Very first brew, flat as a pancake.

proost said:

Slid,
It looks like Iv'e done exactly the same. Should have realised straight away really. I thought I would try tightening the caps today and guess what? Yea, I managed to tighten about thirty caps about 1/4 of a turn. One cap was tight, poured that one and there was a small fizz. No head at all but a few bubbles rising. It tastes bleeding lovely! Cap was probably just a little bit loose.

Right, the clue to this problem is the anti-tamper seal on the Coopers PET caps. When I tried the first bottle that was flat, the seal came away attached to the cap. Should have stayed on the bottle.

Oh well, live and learn

Click to expand...

Been there, done that...

...in fact, I nearly did the other trick with these too. I pick the seal from the roof of the cap out when reusing the bottles to make sure I sterilise and rinse properly. I forgot to put a load back in and wondered why the bottles hissed a bit when I picked them up!

Just re prime them, seal them, give them another two weeks warm and see how you go. :thumb:

calumscott said:

proost said:

Slid,
It looks like Iv'e done exactly the same. Should have realised straight away really. I thought I would try tightening the caps today and guess what? Yea, I managed to tighten about thirty caps about 1/4 of a turn. One cap was tight, poured that one and there was a small fizz. No head at all but a few bubbles rising. It tastes bleeding lovely! Cap was probably just a little bit loose.

Right, the clue to this problem is the anti-tamper seal on the Coopers PET caps. When I tried the first bottle that was flat, the seal came away attached to the cap. Should have stayed on the bottle.

Oh well, live and learn

Click to expand...

Been there, done that...

...in fact, I nearly did the other trick with these too. I pick the seal from the roof of the cap out when reusing the bottles to make sure I sterilise and rinse properly. I forgot to put a load back in and wondered why the bottles hissed a bit when I picked them up!

Just re prime them, seal them, give them another two weeks warm and see how you go. :thumb:

Click to expand...

Blimey, your thorough! :clap:

A strange thing has happened. I tightened all the caps a couple of hours ago, and I don't know if my imagination is playing tricks with me but I sure they have started to get hard.
Out of 36, maybe 7/8 bottles are still soft. Iv'e just tried another hard one and there was a slightly louder hiss. Still no head though.
I'm going to leave them in the warm for a few days and see what happens.
I'm worried that if I open the bottles to prime them, they are going to go flat and then after a few days decorate my ceiling with stout. I'm not worried about the ceiling, it's the waste of BEER!

:

just a thought,,, could it be that you just tightened up to the anti tamper ring

proost said:

Slid,
It looks like Iv'e done exactly the same. Should have realised straight away really. I thought I would try tightening the caps today and guess what? Yea, I managed to tighten about thirty caps about 1/4 of a turn. One cap was tight, poured that one and there was a small fizz. No head at all but a few bubbles rising. It tastes bleeding lovely! Cap was probably just a little bit loose.

Right, the clue to this problem is the anti-tamper seal on the Coopers PET caps. When I tried the first bottle that was flat, the seal came away attached to the cap. Should have stayed on the bottle.

Oh well, live and learn

Click to expand...

Well that's interesting, given that none of the 500ml bottles from Coopers that I have used has ever done what it is designed to do. That is, left the tamper proof seal bit at the bottom on the bottle. Every one has been left with the original cap.

I did notice that after tightening them up a bit, the carbonation was better, but that may just show that 1 week in the PFV is not really enough.

Mainly I use 2L PET bottles that previously were Cider / Lemonade / Coke / Sparkling water bottes and used the same "finger test" on the Coopers bottles. But I never realised until now, that the ring on the bottom should have been broken between first being put on and first being removed.

So much to learn :thumb:

billybacardi said:

just a thought,,, could it be that you just tightened up to the anti tamper ring

Click to expand...

Yep.

I don't know if it's changed at all since i used them but i remember thinking the carbonation drops being australian are designed for 375ml bottles as are used in oz, so when i used 500 ml bottles over here i used 2 drops per bottle rather than 1. Some were over carbonated but on the whole they were ok, however i found them not very cost effective compared to normal sugar which is easier to deal with and you always use the right amount.

For anybody getting the Starter kits with Coopers PET bottles - when putting the cap on, you can hear a little 'click' when the tamper seal is seated properly but but this doesn't necessarily mean they are air tight!

Give the cap one more really well gripped turn until it really can't turn any more!

Give the bottles two weeks initial secondary fermentation in the warm, as per more experienced brewers advice on here. Keep checking random bottles to ensure they are going 'hard'. Well carbonated PET bottles will start to feel almost as hard as glass ones. If they are still a bit squidgy - try tightening the lid again.

As has already been pointed out, if you get Coopers drops with your kit, they are meant to be used at 1 x 375ml bottles (near to Aussie schooner size with a head). One might not be enough and two might be too much for 500ml ales. If you you don't have a second vessel for batch priming, so maybe break a few up and try around one and a half! Really, it's worth getting a second vessel and batch priming with cheap sugar - anything more expensive at the levels required don't add much!

Update on original thread.

The Stout came out just fine, slightly low on carbonation but very drinkable.
When I re-tightened the caps, I used a rubber glove ('oo er' missus!)

proost said:

Update on original thread.

The Stout came out just fine, slightly low on carbonation but very drinkable.
When I re-tightened the caps, I used a rubber glove ('oo er' missus!)

Click to expand...

A firm grip with a rubber glove works for me too. Always hard as a rock!

No idea it worked on PET bottles too!

Hopping_Mad said:

A firm grip with a rubber glove works for me too. Always hard as a rock!

No idea it worked on PET bottles too!

Click to expand...

:lol::lol::lol:

chojo said:

I don't know if it's changed at all since i used them but i remember thinking the carbonation drops being australian are designed for 375ml bottles as are used in oz, so when i used 500 ml bottles over here i used 2 drops per bottle rather than 1. Some were over carbonated but on the whole they were ok, however i found them not very cost effective compared to normal sugar which is easier to deal with and you always use the right amount.

Click to expand...

I've tried 1, 1.5 and 2 drops for 500ml bottles. I reckon 1 probably good enough for all but the fizziest beers. I found an APA done with 2 over carbonated (and I'm historically a lager drinker) as it kept fizzy quite ferociously in my mouth.

Your best bet is to stop using the carbonation drops completely. Rather than making things easier, they either restrict your choice over carbonation levels. Get a second FV and use this website: http://www.brewersfriend.com/beer-priming-calculator/

It's brilliant.

Carb drops are fine. I use 1 in ales or 2 in wheat/lagers. I've not had one dodgy one, and I haven't found my beers to have inconsistant levels of carbonation. A little more expensive, but I know what I get with them and will use sugar if I want something else. How someone could suggest the reason these beers didnt carbonate could have been the carb drops is beyond me.

Hi I read this thread before and had the same problem with my brewferm triple which is a little bit disappointing without fizz. I gave it another two weeks in the warm but nothing doing. My question is could I reprime a brew that was initially started 3 months ago or do I have to take it on the chin?

I would consider tasting one first, but would reprime as long as it didn't taste off/oxygenated/stale... nothing to lose