So I recently bottled up some beer to let condition. In about two day a few of those were ready to explode and had to pour those out. Those were the last three bottles in the batch and I'm thinking the sugar I primed with only went to the last few and the rest are going to be flat. My question is, is it possible to pop the caps off all of the beer add priming sugar to each bottle and recap? Has anyone had to do this? From now on more water when boiling the priming sugar and stirring!
Re: Screwed up carbination You could, but you'll oxidize the beer some. I don't think all of the sugar would go to the bottom, and some of it would be pulled in by the natural siphon action of the bottling bucket. I'd wait a bit longer and make sure they all are not over primed. Otherwise the situation will just get worse. Maybe you packaged too early and the beer still had a couple of points to go?
It had been sitting for 22 days and the FG hadn't changed in 12. I'm still going to give it a few more days to see if there is any carbonation at all. I won't need much since its a porter-ish beer. The others seems to be fine. The capper I use puts a big circular dent in the middle. Every beer that I've had that ends up over carbonated is pushed outward. Its a nice visual aid.
In that case then yes, stirring should help. I swirl the contents of the bottling bucket every 4-5 bottles, trying to avoid splashing. This seems to help a lot, but still sometimes the odd bottle is over/under carbed.
About opening and adding tabs - I'd avoid it if possible but the worst case should be diminished shelf life. Your bottles have live yeast in them and they'll scavenge the oxygen from the bottles, given the chance. Think about it this way: When you bottle, unless you're using some much fancier equipment than me, you have oxygen in the head space. If your bottles haven't carbonated, you still have oxygen in the head space. Opening the bottle is not going to add more. So if they aren't carbonating, pop them open and add the tabs. And always stir the priming sugar into the wort. That feature of your capper is a clever idea!
on a batch i did that was flat i tried to add sugar to the bottle, but it bubbled all over the place before I had a chance to get all the sugar in. Same result with the drops. I figured the majority of the batch is lost, but I am thinking I will try a sugar solution...after the in laws leave. I figure it might work a little better than the straight sugar. 1 cup sugar add boiling water to reach 1.5 cups stir to let cool add 1 tsp per bottle. ( walgreens 2 tsp medicine syringe ) This ratio is equivalent to 2/3 a teaspoon per bottle of sugar. (approx 2.2-2.3 carb level if I remember right) adjust accordingly to your carbonation preferences. I have used the above solution on 2 Batches at bottling so far and has proved reliable. Fyi that is for a 12 oz bottle.
Always measure priming sugar by weight, not by volume to avoid inconsistencies from air pockets. If you really want to hedge your bets, add half a pack of neutral yeast (like US-05) into the priming solution.
Actually volume can work quite nicely if you're not picky about exactly how carbonated your beer is, you just have to measure like a baker: Don't scoop, but spoon into the measuring cup, then strike the excess off the top with a knife or spatula. I wouldn't recommend sifting, though....
