I have recently bottled four batches: Maggie, Benedict, Jobe, and Simcoemech. At bottling, these all were easily my top four best beers ever brewed. However, something's gone a bit awry in the few weeks since then.
Maggie and Benedict appear to be fine. Every bottle I've opened of these two has been consistently carbed with one another, with no off flavors. Jobe and Simcoemech, however, not so much.
Jobe: This is my Citra Nelson Cream Ale. 4.8% abv at 1.008 FG. This beer was very slow to carbonate--something that was not expected, but was also not particularly surprising. I hit this beer pretty hard in secondary with gelatin and a 2 week cold crash, trying to get it as clear as possible. Not sure how much yeast made it into the bottling bucket. This could certainly be a cause of the slow carb time. That's not really a big deal, but what is alarming is the subtle phenolic bite in some (not all) of the bottles--the kind of off flavor that's usually associated with stressed out yeast from underpitching. This batch was definitely not underpitched, and there was no sign of this off flavor up to and including bottling. And it's not every bottle. Some bottles are fantastic! Perfectly carbonated, crisp and quenching, with a slight fruity nuance from the late Nelson Sauvin addition. And clear. Others have failed to carb completely and present this phenolic bite. I'm thinking I should have added a bit of dry yeast to the bottling bucket, and may not have gotten the priming solution to mix fully with the beer.
Simcoemech: This is my all-Simcoe APA modeled after Russian River's R2H56. 4.7% abv at 1.012 FG. Unbelievable Simcoe flavor and aroma. This one's going down quick. Problem is, not all bottles are equal. As with Jobe, some of the bottles are carbing much slower than others. Luckily there's none of that phenolic off flavor that Jobe has--either the hops are masking it, or more likely it's just not there. This beer did not undergo the rigors of fining that Jobe did.
Pictured is a perfectly carbed Simcoemech. Most of the bottles I've opened have been like this. Unfortunately, not all. One or two has been severely undercarbed, and yesterday I opened one that was a gusher. When I pried off the cap, it popped with pronounced force. First pour was hazy and chunky with hop "flavor crystals." There is a fine layer of hop matter at the bottom of each bottle, and I'm fine with that. Honestly it gives me the option to have a clearer version or choose a more hazy, "Vermont-style" hoppy beer (second option by gently rolling the bottle on the counter Hefeweisen style before opening). This bottle was neither rolled or shaken in any way. the hops being roused from the bottom of the bottle was related to the carbonation level, I'm sure. It did not show any signs of infection; bit too early for that to take hold anyway. The only thing I can think of is that I didn't fully mix the priming solution in the batch, resulting in some undercarbed, some overcarbed, and some perfectly carbed bottles.
I just hope the bottles I've recently shared with others have been good ones.
I used the basic technique of dropping the priming solution in the bucket first, then gently syphoning the beer on top of the solution. This is the technique I've always used, and I guess it's always worked ok for me. With future batches, however, I will use a sanitized spoon to gently stir the concoction for a few minutes before proceeding with bottling. Hopefully that will take care of the problem. And with my excessively "cleared" beers, I'll look into dosing the bottling bucket with a small amount of fresh yeast. Might be counterproductive after all the fining and cold crashing, but maybe the only way to get really really clear beer without adverse side effects is to force carb.
Cheers!