Dubster Posted September 6, 2015 Share Posted September 6, 2015 Hi all, Just need to share my pain.... I've been bulk priming for a while, usually stirring it in the FV and bottling after 30mins. Well, I was getting a lot of sediment and thought maybe racking is the way to go. Got myself a syphon, put the priming sugar in the bottling bucket and away I went. I didn't stir it because I read that the force of the beer swirling into the bb would be enough... 2 weeks later a bottle blows up....never happened before and was wracking my brains as to what happened. I clean and sanitise everything so I started opening a few bottles (very carefully mind you!). Anyway, some are dead flat (but taste good), and others are over-carbonated. Not gushers, but way over carbonated and taste very sweet. So, I've put it down to perhaps the syphon not running very fast (was a bit of a slow flow) and the sugar not mixing through the brew equally. The worst part is that I did 2 brews identically....the second is the same, some very over-carbonated and sweet, the others flat. So goodbye Nut Brown Ale and American Amber Ale.... I think they're probably too dangerous to keep as I don't know which ones are over carbed and which ones are not. They're currently stored in a cold shed. Any ideas as to what I could do? (apart from empty them all) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Ruddager Posted September 6, 2015 Share Posted September 6, 2015 Mate, you're the third one of us in a couple of months to strike this problem, me being one of the others. We feel your pain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Chop Posted September 6, 2015 Share Posted September 6, 2015 Two Coopers carb drops in a big bottle one carb drop in a stubby bottle and priming is done in around two minutes. Works for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted September 6, 2015 Share Posted September 6, 2015 Probably not much you can do with these two batches, however I took to giving the transferred beer a gentle stir to properly mix the priming solution in. Haven't had any problems with inconsistent carbonation levels by doing this. Never was much of a fan of bulk priming in the FV itself... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dubster Posted September 6, 2015 Author Share Posted September 6, 2015 Yeah, I used to use the priming drops but was given a heap of odd sized bottles and have been bulk priming without issue till now. I think it was the syphon and slow transfer from FV to BB. Next time I'll set it up so I can drain from the FV tap to the BB and give a few gentle stirs to make sure its all mixed adequately. Live and learn!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthCoast85 Posted September 6, 2015 Share Posted September 6, 2015 You probably already have this sorted but just to tick all the boxes, are you dissolving your priming sugar in some hot water or just banging it in dry? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joules Posted September 6, 2015 Share Posted September 6, 2015 Hi all' date=' Just need to share my pain.... I've been bulk priming for a while, usually stirring it in the FV and bottling after 30mins. Well, I was getting a lot of sediment and thought maybe racking is the way to go. Got myself a syphon, put the priming sugar in the bottling bucket and away I went. I didn't stir it because I read that the force of the beer swirling into the bb would be enough... 2 weeks later a bottle blows up....never happened before and was wracking my brains as to what happened. I clean and sanitise everything so I started opening a few bottles (very carefully mind you!). Anyway, some are dead flat (but taste good), and others are over-carbonated. Not gushers, but way over carbonated and taste very sweet. ... [/quote'] Interesting, I've bulk primed into the last 3 brews - that is I rack the FV after settling for a week or more into the priming vessel and bottle straight away (well, as soon as I get my shit together - no rush though!). All of them turn out perfect - which makes me an advocate of bulk priming (for myself atleast). However these are the fundamentals of what I do: 1) Check some online bulk priming calculator - factor in residual carbonation (Note: Only something that I notice is more important with lagers). 2) Liquidate the sugar (I use dextrose) on a stove with ~250ml of water - bring to boil. 3) Allow to cool (somewhat - bout by the time I got my shit together) 4) Rack off FV into PV with and poor in as soon it flows. 5) Bottle. No stiring, no nothin. Just bottlin. Bulk priming is good to me because I use odd bottles from the wasteland that I have scavenged. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waylon Posted September 6, 2015 Share Posted September 6, 2015 Not being rude but I find this is just a good reason not to bulk prime or to rack to secondry... No real need Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted September 6, 2015 Share Posted September 6, 2015 I don't put racking the beer to bulk prime it in the same category as racking to a secondary. The reasoning behind both of these practices is completely different. In my view the benefits of bulk priming outweigh any cons it might have. You can use any size bottles, you can far more accurately adjust the level of carbonation to taste, and it's also cheaper than buying carb drops. I also find it makes the actual bottling itself quicker, disregarding the extra time to prepare the solution, rack the beer, clean the extra items etc., however, these are minor inconveniences to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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