Reliable Bottle Conditioning

I have never kegged my beer due largely to space constraints early on and then later not having the equipment. Maybe that is about to change but I can say for certain that after more than 30 years brewing I have had my share of failures to carbonate, especially early on. In fact of all the defects and problems encountered in brewing this was, early on, my greatest challenge. After some experimentation, I found that the principle cause was almost always a failure of the yeast to thrive following secondary fermentation (despite assertions as to the impossibility of this in the popular brewing literature). The following description is how I solved this problem and since using it I have never failed to carbonate a batch.

First you need a source of fresh yeast at the time of bottling and the most cost effective means of collecting this is to save it following racking to the primary (see my post Yeast washing, storage and reuse or go to my brewing blog http://frogsbottom.auburnbrewclub.org). Once you are ready to begin bottling, and this assumes your bottles and equipment are sanitized, begin by racking from the secondary carboy into the bottling bucket. You should also have a supply of new crown caps submerged and boiling at a simmer for about 15 min with a slotted spoon immersed in the water (you will retrieve these with the sanitized spoon and handle only by the edges to avoid contamination) and between 0.75 and 1 cups of dextrose (or between 1 cup and 1.3 cups DME - dry malt extract) dissolved in 3 cups filtered water and boiled at a simmer for about 15 min (as you do this stir gently to dissolve and watch for a boil over once you hit boiling). Proceed with racking adding the boiling sugar solution directly once the transfer of about 1 gallon of beer to the bucket has occurred - mix thoroughly but do not create bubbles (thorough mixing is essential and you must have sufficient beer in the bucket to buffer the heat of the boiled sugar solution). Continue to rack and once about 4 gallons is transferred add about 2 tablespoons of the concentrated washed yeast you saved from the primary and again stir vigorously but avoid bubbles and the mixing of air with the beer. Now proceed with bottling as usual. You will have provided sugar for fermentation/carbonation and fresh yeast for conditioning. Allow to sit for about 2 weeks in the dark to complete the process. Note that DME is slower to condition than dextrose and higher alcohol beers will require higher ABV adapted yeast strains. Alternatively, you can pitch a fresh yeast pack but this adds to the cost.

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