My Confusing Scotch Ale Bottle

[fuddnuddler]

G'day,
Did a Scotch Ale for my 2nd ever brew - 1 tin Thomas Coopers sparkling ale; 1 tin Thomas Coopers amber malt extract; 500g dark brown sugar; recultured yeast from Coopers commercial pale ale (thanks PB2!!). Made to 21 litres, fermented around 18 degrees. Bottled in PET with carbonation drops.
After 36 hours, one of the PET bottles was rock hard...released some pressure, pssshhht, tightened cap, soon it got rock hard again, so repeated the process three times. The confusing bottle had an off smell, kind of like, um, vomit. Threw it out (no big loss).
Any theory on why one bottle would perform so differently to all the others - which appear to be acting normally in carbonation stage (currently only five days since bottling)?
Cheers

 

[manticle]

Bottle infection? You may have missed a bit of crust when cleaning it.

 

[fuddnuddler]

Bottle infection? You may have missed a bit of crust when cleaning it.

Ah, mayeb so...didn't think of that (but don't know what to think!)
Used new PET bottles but did rinse them beforehand - only with cool water which had been boiled first though...
Cheers

 

[manticle]

Well it's less likely if they were new but still possible.

The other, less optimistic possibility is that the whole brew is infected but it's shown up in that one first. Fingers crossed for the former.

 

[fuddnuddler]

The other, less optimistic possibility is that the whole brew is infected but it's shown up in that one first. Fingers crossed for the former.

Yeah, that is my great fear at the moment, that the whole batch is bad/infected...time will tell I guess - tks for the reply

 

[marlow_coates]

Have you checked the other bottles?

If they are also rock hard, then it may not have finished fermenting when you bottled it.
Did you check SG to confirm fermentation had finished?

The taste of your beer at 5 days in the bottle usually is pretty crap. (especially with kit brews - they take time)
I would recomend opening another bottle to see if it is throughout the brew, or this was an isolated case.

The infection theory is possible, but like Manticle said, unlikely given it was a new bottle, you cleaned it, and 5 days seems like a short time to cause that much damage.

The other option is that you accidentally double carb dropped this bottle (I did this in the early days a few times)

5 days in warm weather with double the priming sugar will give a hard bottle, gushing of beer, and probably accentuate the faults in a young beer made from kits.

Marlow

 

[fuddnuddler]

Have you checked the other bottles?

If they are also rock hard, then it may not have finished fermenting when you bottled it.
Did you check SG to confirm fermentation had finished?

The taste of your beer at 5 days in the bottle usually is pretty crap. (especially with kit brews - they take time)
I would recomend opening another bottle to see if it is throughout the brew, or this was an isolated case.

The infection theory is possible, but like Manticle said, unlikely given it was a new bottle, you cleaned it, and 5 days seems like a short time to cause that much damage.

The other option is that you accidentally double carb dropped this bottle (I did this in the early days a few times)

5 days in warm weather with double the priming sugar will give a hard bottle, gushing of beer, and probably accentuate the faults in a young beer made from kits.

Marlow

All good points, tks...yep FG was 1015 for three consecutive days, bottled after 10 days ferment...other bottles still with plenty of 'give'' which has me confused.
I reckon the said bottle was likely the last bottled so don't know whether that a factor.
Will open another with fingers crossed...tks for the input, much appreciated

 

[Fermented]

Sometimes the last bottle can have a bit of a gulp of yeast and that can cause the issue you're describing. Likewise, if you don't purge the tap before starting bottling, you can experience the same effect on that bottle.

Cheers - Fermented.

 

[fuddnuddler]

Sometimes the last bottle can have a bit of a gulp of yeast and that can cause the issue you're describing. Likewise, if you don't purge the tap before starting bottling, you can experience the same effect on that bottle.

Cheers - Fermented.

Having excess yeast in that bottle did come to mind, but being so new to the caper, uncertainty prevails!
pardon my ignorance, but can you explain your 'purge the tap' reference, ie is there something i should be doing tap-wise before bottling? tks in advance

 

[Fermented]

'Purge the tap' just means to clear any crap out of it before you start.

I've found the most reliable technique is:

* Use some no-rinse sanitiser on a couple of cotton buds to clean the inside of the tap
* Use no rinse sanitiser on the wand (inside, outside, etc - a few times is good incase of trapped crud, dust, trub, insects, etc)
* Insert wand into tap
* Open valve
* Use a coffee cup or similar to blow 50 ml or so through the wand and valve to clear any yeast or trub in the flow path
* Do it again to check that it is running clean and clear
* Commence bottling...

It's worthwhile to adjust your formulae to account for losses for SG tests and clearing the tap. Some yeasts leave SFA muck in the tap, some leave cement-like paste (hi-floc UK ale yeasts for examples). YMMV, etc.


Cheers - Fermented.

 

[fuddnuddler]

'Purge the tap' just means to clear any crap out of it before you start.

I've found the most reliable technique is:

* Use some no-rinse sanitiser on a couple of cotton buds to clean the inside of the tap
* Use no rinse sanitiser on the wand (inside, outside, etc - a few times is good incase of trapped crud, dust, trub, insects, etc)
* Insert wand into tap
* Open valve
* Use a coffee cup or similar to blow 50 ml or so through the wand and valve to clear any yeast or trub in the flow path
* Do it again to check that it is running clean and clear
* Commence bottling...

It's worthwhile to adjust your formulae to account for losses for SG tests and clearing the tap. Some yeasts leave SFA muck in the tap, some leave cement-like paste (hi-floc UK ale yeasts for examples). YMMV, etc.


Cheers - Fermented.

Cheers. great advice i will follow from now. I haven't bothered doing anything to the tap in the pre-bottling moments, but what you say makes perfect sense...much obliged!

 

[Fermented]

Meh. Just experience. Hope it's useful for you.

Hang out in AHB, ask questions, read heaps, lurk moar, etc...

There are some exceptionally good teachers at every level of the brewing learning experience who can smooth out the lumps in the journey and help make sense of what seems sometimes to be arcane knowledge. Just about every one in here walks away with something new or something to think about just about every time they visit.

Soon enough, you'll be skilled at making a top drop and know all the right things to do at the right moment in your process - instinctively.

Cheers - Fermented.

 

[fuddnuddler]

Meh. Just experience. Hope it's useful for you.

More than useful, trust me on that...
Luv this site because people with knowledge, like u, aren't protective about sharing it around - even to a novice like me...tks again

 

[peas_and_corn]

Does anyone know the alcohol tolerance of coopers yeast?

What was your OG?

 

[fuddnuddler]

Does anyone know the alcohol tolerance of coopers yeast?

What was your OG?

OG was 1070. dropped to 1028 by day five...then 1016/1015 day 11/12/13
dunno if this was/is normal, being 2nd brew and all...