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Bottling

mterm

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I have been bottling my beer using a bottling bucket. I take a small amount of wort and heat to dissolve corn sugar and add to the bucket, siphon the wort from the carboy and then bottle. I have found that the carbonation in the bottles of beer varies. It seems that the bottles that are filled first develop more carbonation than the ones filled last. The only thing I can think of is that the corn sugar is not evenly distributed through the wort it must sit at the bottom of the bucket. So my thought was to bottle directly from the carboy and use carbonation tablets. Does anyone do it this way and how were the results and what type of carbonation tablets do you use.
 
I wouldn't worry about it. The "problem" may be with the amount of yeast in each bottle too! I dissolve the corn sugar (3/4 cup) with hot water in the bottling bucket. I then siphen the wort into the bucket while I stir trying not to aerate it. I have a small amount of variation in my bottles carbonation too but I know I am doing it OK. I use a sterilized ladle to stir and bring the bottom wort up to the top.
I use the carbonation tablets when I keg a beer while wanting a few beers in a bottle. The tablets are nice because you can vary the number from 6 or so down to just a couple to get the carbonation just right. I don't think it's worth it to do 50 bottles that way though.
        Good Luck
 
Thanks for the reply Bob,
I hadn't been stirring it but I will give it a try this time its a great idea

 
I put the CS in a pyrex with about 12 oz water and boil.  Cool, and add to beer in bucket, stirring with typical 21-inch s/s spoon, and I usually stir it again twice during the bottling process. 

If I've had the beer in secondary a while, I purposely try to suck up some yeast with the racking cane.

I first fill and cover every bottle with a cap, rinse stuff off, and then start crimping caps.  Usually, the caps are burping by the time I get to capping.  I figure that is blowing some O2 out of the neck. 
 
I use the tool in BS to determine the amount (weight) of sugar for bottling based on the actual volume of beer.  You just have to do a little research on carbonation volumes.  That 3/4 cup (volume) rule can get you in trouble. Use the tools you already have.

cheers

 

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I use the tool in BS to figure the amount of sugar to use. My question was more about how to evenly distribute the sugar through the wort prior to bottling when using a bottling bucket. I have noticed that the carbonation in the bottles can vary from the first bottle to the last.
 
I have used the tabs, they work OK. I wish I could find some info on how many to add to a bottle for a specific volume CO2 though. My only minor gripe is sometimes you get floaties or you will get a ring of crud from the dried floaties on the neck at the level of the liquid. Overall though, they do a pretty good job.
 
The technique I use and it seems to produce reasonable results is to first put the sugar solution into the bottling bucket. And then during the siphon transfer I use a second racking cane in reverse and align the short end of the racking cane with the bucket wall to create a swirling action as the wort transfers.  I create the sugar solution with two cups of water, boil for 10 minutes and then cool. Maybe the 10 minute boil creates a completely dissolved simple syrup that dissolves better.
 
Ya gotta get it mixed in better.
Stir it a bit, without sloshing or sucking air into the wort.

I add my sugar to my secondary. There's usually enough room.  Then I siphon the secondary off to yet one other  carboy. Then I siphon to the bottles from there.  I use long hoses to prevent  sloshing and splashing.
It works pretty well.  I tend to get even Carbonation.
 
I think that CR has it right.  Keep it simple. Stir gently & often during the process. It works!
Oh yeah ........ patience!!  Don't crak a top for at least two weeks!!!

Hard to do but thet improve in all respects with time!!
 
Using a bottling bucket is best - I add the corn sugar water mix somewhere in the first 2 gallons of transfer so it gets mixed in. Just prior to starting the siphon for bottling I do several slow figure-8 stirring motions to ensure all is mixed well. Seems to work well enough


Figure-8 stirring is one of the things I recall from chem classes to evenly and thoroughly mix a solution. I also use figure-8 stirring when adding LME during the boil mixed with clockwise and counter clockwise stirring.
 
mterm,

We had similar problems starting out.  BobBrews and CR have given great advice.  The CS solution must be complete dissolved in the beer. This made the greatest difference. We did continue to have a few duds in each batch.  We started using the more expensive silver oxygen barrier caps. Not because of oxygen, but because they have a much better seal in the top than the less expensive gold caps. This also made a difference but we still continued to have one or two.

This season, our trusty red plastic hand capper broke. The Princess bought us a bench style capper to replace it.  No more duds!  We went back to less expensive gold caps, and of the few batches we have started to serve, no more duds.

Food for more thought! Good Luck,

Preston
 
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