Projects and Thoughts

Bottle conditioning hack.

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I’ve struggled getting proper carbonation on some of my bottles, specifically my sour saison. When I finished reading the chapter on packaging in American Sour beers, and it didn’t have any better advise than test and see. I then realized my friend JD had a really great hack for knowing the progress of your bottle conditioning. When bottle conditioning he fills a pet soda bottle along with his regular bottles. You’ll be able tell if your beer is carbonating as expected by the pressure building in the soda bottles. Bonus points if you use a brown root beer bottle, which will prevent the beer from being light struck. I can take no credit for this tip, it’s a lesson I should have learned long ago.

One thought on “Bottle conditioning hack.”

  1. Luke says:

    I have spent a lot of time on this issue. Here are some suggestions:

    Use sucrose. Its easier to digest than dextrose.

    Pitch up to a 1/4 satchel champagne yeast or RC-15 per 5gl. They are pH and ABV tolerant.

    Alternatively, bottle earlier while the primary yeast is still lively and let the beer mature in the bottle.

    Bottle from a keg. It allows you to reduce O2 exposure while also being able to adequately mix-in sugar and yeast additions.

    Be patient. Turn your bottles once a week or so. Carbonation can take months.

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