Domed crown tops.

MikeH

Hello,

After bottling the crown tops often have an indentation on them from the magnet of the caper.  I put the bottles into a warm place and when I came to take them out a week later many of the crown tops were domed upwards, some of them the magnet indentation had been pushed out.  Is this normal?  I've not crown topped before.

Primary fermentation was complete, it took 11 days but it was definitely complete before I bottled.  I didn't over prime the bottles either as I used the Coopers bottling drops.  But that said I can't help feeling that there's too much pressure inside those bottles, I don't really want to have that conversation with my land lord as to why the plasterboard is beer impregnated!

Any thoughts and is it possible to release a /little/ of the pressure or would slightly lifting the tops ruin the beer?

Cheers, Mike...

HBO_Staff

Hi Mike, if you were to open the caps it would then need drinking as it would come into cotact with air so we wouldn't recommend that other than as a last resort. The caps may show signs of the pressure in the bottles, which of course is a good sign that they are becoming carbonated, in the worst case scenario they could blow the cap off, so it may be worth opening one (and sampling it of course!) to see how much pressure is inside. A a precaution we owuld suggest to store them somewhere cool and safe, possibly in a box where they can't do any damage.

Bottling too early, or over-priming would cause excess pressure, so ruling these two things out is useful. The bottles should have an inch or so gap with no beer in it at the top of the neck to allow for the gas, if there was no gap for the gas to fill then this may cause excess pressure and is worth checking.

MikeH

Thanks for the reply.  I left more than an inch at the top so that's all good.

I did try one of the lagers the other day, it was carbonated although a head was non-existent.  Taste was pretty thin as well, as you'd expect at 3 weeks in the bottle.  They'd just spent a week in my parent's airing cupboard (about 26c) because my flat is just too damn cold for secondary fermentation to take place.  The ginger beer I bottled on the 3rd of Jan has only just carbonated when I put it in their airing cupboard at the same time as the lager.  Hope my cold flat hasn't ruined them.

They're in my kitchen now (about the coldest room in the house after the bathroom) so they're on lino but next to a wall.  I may re-box them as you suggest, just in case.  I am hoping that the coldness in there will cause the beer to contract, thus revealing the pressure a little.

I suppose time will tell, I'll leave the lager 3 or 4 more weeks and try it again, see if the body has improved.  Will leave the ginger beer and see if it clears at all.  I'm hoping the stout that's in the airing cupboard now will go better.  It went down there just a couple of days after bottling so it hasn't had weeks of hanging around in the cold.

Thanks for your help, cheers, Mike...

HBO_Staff

If secondary carbonation is slow to get going, whilst not ideal it should not be too much of a problem, after all the brew is sealed and primed, so it will be safe enough in there, just taking a while to clear and condition. The heat helps get it going faster, but leaving it in the bottles for a few extra weeks will allow it to carbonate. The flavour can be weak in the early stages, so as you say just leave it to it for a few more weeks, it will improve. We have the same problems with temperature and rooms being cold, we use the same heater tray that we use for keeping fermenting vessels warm to satnd the bottles on for a few days after bottling to get then going. By using PET plastic bottles you can also feel when they are getting harder and it shows how the pressure is building up, with glass you have no way of knowing without opening one. Let us know how they turn out

PS we make the Coopers Ginger Beer and that sometimes doesn't clear completely, especially not if chilled in the fridge before serving, possibly a chill haze