Soft Bottles

[weggl]

Did a brew 2 weeks ago and have 3 bottles that are soft. It not a case of missing sugar because I bulked primed. The 3 bottles have a foam head on them.

I tied the tops but they were all on tight so it was not my missing on the tightening.

I have had this happen a few times, my smotty ale did the same thing but with it I had used sugar pills, so I figured that I had missed a couple of bottles so I re-primed the 2. Both these remained soft. These 2 cases were both bottled with new bottles and therefore new caps. All I can put it down to is crook bottles as in the top of the bottles, or crook tops. Any thoughts on this problem.[pinched]

Warren

 

[Muddy Waters]

The temps have a dropped a bit in the last couple of weeks so maybe they just need a bit longer. I be surprised if it was the bottles - I'd put it down to either low temps or brewer mistake (ie. not primed).

 

This is why I always add my carb drops first to all bottles and then start filling. You can then hear and see that they are in the bottle as you go to fill them. This is especially true with PET bottles.

[Guest]

Sorry mate, I have no idea what the problem is. However, it may pay to mark these bottles that have not carbed then when you reuse them see if the same problem reoccurs with these particular bottles only. If so, all I can suggest is let Coopers know and chuck 'em.

 

[PB2]

What temp have the soft bottles been sitting at for secondary ferment?

 

You can check the integrity of the seal by submersing the bottles upright in water, squeeze them and look for bubbles.

[Matty A]

I would have thought that the temperatures may be just a tad low for it.

 

As Bill said, mark the bottles that cause you issues and if they do it on the next brew toss them, the PET's are fairly cheap. With your $60/ week budget you could buy 4 boxes [biggrin]

[mukkaman]

stop using plastic.

[Matty A]

Plastic is OK Mukkaman. I use plastic for the beer that I want to drink early and I use glass for the beer I want to age considerably.

 

It's the drinking out of plastic that is the problem, aye Weggl.

[Muddy Waters]

PET is a perfectly suitable container for beer Mukkaman and if poured into a clean beer glass tastes no different from one bottled in glass.

 

Of course if you want to cellar them for over a year or two glass would be the better option.

[weggl]

No Muddy, you made one of my mistakes of not reading the script. I said i bulk primed this batch so it can't be missed pills. the temp has been around 19c, all the other bottles in this batch are hard with no foam on the top.

The Smoty that had a similar problem had 2 soft ones, i reprimed these with 2 pills, one remained hard the other soft,both these batches had new bottles and tops, got me stuffed.[devil]

[Matty A]

maybe a source of infection??

[RoyG]

Hi all, whats wrong with ageing beer in plastic bottles? Have just put a Vintage ale and a SMOTY ale down for a few months in plastic bottles and am now a bit worried. Roy

[Guest]

old re-used lids? perhaps just simply not sealed properly??

 

dunno if it aint that or the above

[Muddy Waters]

No Muddy' date=' you made one of my mistakes of not reading the script. [/quote']

 

No, I read the script. My mistake was typing ie. instead of eg. - It was a generic comment t this problem not specific to yours. I'll go straight to bed without any dinner and try to be clearer next time [innocent] (Clear as Muddy [tongue] ).

 

Hi all' date=' whats wrong with ageing beer in plastic bottles? Have just put a Vintage ale and a SMOTY ale down for a few months in plastic bottles and am now a bit worried. Roy[/quote']

 

Worry not Roy. PET bottles may start to lose carbonation after a couple of years...they will be fine for many months [biggrin]

 

[RoyG]

Cheers Muddy. Will look forward to sampling in a few months[biggrin] [biggrin]

[weggl]

 

 

This is why I always add my carb drops first to all bottles and then start filling. You can then hear and see that they are in the bottle as you go to fill them. This is especially true with PET bottles.

 

[weggl]

[

 

This is why I always add my carb drops first to all bottles and then start filling. You can then hear and see that they are in the bottle as you go to fill them. This is especially true with PET bottles.

Muddy, you allways tell us that you bulk prime, so do you also add "carb drops"?

 

[LeonardC2]

I've read of this problem on a couple of forums. It usually is an uneven distribution of the priming solution. Many over here mix the right amount of priming sugar in a sauce pan of 2C of hot water. Let it cool a bit,then start siphoning the beer into your bottling bucket. Get a couple inches in it,then pour in maybe half the priming solution. Let it fill/swirl some more,then pour in the remaining solution. When finished siphoning,give it a few light stirs to be sure it's mixed well,just don't whip it up! You don't want to mix any oxygen in it at this point. This way seems to work the best.