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Date: 31 Jul 2006 17:07:39
From: phelper
Subject: Back to Bottling after 2 years...OOPS
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So I bottled my brown ale this weekend, first batch of beer I've
brewed in 2 years, so I'm a bit rusty.
I went to bottle and FORGOT that I had to disolve my 3/4 cup of sugar
in a pint of water (by boiling). I just poured the sugar in the
priming bucket, then siphoned the brew on in.
After I was finished and cleaning up, I found that probably 1/3 of the
sugar that I put in hadn't dissolved, and I then realized my mistake.
So the question is.... should I relax, and not worry? Maybe the beer
will be a little flat? I'm just worried that since it didn't disolve
evenly, some bottles may have more (and risk exploding bottles) while
others will have left.
What do y'all think?
PS... what fun it is getting back into the hobby after two years...
this was my first bottling, but the second batch I brewed since
restarting. The first batchh was minutes from going into the primary
when the thermometer broke in the wort... little mercury in there,
had to trash it :(
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Date: 01 Aug 2006 03:25:38
From: Dick Adams
Subject: Re: Back to Bottling after 2 years...OOPS
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phelper <hoofhah2002@nospam.yahoo.com > wrote:
> So I bottled my brown ale this weekend, first batch of beer
> I've brewed in 2 years, so I'm a bit rusty.
>
> I went to bottle and FORGOT that I had to disolve my 3/4 cup of
> sugar in a pint of water (by boiling). I just poured the sugar
> in the priming bucket, then siphoned the brew on in.
I've been there too. But I boiled 6oz of water, stirred in the
sugar, and added ice cubes.
> After I was finished and cleaning up, I found that probably 1/3 of the
> sugar that I put in hadn't dissolved, and I then realized my mistake.
That sucks!
> So the question is.... should I relax, and not worry? Maybe the beer
> will be a little flat? I'm just worried that since it didn't disolve
> evenly, some bottles may have more (and risk exploding bottles) while
> others will have left.
>
> What do y'all think?
I think a little flat. Make a sugar water solution and add
some of it to each bottle. This is why I keg!
> PS... what fun it is getting back into the hobby after two years...
> this was my first bottling, but the second batch I brewed since
> restarting. The first batchh was minutes from going into the primary
> when the thermometer broke in the wort... little mercury in there,
> had to trash it :(
I would have given it to my in-laws.
Dick
that was a joke.
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Date: 31 Jul 2006 19:23:14
From: brewsmith
Subject: Re: Back to Bottling after 2 years...OOPS
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Depends on how well of a stir you gave it before you started. If not,
some bottles might have more fiz to them than the others. In a pinch
you could have added hot tap water to the sugar and dissolved it that
way.
Coopers makes carbonation drops that work very well. One per bottle and
you are done. Only draw back is you cannot adjust the level of
carbonation. They give a nice level of carbonation. Welcome back!!!!
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Date: 01 Aug 2006 00:42:34
From: John 'Shaggy' Kolesar
Subject: Re: Back to Bottling after 2 years...OOPS
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On Mon, 31 Jul 2006 17:07:39 -0500, <hoofhah2002@nospam.yahoo.com > wrote:
> So I bottled my brown ale this weekend, first batch of beer I've
> brewed in 2 years, so I'm a bit rusty.
>
> I went to bottle and FORGOT that I had to disolve my 3/4 cup of sugar
> in a pint of water (by boiling). I just poured the sugar in the
> priming bucket, then siphoned the brew on in.
>
> After I was finished and cleaning up, I found that probably 1/3 of the
> sugar that I put in hadn't dissolved, and I then realized my mistake.
>
> So the question is.... should I relax, and not worry? Maybe the beer
> will be a little flat? I'm just worried that since it didn't disolve
> evenly, some bottles may have more (and risk exploding bottles) while
> others will have left.
>
> What do y'all think?
I think you'll just have to wait and see what happens. There's really
no way to tell how much got into each bottle.
John.
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Date: 01 Aug 2006 00:10:31
From: T.J. Higgins
Subject: Re: Back to Bottling after 2 years...OOPS
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In article <9pvsc2tlq5au5nnjtvc578o4ft026l1q8k@4ax.com >, phelper wrote:
>I went to bottle and FORGOT that I had to disolve my 3/4 cup of sugar
>in a pint of water (by boiling). I just poured the sugar in the
>priming bucket, then siphoned the brew on in.
>
>After I was finished and cleaning up, I found that probably 1/3 of the
>sugar that I put in hadn't dissolved, and I then realized my mistake.
>
>So the question is.... should I relax, and not worry? Maybe the beer
>will be a little flat? I'm just worried that since it didn't disolve
>evenly, some bottles may have more (and risk exploding bottles) while
>others will have left.
>
>What do y'all think?
Oops indeed. Probably the beer will be drinkable, just not
as carbonated as you expected. If you want to make up the
carbonation, take a look at a product called PrimeTabs.
They recommend 3 pills per 12oz bottle for full strength.
You could put in 1 pill per bottle to make up the 1/3 you
lost.
Good luck,
--
TJH
tjhiggin.at.hiwaay.dot.net
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Date: 31 Jul 2006 23:57:58
From: Eric Scantlebury
Subject: Re: Back to Bottling after 2 years...OOPS
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"phelper" <hoofhah2002@nospam.yahoo.com > wrote in message
news:9pvsc2tlq5au5nnjtvc578o4ft026l1q8k@4ax.com...
> So I bottled my brown ale this weekend, first batch of beer I've
> brewed in 2 years, so I'm a bit rusty.
>
> I went to bottle and FORGOT that I had to disolve my 3/4 cup of sugar
> in a pint of water (by boiling). I just poured the sugar in the
> priming bucket, then siphoned the brew on in.
>
> After I was finished and cleaning up, I found that probably 1/3 of the
> sugar that I put in hadn't dissolved, and I then realized my mistake.
>
> So the question is.... should I relax, and not worry? Maybe the beer
> will be a little flat? I'm just worried that since it didn't disolve
> evenly, some bottles may have more (and risk exploding bottles) while
> others will have left.
>
> What do y'all think?
I'm a very new newbie LOL! Only a Mr Beer extract under my belt as of yet
(still collecting the necessary equipment for a "real" batch - man,
craigslist can be slow sometimes). But In the Mr Beer kit they told me to
prime each of the bottles with table sugar (1 tbsp per - liter bottles). No
boiling, no dissolving - just put it in and shake the beer to dissolve as
much as you can type of thing. I warm conditioned for a month or so and
cold conditioned for a couple of weeks and not a single one was flat. All
carbonated real well in fact and I had good head retention too. Of course I
now realize that the table sugar probably accounted for the over sweetness
of the stuff (but my wife finally had a beer she actually liked - LOL!) -
but flatness wasn't a concern.
My lesson from the first batch - leftover yeast in solution will eventually
eat anything that resembles a fermentable :) But, again, I'm a newb so I
don't draw from any other experience but this one.
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Date: 01 Aug 2006 00:46:15
From: John 'Shaggy' Kolesar
Subject: Re: Back to Bottling after 2 years...OOPS
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On Mon, 31 Jul 2006 23:57:58 GMT, <Eric_Scantlebury@verizon.net > wrote:
> I'm a very new newbie LOL! Only a Mr Beer extract under my belt as of yet
> (still collecting the necessary equipment for a "real" batch - man,
> craigslist can be slow sometimes). But In the Mr Beer kit they told me to
> prime each of the bottles with table sugar (1 tbsp per - liter bottles). No
> boiling, no dissolving - just put it in and shake the beer to dissolve as
> much as you can type of thing.
IMO, that's not a very good method. You have to be really careful when
measuring out each tbsp. Any variation and you'll have carbonation levels
all over the place in your bottles. "Bulk priming" where you add the entire
priming sugar to the 5 gallons of beer first, and then bottle makes a lot
more sense.
BTW, if you haven't seen it yet, check out http://www.howtobrew.com for some
excellent information on brewing. Much better than anything you'll read in
the Mr Beer instructions.
> Of course I
> now realize that the table sugar probably accounted for the over sweetness
> of the stuff (but my wife finally had a beer she actually liked - LOL!) -
> but flatness wasn't a concern.
It shouldn't. Fermented table sugar will not make beer sweet. In fact,
because table sugar is 100% fermentable, it shouldn't leave any flavor at
all.
John.
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Date: 31 Jul 2006 22:37:35
From: David M. Taylor
Subject: Re: Back to Bottling after 2 years...OOPS
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"John 'Shaggy' Kolesar" <spam@shagg.net > wrote in message
news:slrnect96n.2e2.spam@weizen.shagg.net...
> On Mon, 31 Jul 2006 23:57:58 GMT, <Eric_Scantlebury@verizon.net> wrote:
>> Of course I
>> now realize that the table sugar probably accounted for the over
>> sweetness
>> of the stuff (but my wife finally had a beer she actually liked - LOL!) -
>> but flatness wasn't a concern.
>
> It shouldn't. Fermented table sugar will not make beer sweet. In fact,
> because table sugar is 100% fermentable, it shouldn't leave any flavor at
> all.
I agree with Shaggy, sugar will dry out and thin your beer. I would add
that if your beer seemed on the sweet side, it's from your extract. There's
no real good way to get rid of the sweetness from extract. You can try
different yeast that might be able to better metabolize the complex sugars.
You can try different brands of extract, some are less fermentable than
others. You can play with Beano, which breaks down the nonfermentable
sugars into fermentable ones, but it's got a bad reputation for overdoing
it. Or, you can eventually go to partial mashes or all-grain brewing, which
gives you excellent control over the fermentability of your wort. This is
the only real good way to eliminate extra sweetness in your beer.
--
Dave
"Just a drink, a little drink, and I'll be feeling GOOooOOooOOooD!" --
Genesis, 1973-ish
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Date: 01 Aug 2006 09:25:17
From: Eric Scantlebury
Subject: Re: Back to Bottling after 2 years...OOPS
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"David M. Taylor" <dmtaylor@SPAM.geocities.SUCKS.com > wrote in message
news:7aAzg.7771$8W7.3671@fe07.lga...
> "John 'Shaggy' Kolesar" <spam@shagg.net> wrote in message
> news:slrnect96n.2e2.spam@weizen.shagg.net...
> it. Or, you can eventually go to partial mashes or all-grain brewing,
> which gives you excellent control over the fermentability of your wort.
> This is the only real good way to eliminate extra sweetness in your beer.
That's the step I'm at now. I've given up on the Mr Beer kit, have
purchased a couple of carboys from craigslist (and a kegging system) and I'm
ready to try a partial mash.
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Date: 01 Aug 2006 09:23:52
From: Eric Scantlebury
Subject: Re: Back to Bottling after 2 years...OOPS
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"John 'Shaggy' Kolesar" <spam@shagg.net > wrote in message
news:slrnect96n.2e2.spam@weizen.shagg.net...
> On Mon, 31 Jul 2006 23:57:58 GMT, <Eric_Scantlebury@verizon.net> wrote:
>> I'm a very new newbie LOL! Only a Mr Beer extract under my belt as of yet
>> (still collecting the necessary equipment for a "real" batch - man,
>> craigslist can be slow sometimes). But In the Mr Beer kit they told me
>> to
>> prime each of the bottles with table sugar (1 tbsp per - liter bottles).
>> No
>> boiling, no dissolving - just put it in and shake the beer to dissolve as
>> much as you can type of thing.
>
> IMO, that's not a very good method. You have to be really careful when
> measuring out each tbsp. Any variation and you'll have carbonation levels
> all over the place in your bottles. "Bulk priming" where you add the
> entire
> priming sugar to the 5 gallons of beer first, and then bottle makes a lot
> more sense.
>
> BTW, if you haven't seen it yet, check out http://www.howtobrew.com for
> some
> excellent information on brewing. Much better than anything you'll read
> in
> the Mr Beer instructions.
Well after that first "Brew" I started researching the whole beer making
thing (including howtobrew), so I'm more "informed" now. Just stating my
results - it came out fine (but that could have been just dumb luck :)
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Date: 31 Jul 2006 19:30:07
From: Tom Biasi
Subject: Re: Back to Bottling after 2 years...OOPS
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"phelper" <hoofhah2002@nospam.yahoo.com > wrote in message
news:9pvsc2tlq5au5nnjtvc578o4ft026l1q8k@4ax.com...
> So I bottled my brown ale this weekend, first batch of beer I've
> brewed in 2 years, so I'm a bit rusty.
>
> I went to bottle and FORGOT that I had to disolve my 3/4 cup of sugar
> in a pint of water (by boiling). I just poured the sugar in the
> priming bucket, then siphoned the brew on in.
>
> After I was finished and cleaning up, I found that probably 1/3 of the
> sugar that I put in hadn't dissolved, and I then realized my mistake.
>
> So the question is.... should I relax, and not worry? Maybe the beer
> will be a little flat? I'm just worried that since it didn't disolve
> evenly, some bottles may have more (and risk exploding bottles) while
> others will have left.
>
> What do y'all think?
>
>
> PS... what fun it is getting back into the hobby after two years...
> this was my first bottling, but the second batch I brewed since
> restarting. The first batchh was minutes from going into the primary
> when the thermometer broke in the wort... little mercury in there,
> had to trash it :(
It depends how much you want to work. You could empty all the bottles and
reprime and rebottle, or you could RDWHAB. I know what I would do, but its
your call.
BTW: I would not trash a batch for a broken thermometer. Mercury is heavy
and will not go into solution. Rack off the top and there is no problem.
Tom
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Date: 31 Jul 2006 22:32:33
From: Jim
Subject: Re: Back to Bottling after 2 years...OOPS
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Tom Biasi wrote on 7/31/2006 7:30 PM:
>
> "phelper" <hoofhah2002@nospam.yahoo.com> wrote in message
> news:9pvsc2tlq5au5nnjtvc578o4ft026l1q8k@4ax.com...
>> So I bottled my brown ale this weekend, first batch of beer I've
>> brewed in 2 years, so I'm a bit rusty.
>>
>> I went to bottle and FORGOT that I had to disolve my 3/4 cup of sugar
>> in a pint of water (by boiling). I just poured the sugar in the
>> priming bucket, then siphoned the brew on in.
>>
>> After I was finished and cleaning up, I found that probably 1/3 of the
>> sugar that I put in hadn't dissolved, and I then realized my mistake.
>>
>> So the question is.... should I relax, and not worry? Maybe the beer
>> will be a little flat? I'm just worried that since it didn't disolve
>> evenly, some bottles may have more (and risk exploding bottles) while
>> others will have left.
>>
>> What do y'all think?
>>
>>
>> PS... what fun it is getting back into the hobby after two years...
>> this was my first bottling, but the second batch I brewed since
>> restarting. The first batchh was minutes from going into the primary
>> when the thermometer broke in the wort... little mercury in there,
>> had to trash it :(
>
>
> It depends how much you want to work. You could empty all the bottles
> and reprime and rebottle, or you could RDWHAB. I know what I would do,
> but its your call.
> BTW: I would not trash a batch for a broken thermometer. Mercury is
> heavy and will not go into solution. Rack off the top and there is no
> problem.
> Tom
I dont know I would drink anything that came in contact with Mercury.
You can read about it here http://www.algonet.se/~leif/AmFAQk02.html#WHAT
to make your own decision. Too risky for my blood.
Jim
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Date: 01 Aug 2006 05:44:16
From: Adam Preble
Subject: Re: Back to Bottling after 2 years...OOPS
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I've been bottling since I started, with results slowly improving. I
wasn't so diligent in stirring, even though I did boil the sugar. What
I think happens is some bottles are slow to take off but they manage.
The problem is one or two might not carbonate at all, and these will be
the ones you'll end up serving to people.
So I'd rebottle but you can wait on it. Let them carbonate so the
existing sugar gets depleted and then you can start completely over.
Also even if you boil the sugar, you'll want to stir it for about a
minute. Since I started doing that, I've had beers carbonate at the
same rate. This eliminates that feeling of dread when all you wanted
was a nice, young beer and it came out all flat.
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Date: 01 Aug 2006 21:42:55
From: Derric
Subject: Re: Back to Bottling after 2 years...OOPS
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> I went to bottle and FORGOT that I had to disolve my 3/4 cup of sugar
> in a pint of water (by boiling). I just poured the sugar in the
> priming bucket, then siphoned the brew on in.
...
> So the question is.... should I relax, and not worry? Maybe the beer
> will be a little flat? I'm just worried that since it didn't disolve
> evenly, some bottles may have more (and risk exploding bottles) while
> others will have left.
You've had a lot of good answers to this.
I once had a batch that was terribly unevenly primed. I did boil the
sugar, but it didn't mix from the addition of the beer (the beer was
a lager @ 32F and the very hot sugar water didn't mix - thermocline?).
Anyway, I always stir a little now!
As another poster said, you should
* let it carbonate out and see. If it still needs work:
* make up a sugar solution (math below).
* open each bottle and add a measured amount with an
eyedropper or syringe.
* from the "psfft," decide if they are evenly carbonated
or not and add more to the flat ones.
(You'll probably have some that aren't carbonated at all and others
that are about right. You may even have a few gushers that are way over
carbonated - just re-cap those right away, refridgerate and drink soon.)
Normal carbonation is 3/4 cup sugar (about 4 oz by weight) to five gallons
(~48 bottles):
4 oz sugar is for 48 bottles.
1 oz sugar in 1 oz water is about 36 ml of syrup.
1 oz sugar is for 12 bottles.
1/12 of 36 ml is 3 ml for each bottle. (For *FULL* carbonation)
If you have *some* carbonation, reduce that. The time I did it,
I used 2 ml of the syrup in each bottle and it turned out perfectly.
(I mixed units because my syringe was marked in ml!)
If you are careful, you *CAN* re-cap with the same caps... but I used
new ones to be sure.
When you are done, if you are uncertain about the carbonation level, put
the bottles in a bomb/water proof container until the carbonation is
done, just in case! :)
Derric
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