Well, Somebody's Out To Get Me... - Page 2

Evan! · 06-20-2007, 05:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NewBrewer25

I remember reading somewhere that all dme takes much longer to ferment in bottles than dextrose.

Sure it does, but 2 months is much longer than I've ever seen...

Quote:

Originally Posted by drouillp

Did you boil the DME in a small amount of water first?

I just dumped some DME into a gallon jug with beer once before and it didn't ferement the least bit. Four months later I had flat beer with a malty-cardboard taste. The DME was in there alright, and nothing happened.

Problem might also lie in the yeast. You might want to pitch some california ale or other relatively neutral yeast when bottling next time just to give it a leg up.

Or you could have a small infection giving you that gusher rather than the smooth carbonation. That long in a bottle gives alot of time for a minuscule amount of bacteria to reproduce and eventually colonize. Is the beer very dry now? Is there any soapy taste? Plastic or tingy tastes?

Cheers

I always boil my priming solution for 15 mins.

I also thought it might be a yeast problem...but it happened with two separate batches that were fermented with different yeast strains, and the only thing that was unique to the two batches was the DME.

Doubt I have an infection; I know what infections are like (I've had 2 before), and this stuff isn't infected.

Thanks for the input...

Vermicous · 06-20-2007, 09:48 PM

I've only brewed one hefe-wiezen. All liquid extract, but primed with DME. I have no recollection what brand. I had used a liquid yeast from a local yeast farmer.

No carbonation ever. I still have no idea what went wrong, it's been a year and none of the bottles have ever so much as fizzed. Last one to be opened was about a month ago, just to see what the bottle was doing. I thought at the time that the DME I used could have been bad, but now I am wondering if the problem was yeast related.

kaptain_karma · 06-20-2007, 11:45 PM

laaglander is relatively high in unfermentables, that might make it a bummer for bottling.

**cubbies** · 06-21-2007, 02:52 PM

I dont know if there is any advice I can give you on the current batch, but in the future, use Muntons. I dont have the knowledge to explain it, but over the months here at HBT, I have heard numerous people say that they have carbonation problems when using DME. I remember one guy claimed that he used 1.25 cups and barely got any carb. I use Muntons and when I use one cup, like I do on my wheats and pale ales, it is almost to the point of overcarbed. I use .75 cup on my bitters and they are carbed perfect. The only reason I can figure is the brand of DME.

**Doog_Si_Reeb** · 06-21-2007, 05:00 PM

To throw my two cents in, I primed my American Wheat about 8 weeks ago with Briess DME. It is just now at the point where it is tolerably carbonated. I used 1.25 cups of the DME but am not impressed with the results. I am going to brew up a Spiced American Wheat and plan on using dextrose to prime this batch. I may try a different brand of DME to carbonate future batches, but for now I am going to stick with dextrose.

Pedro- · 06-21-2007, 05:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Evan!

I think the lesson here is: don't use laaglander. Period.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vermicous

I've only brewed one hefe-wiezen...primed with DME...No carbonation ever...

Quote:

Originally Posted by kaptain_karma

laaglander is relatively high in unfermentables

Quote:

Originally Posted by cubbies

...use Muntons...over the months here at HBT, I have heard numerous people say that they have carbonation problems when using DME...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doog_Si_Reeb

...I primed my American Wheat about 8 weeks ago with Briess DME. It is just now at the point where it is tolerably carbonated...

Do I smell an experiment brewing? I think I do!

**DeathBrewer** · 06-21-2007, 05:54 PM

i think we've pretty much resolved it. based on several testimonies, when it comes to priming with DME, laaglander and briess suck. Muntons works very well (that was what was in my franziskaner clone). i'm not ruinin any more batches, so i think i'm going to order a couple big bags of DME from muntons.