amount of sugar for your batch size, and the sugar and liquid were both measured accurately (or you used a priming sugar calculator), then I doubt that you'll have any bottle bombs.

 

Gently but firmly stir the dissolved sugar into your beer, no less important use prime calculator to figure sugar weight to properly carbonate the beer according to style vol and temp.

 

Agreed. Lots of recipes, especially older ones, call for 3/4 cup sugar. Easy to measure, but usually too much. Better to use the calculator and weigh out a more accurately determined amount.

 

When I used to bottle, I never stirred and never had a problem. There is a good chance that one bottle did not get capped well and it leaked. See what happens with a couple more bottles before you start panicking Regardless, at this point, it is hard to see a solution to your potential problem. Some of your bottles are carbed and some might not be, but how can you tell without opening them? If you knew which ones were not carbed, you could open those and add a little sugar and recap.

 

Put a bunch in your fridge, and if you get a flat one just grab another and hope it's in better shape. I had this happen with a bottle from my first batch recently, too, but I don't know exactly what the problem was. I didn't stir the batch after adding the sugar, so that's one possibility, but it could also have just been a bad capping. That said, I've gone through about 2/3 of that batch and only had one bad bottle, so I think a loose cap is more likely to be the culprit.

 

He solved his carbonation problem with this one weird trick, brewers hate him! Click to find out!

 

You may be able to tell by doing the following. Take a bottle and turn it upside down and then back to upside up. Those that are carbed will likely foam up (inside the bottle) more than those that aren't. Of course, you likely have a spectrum of carbonation levels. However, if this process allows you to identify the most undercarbed bottles, you can open those up, add a bit of sugar, and reseal.