Inconsistent Carbonation

I am finally at the stage to sample my first batch of brew.  Problem is very inconsistent carbonation.  It has been bottle conditioning for 3 weeks in room temperature 68-70.  I have opened several bottles and none are the same.  Had one yesterday with a very nice head and almost over carbonated and then another that was medium and a third that was completely flat.  All have been stored together.  I did bottle some of the batch in 22 oz bottles and some in 12 oz.  I have noticed that even though still very different the 12 oz bottles seem to have more carbonation than the 22s.  I added 5 oz of corn sugar at bottling time as per instructions.  I dissolved it in hot 1 cup of hot water let it cool, and poured into the bottom of the bottling bucket.  I siphoned the beer in next letting the hose cause a mix under the surface. 

I have in my next batch that I just bottled used a clean brewing spoon to lightly mix the beer in the bottling bucket.  I am hoping this will provide a better mixing and more consistent carbonation. 
Any other ideas?

Three weeks is considered a minimum for bottle conditioning and while this is often enough, quite frequently you are going to find more consistent carbonation levels after 6 weeks at 68-70 degrees.  Wait another 3 weeks and you will likely be pleased with the results.

What kind of beer? ABV, etc?

Sounds like you did everything correct with the priming. Did you try to consistently fill each bottle up to 1 inch below top?

The beer was a kit from Midwest Supply called Rocky Pale Ale.  I used a bottle filler wand to get each bottle at a consistent level.    OG was 1.047  FG came in at 1.007 so it looks like I did have a complete fermentation.  I used Irish moss for clarity.  I racked to a secondary for just a couple of days after 12 days of fermentation to help clarify.  I then racked to the bottling bucked with sugar solution.  It just seems to me that somehow I did not get a good mix of the corn sugar with the finished beer, although the ones that have been flat do have a sweet taste to them.  I am going to leave them alone for another couple of weeks and see if anything has changes.  Hope it works out because the ones that have carbonation are pretty darn good.


Run more, drink more beer!!!

Doesn't make sense if you put the priming sugar in the bottling vessel.
The only other thing that I can think of is if some of the caps were not completely sealed.

Good luck!

davkel said:

... some of the caps were not completely sealed.

Click to expand...

Bad caps would explain the variability.  Time should help across the board. 

I don't know squat about fluid dynamics, but I would add a spoon-stir to the routine.  100% of the sugar water is sitting on the floor of the bucket, and the only thing mixing it is the incoming beer.  I usually mix mine gently 3-4 times while I'm bottling. 

Thanks, I did mix on the IPA I just bottled.  Did everything the same, just used my sterilized brew spoon to give it a light stir.  Should help considerably.  I am using different bottles on this IPA as well.  I got a good deal of some flip tops.  Added new rubber washers to them and bottled. 

I'm an extract brewer and prefer to use 300 to 500 mL(half litre) bottles as they're a nice serve size. My usual batch varies from 15 litres(Stouts,Barley Wine) to 23 litres(Lagers, IPAs). I use household white sugar for priming. I have tried dissolving and mixing in the priming sugar to the barrel but like you found the results inconsistent. I came to the conclusion that I was not able to ensure an even spread of the priming sugar through the brew. Nowadays I use kitchen measuring spoons and add 5mL to each bottle (level for 330, more for larger bottles) . For the heavier concentrates,15 litres use the 2.5 spoon and aim for 2/3rds usual priming sugar for each bottle. Yes, it takes a little longer to do but you'll like the hiss and puff of CO2 escaping when you open it.

BTW when you find a bottle that is flat but looks okay its a good excuse to open another and add them together in your glass. Not so fizzy but perish the thought you'd tip out a perfectly good beer!  If both are flat you have a crisis and you'll have to try repriming. Do not add a spoon of sugar at this point or you will get a gushing fountain. Instead I'd drop in a carbonation drop(type of candy) or a spoon of dissolved sugar and recap FAST!

ps I hope the measures and terms make sense. We speak the same language down here in the South Pacific but don't always do things the same way,

For proper carbonation, the beer needs to be stores around 70.  "Room Temperature" is usually much less than people think.  Ensure you beer is stored in conditions that promote the process.  Colder temps will take much longer and can cause result in a lower CO2 volume than desired. 

We had very similar results using the red plastic hand bottle capper and the inexpensive caps.  We started using the oxygen barrier caps (double the cost but worth it) and most, not all of the variability went away. The issue wasn't oxygen, but these caps have a much better seal almost like an o-ring. So we think making sure you keep the bucket well stirred without splashing alot, and better caps will go along way.  We finally broke the hand capper, the Princess bought us a bench capper at this is heaven!!  8)
To further investigte this, try twisting your caps like a twist off. I was surprised how many would turn by hand. With the bench capper, none of them do so we went back to cheap caps!  :

Preston