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Cburt · 11-11-2012, 10:06 PM

I just brewed my first batch ever and went step by step going off the instructions i got from the home brew shop. Now its time to drink, and after being bottled for about a week at room temperature, there is little to know carbonation. The instructions said to use 2 cups of water and 3/4 cup corn sugar for priming for my 5 gal batch. I used a plastic bottle to judge when my beer carbonated and the bottle is pretty stiff. Im not sure if it was supposed to come out the way it did or if i did something wrong. I used the recipe for a "Simple Northwest Amber". Not sure if that makes a difference or not.

**aiptasia** · 11-11-2012, 10:11 PM

A lot has to do with the temperature that the beer fermented at when it was bottled. There is a calculator over here that can help: http://www.tastybrew.com/calculators/priming.html

**aiptasia** · 11-11-2012, 10:15 PM

PS: Always take a little swipe of yeast from your trub when you transfer the beer to your bottling bucket. This ensures that you get a good healthy dose of yeast in your bottles for carbonating. This is easy to do with an auto-siphon style racking cane.

Second, move your bottles to a warm area of your house, in the 70 deg. F. range, up off the floors. Warmer temperatures will help carbonate the beer faster.

**JuanMoore** · 11-12-2012, 04:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cburt

I just brewed my first batch ever and went step by step going off the instructions i got from the home brew shop. Now its time to drink, and after being bottled for about a week at room temperature, there is little to know carbonation.

There's the problem right there.

In general, it takes a minimum of 3 weeks at 70F to fully carbonate a bottle conditioned beer. Higher gravity beers take longer to carb, sometimes several months, and lower temps can also slow the process down. It also helps if you refrigerate the beer for 24hrs or more before opening so that the CO2 in the headspace can be absorbed into the beer.

Let the beer sit at room temp for a few more weeks, stick a couple in the fridge for a day, and try again. In the meantime, get to brewing so that you get a decent pipeline going, and aren't in such a rush to drink your beer.

**kroach01** · 11-12-2012, 04:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JuanMoore

There's the problem right there.

In general, it takes a minimum of 3 weeks at 70F to fully carbonate a bottle conditioned beer. Higher gravity beers take longer to carb, sometimes several months, and lower temps can also slow the process down. It also helps if you refrigerate the beer for 24hrs or more before opening so that the CO2 in the headspace can be absorbed into the beer.

Let the beer sit at room temp for a few more weeks, stick a couple in the fridge for a day, and try again. In the meantime, get to brewing so that you get a decent pipeline going, and aren't in such a rush to drink your beer.

+1
I've freaked out because my beer wasn't carbonated at 2-3 weeks but it was fine a month later. Higher ABV beers take longer to carbonate and sometimes beers just take a while.

**Bobby_M** · 11-12-2012, 02:52 PM

Wait two more weeks and then don't open a bottle until it has spent at least 3 days in the fridge.

Cburt · 11-14-2012, 12:03 AM

Thanks, ill be sure to let it sit a little longer before opening the next one

Tonegroove · 11-14-2012, 12:18 AM

My first batch fell victim to uneven distribution of the priming mixture. I siphoned the brew into the bottling bucket with the boiled priming sugar. I didn't mix it further. The very first bottle I tried had a lot of carbonation and great head. Every other one was not so much. Since then, a slow stir in the bottling bucket helped significantly.

Cburt · 11-17-2012, 10:49 PM

Now that its been a week since i opened that first bottle i see a huge difference in the level of carbonation. The few bottles ive opened today actually foamed over and kept going for a minute. lol. Just for future reference, if I put beer in the fridge, will it stop the carbonation process or will it keep going?