PhilL4 Posted May 18, 2011 Share Posted May 18, 2011 Hi guys, Just ran my 3 brew through the kit, the brew came out beautifully, except that in some bottles it feels like it has begun to go flat, sort of only half carbonated. I'm using the coopers PET Bottles and their Carbonation drops, using 2 per bottle. I've heard rumors that sometimes the bottles don't seal as well as they claim too and that can sometimes lead to issues. The really odd thing is it seems to vary bottle to bottle and there is not linking factors. I have noticed this in previous brews also. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 18, 2011 Share Posted May 18, 2011 Hay Phil, take em out 1 by 1, put your ear near the lid and give them a squeese.. if you hear gas escaping then surprise surprise you dont have a good seal. For those, you can get a new lid, disolve a bit of dex and use a small serynge to squirt a few ml's into each and reseal. Give em a tilt or 3 to resuspend the yeast.. Ive never done it myself as I use glass but ive heard of this done.. of course give them the squeese test again... Yob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeonardC2 Posted May 19, 2011 Share Posted May 19, 2011 After I fill & cap them all,I go back over them & make sure all the caps are tight. No failures yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
91abv_chris Posted May 19, 2011 Share Posted May 19, 2011 I trashed all my PET bottles a while back, they were haunted by beings that lived on CO2. I actually started calling the carbonation 'the angels portion'. No matter what I did, they just consumed it all before it had any chance to build up. Now I use only glass bottles and they work on all my beers and sodas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muddy Waters Posted May 19, 2011 Share Posted May 19, 2011 I tend to use a combination of glass and PET. I've had hundreds of beers in PET and never had a flat one. My money is on the lids not being tightened properly - New lids are a bit harder to tighten than old ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike - Hoosier Daddy Posted May 19, 2011 Share Posted May 19, 2011 Once you open a new lid it leaves the little bottom portion on the bottle. When you reuse the lid on your next batch is it ok to leave that portion on or better to remove it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muddy Waters Posted May 19, 2011 Share Posted May 19, 2011 I leave it on unless I'm using new lids (I rarely, if ever, replace the lids though). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 19, 2011 Share Posted May 19, 2011 Once you open a new lid it leaves the little bottom portion on the bottle. When you reuse the lid on your next batch is it ok to leave that portion on or better to remove it? I remove the "collar" from the lid before screwing the lid on the bottle. It's a lot easier that way. I also remove the blue plasticy thing that is in the lid as I reckon it is a place for the nasties to hide. I am yet to have an infected or undercarbed beer. However, I only get 2-5 bottles per brew. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
91abv_chris Posted May 20, 2011 Share Posted May 20, 2011 The blue plasticy thing? You mean the liner? I thot it needed that for a good seal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muddy Waters Posted May 20, 2011 Share Posted May 20, 2011 I know some people tend to take out the blue lining inside the lid but I for one don't think it is a good idea. It must be there for a reason. When bottling I drop my lids into a bowl of iodophor solution and just take them out and give them a shake to remove excess liquid before putting them on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matty A Posted May 20, 2011 Share Posted May 20, 2011 The blue plasticy thing? You mean the liner? I thot it needed that for a good seal. I thought they helped improve the seal aswell. As the side of the bbottle goes up into the cap it gets pushed against the blue plastic thing which in turn creates the seal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 20, 2011 Share Posted May 20, 2011 Yep, I remove that and.... I am yet to have an infected or undercarbed beer. However, I only get 2-5 bottles per brew. .... never had any problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilL4 Posted May 23, 2011 Author Share Posted May 23, 2011 Thanks guys, they were new bottles with new lids so hopefully that wasn't the issue. I did the squeeze test, no air leakage. I have heard from the local home brew store that sometimes the bottles just leak the gas and theres very little i can do about it, which of course is then followed by him suggesting i buy glass bottles off him lol, so I'm not sure how true that is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matty A Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 How long have they been sitting in the bottles Phil. Due to the colder weather it might be just taking longer to carbonate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregT5 Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 My current brew has just reached 14 days in the bottle. I have kept a pretty close eye on this brew & noticed some bottles carbonated faster than others. They were in the "freezer" section of my brew fridge & were kept at 20 degrees. Some were hard after 7 days & others took the full 14 days, with no particular pattern as to where they were in the fridge. I use PET bottles & carb drops. Checked them yesterday & they are all about the same pressure. I would tend to leave them as long as you can - it may be just a slow fermentation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snags Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 Ive noticed a varying level of carbonation in my bottles aswell (using Long neck bottles) and I'm starting to think its due to the carbonation drops. I've noticed that the sizes seem to vary alot, and I try to use all the larger ones. I'm thinking of maybe just using white sugar and the measuring spoon so its more accurate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matty A Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 Instead of measuring white sugar for the individual bottles you could just buy another fermenter like tub ($15 at Bunnings) and Bulk Prime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snags Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 Um, yeah, that's not a bad idea at all. [biggrin] Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matty A Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 I woudln't know what to do with all of those odd size bottles I have if it wasn't for bulk priming. I have 500ml swingtop bottles that are too large for one carb drop and too small for 2. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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