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02883r · 02-12-2013, 04:02 PM

I have brewed close to 30 5 gallon mini-mash batches of beer so far. I have never had an issue until recently. Since September I have had four batches that did not carbonate. I don't get it... Two of them are beers I have made before, two are new recipes. For each batch I boiled 4.5 oz priming sugar, let cool to below 80 degrees and added it to my bottling bucket. None of the batches sat in the secondary for longer than 2 weeks. I know everything was sanitized properly....

I bought some brewers best carbonation tablets that I thought about adding to the bottles and recapping them. If I were to do that, should I add a "grain" of dry yeast to each bottle as well? Every batch of beer tastes pretty good, its just flat....

Does anyone have any other suggestions?

Thank you!

Varmintman · 02-12-2013, 04:05 PM

I wonder if you got some bad caps or something or you are having a problem with your capper?

jungatheart · 02-12-2013, 04:09 PM

I've always had this fear that my supplier will send me miss marked lactose as corn sugar.

I wouldn't know how to tell them apart either.

02883r · 02-12-2013, 04:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Varmintman

I wonder if you got some bad caps or something or you are having a problem with your capper?

I'm not sure.... the last two batches were caps from a new bunch.... I haven't had any issues with the capper that I am aware of... I always sanitize the caps as well.

How would I tell if the caps aren't sealing properly?

02883r · 02-12-2013, 04:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jungatheart

I've always had this fear that my supplier will send me miss marked lactose as corn sugar.

I wouldn't know how to tell them apart either.

You know, I never thought of that..... I could see that in maybe one batch, but I would have a hard time thinking I would have gotten mislabeled corn sugar four times. I wonder how you would tell the difference though... Wouldn't you still get a light carbonation with lactose?

zachattack · 02-12-2013, 04:34 PM

I have a theory... it's called winter.

What's the avg temp where you're keeping the bottles? In my last apartment, beer didn't carb in the winter unless I actively heated it. But we were also pretty stingy with the thermostat, and my beer was in an unheated closet.

**Xpertskir** · 02-12-2013, 04:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zachattack

I have a theory... it's called winter.

What's the avg temp where you're keeping the bottles? In my last apartment, beer didn't carb in the winter unless I actively heated it. But we were also pretty stingy with the thermostat, and my beer was in an unheated closet.

This...colder temps started in Sept.

chazzman · 02-12-2013, 04:58 PM

I myself was very concerned about my last two batches carbonating. They took about two weeks and in summer they take about
four days. If you have a bucket you can put the bottles in some warm water to get them started and maaybe once a dat change
out the room temp water for warmer. Once the yeast get started they may not need further motivation. Use one plastic bottle
to guage progress by the hardness of the plastic soda bottle. Just an idea.

**CaptnCully** · 02-12-2013, 05:25 PM

I've got to go with the temp also. Ive got an electric heater about 8' from my beer closet keeping 'em at a steady *72 and i'm chillin' them in 3 weeks and drinkin' 'em in 4

**tre9er** · 02-12-2013, 05:29 PM

If you shake a bottle (gently at first) and it doesn't leak at all, it's not the caps...at least it's highly unlikely. Temp is probably the culprit here. Ale yeasts need to be in the high 60's at the lowest if you want them to carb. Try turning each bottle over gently, then back, and move them all to a warmer location.