My hb is not carbonating in bottles properly

by **Captain Morgan** » Saturday Feb 18, 2012 10:25 am

Hey folks,

So my first ever homebrew has been in bottles for about 3 to 4 weeks. I tried it yesterday and it is dead flat. I noticed the dextrose I used to prime has just settled on the bottom corner of the bottles and built up...

Anyone know how I can fix this?

I gave them a good shake yesterday but the built up dex is not coming loose!

After about 2 weeks in bottles I read somewhere you are meant to invert the bottles during bottling, so I turned them all upside down / gentle shake. Doesn't look like that did a thing though!

I'm interested to know why this happened. I'll be bottling my ginger beer some time over the next few days so keen to avoid it.

Luckily I used carbonation drops for half of the brew!

by **bullfrog** » Saturday Feb 18, 2012 10:39 am

Run us through the method you used to bottle and the conditions that the bottles have been in since they were bottled (ie. where they've been stored and at whet temp, etc.)

by **Captain Morgan** » Saturday Feb 18, 2012 11:01 am

330ml - 345ml with dextrose (little less than the small scoop designed for 375ml). I did the same with some long necks (500ml, 700ml). Added the dextrose, then filled, capped, sat upright in a closed cardboard box under my house. It is very dark down there. Temp I have no idea about since I live in Tassie and we have 4 seasons in a day. 2 days ago it was 32 degrees, now its 15 degrees.

by **Bum** » Saturday Feb 18, 2012 11:20 am

I can't work out your issue but, like you, I bottle in varying bottle sizes and I find bulk priming works much better. A little more work on bottling day but much more reliable and consistent. A quick search will show you the method and you'll be able to see if you think it will be good for you.

by **emnpaul** » Saturday Feb 18, 2012 11:50 am

Are you sure it was dextrose? Dextrose is also sold as corn sugar in some areas/supplier chains. Where as maltodextrin is another name for corn starch. Is it possible you or your vendor have confused the two and you have inadvertently primed with corn starch?

Dextrose will dissolve easily in beer and is readily consumed by yeast. Corn starch not so much.

by **Captain Morgan** » Saturday Feb 18, 2012 11:59 am

As far as I'm aware it is dextrose. Very fine white powder, and the label says dextrose..

Am I meant to shake / invert at bottling to mix it up? My mate said it doesn't matter, although he used normal white sugar not dextrose.

I'll look into bulk priming.

by **emnpaul** » Saturday Feb 18, 2012 12:22 pm

I''ve never needed to shake bottles to dissolve dextrose, sugar, dried malt or carb drops. Time and yeast will invariably take care of it. Point being if it hasn't dissolved by now it's not dextrose.

There is an easy way to test it. Stick your finger, or preferrably a nice clean spoon in the bag and taste it. If it's sweet like sugar it's dex. If it's sort of bland and becomes sweet after a minute or so as the peptase enzymes in your saliva break down the starch, then its Malto. If it's neither it's probably Pablo Escobar's missing stash so sell it and buy a micro-brewery.

by **bullfrog** » Saturday Feb 18, 2012 1:00 pm

emnpaul wrote:If it's neither it's probably Pablo Escobar's missing stash so sell it and buy a micro-brewery.

Either that or instead of being sold corn sugar or corn starch you were sold corn flour and can use it to thicken up sauces and gravies.

by **Captain Morgan** » Saturday Feb 18, 2012 1:02 pm

haha unfortunately its not Escobar's missing stash, it is in fact dextrose. Nice and sweet. I'm not sure what's going on though as the ones with carb drops seem to be fine, but the dex ones seem to be quite flat, and there is definitely a build up of dex in each bottle. Hopefully it will just take more time, although it has been 4 weeks already...

I'm thinking I might use white sugar instead of dex for my ginger beer

by **barls** » Saturday Feb 18, 2012 2:01 pm

its probably nice and cool in that cupboard. try bringing a couple of bottles out and in to a warmer place for a week or two and see if it makes a difference.

by **emnpaul** » Saturday Feb 18, 2012 2:30 pm

Still doesn't explain why it hasn't dissolved in your beer. Has the dextrose dissolved and it's yeast that's clumped on the bottom? Try giving them a good shake and warm them up a bit as Barls has suggested.

by **warra48** » Saturday Feb 18, 2012 3:56 pm

OK, what did you brew?
Recipe, and which yeast?
What was your brewing method?
At what temperature and for how long did you ferment?
OG and FG?

Never had a brew which didn't carbonate eventually, although some of them took 6 to 8 weeks.

by **barls** » Saturday Feb 18, 2012 10:25 pm

are we sure its dextrose on the bottom, not sediment thats settled out from the beer.
was the beer bright when bottling?
more details will help. if its a high alcohol beer the yeast could just be at its upper limit.

by **sly** » Sunday May 06, 2012 11:03 pm

I seem to be having the same problem

I used Brewcraft carbonation drops, one per 375ml twist top. Been in the cupboard for two weeks and it's almost completely flat. When I pour it i get the ever slightest amount of fine bubbles appearing on the side of the glass.

I do see a thin layer of yeast sediment in the bottles.

I'm guessing it's either a poor seal with the twist tops, or the cupboard is too cold & the yeast isn't working. I'll move it somewhere warmer to see if that helps.

With the bench cappers, how much pressure is needed on the lever to make a good seal? At the time, it looked ok, the caps were crimped down & there were no leaks, but I noticed when I opened a bottle that the lid seemed to come off way too easily.

Anyone else having trouble with seals?

This was only my first brew btw, so still learning everything the hard way

by **hyjak** » Sunday May 06, 2012 11:55 pm

Before worrying about whether the bottles are capped correctly, see what results the warmer temp give you. Dare say it is just a bit slow due to low temps, nothing to stress about, it will come right eventually.

by **warra48** » Monday May 07, 2012 4:24 am

As to the bench capper, I apply enough pressure so that there is a dimple in the top of the cap when I'm done. Also, after the first crimp, try rotating the bottle halfway round under the capper, and press down again. If I don't have the dimple, I don't feel it is done tight enough.
You can apply a lot of pressure without fear of breakage, I can lean most of my weight on the capper and have never had a breakage.
Try to get the capper adjustment as low as you can while still allowing the bottle to just squeeze under it.

by **aydanrogers** » Friday May 25, 2012 8:08 am

No I didn't use finings, I just ran it from the fermenter into a jerry to bulk prime and then bottled. This is the first time I have had any dramas of the sort and also having a beer that isn't clear on the bottle.

by **warra48** » Friday May 25, 2012 10:39 am

aydanrogers wrote:No I didn't use finings, I just ran it from the fermenter into a jerry to bulk prime and then bottled. This is the first time I have had any dramas of the sort and also having a beer that isn't clear on the bottle.

What are you responding to, or what issue are you raising?
This appears to be your first post in this thread?

by **bullfrog** » Friday May 25, 2012 10:43 am

warra48 wrote:
aydanrogers wrote:No I didn't use finings, I just ran it from the fermenter into a jerry to bulk prime and then bottled. This is the first time I have had any dramas of the sort and also having a beer that isn't clear on the bottle.

What are you responding to, or what issue are you raising?
This appears to be your first post in this thread?

He has another thread going where he was worried about haze in the bottle (I'm on tapatalk and it's a PITA to link to it, otherwise I would.)

Emnpaul had just suggested that perhaps his problem was from over-fining with gelatine.

Think maybe somebody had a couple of Thursday night cold ones and forgot which thread to post in?