Bottled The Bottling!

[Econwatson]

G'day all!

I think I have made a bit of a rookie mistake on my bottling.
Perhaps I was a little timid with pressing down on the capper, but I just gave a friend a bottle to take home with them and she told me it has leaked in her car, so I'm guessing I may have improperly sealed the bottles!
Is there anything I can do at this point? It's been 4 days since I bottled them. Could I add a little water and sugar to the bottles I find to be unsealed or is the beer in there lost?
Any help you could give me would really be appreciated!

 

[bum]

Just get them under the capper again.

Reasonably unlikely that anything has been getting into bottles that have been sitting still/not leaking so infection is less of a concern than you might expect.

Reduced carb probably is an issue but I'd take low carb over any number of stuff-ups you might make playing with it now.

Suck it and see.

 

[Econwatson]

Thanks mate! Does the reaction of the yeast and sugar only take place under pressure or will I have lost a lot of CO2 with them being unsealed? If I have lost some should I just bottle them as is, or could I add a little sugar and water and try again?

 

[bum]

The lid is just to keep the pressure in. The yeast don't care, really. Actually, I think the CO2 in solution may slow them down a bit but that's by the by for our purposes.

Yes, you'll have lost carb for sure. You could combat that by adding sugar but it will be a fizzy, overflowing mess that might introduced infection (maybe). I'd cop the lack of carb, personally.

Also remember that you may only be talking about that one bottle or a small handful of bottles - you might get lucky.

 

[Econwatson]

Oh god, I think I've made a terrible mistake!

My girlfriend bought a load of bottle caps for DIY purposes (unrelated to brewing). I've just had a look at the underside of the caps and to my horror, I realised there is no rubber seal. I am guessing this is the cause of my problem since every other beer bottle I've seen in history has this rubber seal!

 

[431neb]

Oh god, I think I've made a terrible mistake!

My girlfriend bought a load of bottle caps for DIY purposes (unrelated to brewing). I've just had a look at the underside of the caps and to my horror, I realised there is no rubber seal. I am guessing this is the cause of my problem since every other beer bottle I've seen in history has this rubber seal!

Oh Jesus! That's the price of craft I'm afraid. I know they say "Craft Beer" but "Craft and Beer"...? I don't think so.

Look at me I'm a tree.

 

[Econwatson]

Yeah I just popped one and it's pretty much completely flat. It actually tasted really good which is a shame, because it would have tasted way better carbonated!

 

[Econwatson]

Sorry to double post, just an update to let you all know what I did.

Went ahead and re-capped the bottles. It actually tastes a lot like the Coopers Sparkling Ale which I am pleased with.

Working on a Coopers Draught Kit with BE1 and Us-05 hops. Definitely doing a partial next again!

 

[tiprya]

If they are completely flat, you can add more sugar and then re-cap them properly.

Make sure the original bottle priming is completely fermented out (wait 2 weeks) or you risk gushers or bottle bombs.

 

[Econwatson]

Ah I had a conversation with some others in another thread. I decided against it just in case. It's not worth the risk!

 

[glenwal]

Us-05 hops.

:huh: I assume you mean yeast :lol: ?

 

[Muscovy_333]

You can add suar direct to the bottle. You do not need to solublise it in water, unlike bulk priming where you need to ensure even distribution of sugar is even, you will be adding a known amount of sugar to a known volume in your bottle.
IMHO if it has been primed and sitting for 3-4 days it will be almost completely fermented. Personally, I'd add a half measure of sugar to each bottle, seal them up good and start drinking them 2 weeks later. As mentioned, under carbed is the least of your worries, but i think flat beer sucks!

If you find they are getting too fizzy invite your mates over to polish them off before you produce hand grinades and right it off as a learning experience.

Disclaimer: bottle bombs are super dangerous.

An after thought for an experiment that may help to figure out how much unfermented sugar you have left in bottles;

1. seal up one of your suspect bottles
2. if you have a heatpad or hotbox for fermenting apply around 30 degrees for a week

You may be able to speed up your conditioning to see what your carb level gets too.

 

[Econwatson]

Sorry guys I meant US-05 yeast. Showing my inexperience, haha!

I'm a little concerned about my current fermentation at the moment though. I'm fermenting at about 24'c. I understand it would be better to bring it down to around 20'c but I'm really struggling to keep it cool. Do you guys reckon 24 is too hot or should I be alright for a Coopers Draught kit?

Sorry to keep posting random things in the topic, just don't want to clutter up the forum with all my newbie questions!

 

[carniebrew]

I'm a little concerned about my current fermentation at the moment though. I'm fermenting at about 24'c. I understand it would be better to bring it down to around 20'c but I'm really struggling to keep it cool. Do you guys reckon 24 is too hot or should I be alright for a Coopers Draught kit?

Cooler would be better, yes. Try sitting it in the bathroom on cool tiles, even better in the bath with some cold water in there, towel draped around the FV with the ends sitting in the water....replace the water occassionally. Even get a fan blowing on it if you really need.