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Brews flat and tasteless after 3 weeks in the bottle


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2 minutes ago, Thagomizer said:

I gave up on swing-top bottles about a year ago.  I used the one-pint (480 ml) bottles with Grolsch seals.  I had about 25% of them coming out flat.  I then tried rubbing the gaskets with silicone food-grade lubricant but with little improvement.  I finally purchased a counter-top COinfuser to deal with the occasional flat brew results.  Imagine offering a brew to a guest and then having to "gas it up" for consumption.  I am convinced that the problem was the gaskets rather than the process, since most of the bottles held pressure quite well.

Then I discovered that these bottles could be sealed with crown caps just like a 12-oz. longneck.  Since then, I have been using crown caps on my formerly swing-top bottles.  No more flat beers.

Agree about the swing tops but it would seem Rob may have a different problem as his PET bottles are the same. I think is the amount of sediment thus yeast and the time needed for carbonation. The “tasteless” aspect is a bit of a concern  as well. He needs to shake a few bottles to detect some bubbling/head.

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15 minutes ago, Captain 3 Droids said:

Agree about the swing tops but it would seem Rob may have a different problem as his PET bottles are the same. I think is the amount of sediment thus yeast and the time needed for carbonation. The “tasteless” aspect is a bit of a concern  as well. He needs to shake a few bottles to detect some bubbling/head.

Yes.  That is a new dimension to the problem.  If the seal leaked so badly that it allowed oxygen into the bottle, it might explain the bad taste.

By the way, you need a bench-type capper for these swing-top bottles.  The simple hand-held cappers will not reach over the neck.

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2 hours ago, Thagomizer said:

I gave up on swing-top bottles about a year ago.  I used the one-pint (480 ml) bottles with Grolsch seals.  I had about 25% of them coming out flat.  I then tried rubbing the gaskets with silicone food-grade lubricant but with little improvement.  I finally purchased a counter-top COinfuser to deal with the occasional flat brew results.  Imagine offering a brew to a guest and then having to "gas it up" for consumption.  I am convinced that the problem was the gaskets rather than the process, since most of the bottles held pressure quite well.

Then I discovered that these bottles could be sealed with crown caps just like a 12-oz. longneck.  Since then, I have been using crown caps on my formerly swing-top bottles.  No more flat beers.

A counter top CO2 infuser you say?

🤔 THAT sounds like gadgetry every man needs.  Tell us more 🤣

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On 11/04/2022 at 5:52 AM, Dustin Frothman said:

Temperature stability is more important that absolute temperature, however 35C is quite warm. 20 - 25C would be better.

Do you have anywhere cooler that you could condition your bottles?

After reviewing all the messages, I think Dustin Frothman has hit the nail right on the thumb.  It seems to me that the priming temperature was a bit high.  Even if the brew is not spoiled, a more moderate temperature for secondary fermentation would be helpful.  All else, (except for those pesky swing-top bottles), seems to be in good order. 

Rob, have patience and keep on brewing - and keep us informed. 🙂

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On 11/4/2022 at 8:32 PM, Eltham Brewing House said:

From a brew chat forum:

 Carbonation is a mini fermentation, so ideally you would want it to complete around the same temperature as you brewed your beer.

Higher temperatures for carbonation can produce or accelerate the production of of flavours in multiple ways, the first that comes to mind is higher temperatures can stress the yeasts, so for an ale yeast anything over 22C and it will produce 'off-flavours', but some of these esters or higher alcohols may be a desired flavour of the style. Secondly, storing warmer will accelerate the formation of aldehydes by the strecker reaction, ie paper flavours, so once you have allowed enough time for carbonation to complete, move the bottle to a nice cool location for longer term storage.

  • Too high temperatures can damage the yeasts and prejudice the carbonation?

This would have to be above 38C to harm an ale yeast enough to affect carbonation, at these temps the yeast would be very unhappy and start to die. If it were a lager yeast then anything about 30 could be harmful, and start killing off the yeast.

Ideally for your ale carb up at 15-25C, for 10 days; then store somewhere nice and cool.

Thanks for the advice

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8 hours ago, Thagomizer said:

After reviewing all the messages, I think Dustin Frothman has hit the nail right on the thumb.  It seems to me that the priming temperature was a bit high.  Even if the brew is not spoiled, a more moderate temperature for secondary fermentation would be helpful.  All else, (except for those pesky swing-top bottles), seems to be in good order. 

Rob, have patience and keep on brewing - and keep us informed. 🙂

I’ll make some changes and keep at it 

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  • 4 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...

Hi all,

Happy to say that things have improved by managing my storage option into a cooler area, I was only able to achieve that by aircon on in the room that I store in.

Still getting the odd bottle but 90% improvement all over.

Have now invested in a brewflo and will keg my next 3 brews and see how that goes.

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