Secondary Fermentation....

[393]

I hope I've posted this in the appropriate place.

I've noticed over the years of brewing my own beer that there sometimes seems to be a problem with the secondary fermentation process, either:

a) Not working at all

B) Not all bottles stored in the same place from the same batch seem to get the same SF process finish ideally.

Anyone got any tips for me, as it's been quite some time now since I did a batch because of this reason.

I do use the correct measure of priming sugar in the bottle before I fill them. I've been told it's easier to mix the priming sugar with the beer (after fermentation is complete of course) prior to bottling.

Thanks chaps.

[Reg]

393

I may not be the best person to ask about this as I long ago gave up bottling and went with using a cask. Also my bottling experiences were rather early on in my beer brewing career, so it's all a bit lost in the shades of time really... I guess you might try inverting the sugar to make it a little easier for the yeast to metabolise...

One for you I think, Jim...

[Jim]

393, I bottled beer for many years, but haven't come across that problem before.

If the amount of sugar in each bottle is the same, and is properly dissolved in the beer, the only other culprit I can think of is the yeast (i.e. not enough of it to get a proper fermentation in the bottle).

That would be unusual though, but if you let your beer clear really well it could happen in theory. Bottles filled with beer from the top of the primary fermenter could have less yeast in them than those from the bottom.

The most likely explanation is that the secondary fermentation was fine, but that your stoppers were leaky and you lost the gas that was produced.

[393]

Thanks for that fellas. Maybe it is a capping problem, I'll keep an eye on it when I get to a new batch.