Inconsistent bottle carbonation - Page 3

**unionrdr** · 12-28-2011, 07:02 PM

I was wondering about uneven capping with a wing capper myself. Might be a valid point. But I make sure my beers condition at room temps in covered boxes for 4-5 weeks. Then fridge 1 week,but I've found 2 weeks is def better. Thicker head,& longer lasting carbonation. And stirring after mixing with swirl seems to help ime.

mdatum · 12-29-2011, 11:52 PM

I did not know about the 24 hours in the fridge thing. Looking back, that explains a lot. Is there anything wrong with storing for long periods in the fridge? I have a lot of brews that just finished carbing and wasn't planning on storing them in the fridge (would drink them too quickly) but I might do that now.

dwshotwell · 12-31-2011, 06:21 PM

And is there a point when you know patience isn't going to do it, and you relegate to marinade and soup base duty?

**Revvy** · 12-31-2011, 06:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dwshotwell

And is there a point when you know patience isn't going to do it, and you relegate to marinade and soup base duty?

I've carbed hundreds of gallons of beer, and never had a beer that wasn't carbed, or under carbed or anything of the sort (Except for a batch where I accidently mixed up lactose or Maltodextrine for priming sugar). Some took awhile, (as I said up to six months) but they ALL eventually carbed.

I don't believe there are ANY carbing problems (besides the rare capper that maybe puts a bad seal on a bottle, or tired yeast in a HIGH gravity beer) that isn't simple impatience.

**Revvy** · 12-31-2011, 06:25 PM

The 3 weeks at 70 degrees, that we recommend is the minimum time it takes for average gravity beers to carbonate and condition. Higher grav beers take longer.

Stouts and porters have taken me between 6 and 8 weeks to carb up..I have a 1.090 Belgian strong that took three months to carb up.

Temp and gravity are the two factors that contribute to the time it takes to carb beer. But if a beer's not ready yet, or seems low carbed, and you added the right amount of sugar to it, then it's not stalled, it's just not time yet.

Everything you need to know about carbing and conditioning, can be found here Of Patience and Bottle Conditioning. With emphasis on the word, "patience."

Lazy Llama came up with a handy dandy chart to determine how long something takes in brewing, whether it's fermentation, carbonation, bottle conditioning....

If a beer isn't carbed by "x number of weeks" you just have to give them more time. If you added your sugar, then the beer will carb up eventually, it's really a foolroof process. All beers will carb up eventually. A lot of new brewers think they have to "troubleshoot" a bottling issue, when there really is none, the beer knows how to carb itself. In fact if you run beersmiths carbing calculator, some lower grav beers don't even require additional sugar to reach their minimum level of carbonation. Just time.

dwshotwell · 01-06-2012, 08:14 PM

I read in a book last night that you should allow 1 week per 10 points of starting gravity. Fits with the general advice of three weeks minimum, and more for bigger beers.

I think the biggest problem is that most brewers start with a kit, and all the kit instructions seem to be predicated on convincing new brewers to buy the kit, and therefore don't want to encourage patience as that may inhibit the sale.

Speaking for myself, it wasn't lack of WILLINGNESS to be patient, but rather that I'd been told it didn't take too long and was disappointed that it wasn't ready on the silly schedule given on the kit. My third batch is in bottles now, and I'm fully prepared to not even think about them until four weeks out.

So, folks go out, buy the kit, expect one week in primary, one week in secondary, one week - ten days in bottles, ready to go. Then, when it doesn't work, we go online, find these forums, and find that our beer is fine, just our expectations out of whack.

Since most new brewers don't seek advice beyond kit instructions until after they've cracked their first flat, green beer, how do we change that dynamic? Lobby for better instructions?

**unionrdr** · 01-06-2012, 09:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mdatum

I did not know about the 24 hours in the fridge thing. Looking back, that explains a lot. Is there anything wrong with storing for long periods in the fridge? I have a lot of brews that just finished carbing and wasn't planning on storing them in the fridge (would drink them too quickly) but I might do that now.

As I stated in an earlier post,even my mid gravity ales get a bare minimum of 1 week fridge time. Co2 isn't fully absorbed in a mere 24 hours. I keep my fridge set at 47F,which seems to work better at keeping things in the back for long periods from freezing. 1 week is good,but 2 weeks fridge time is great! Thicker head,longer lasting carbonation,& the dregs get more compact on the bottom of the bottles. The beer just flat out tastes way better.
So storing in the fridge isn't a bad thing,just make sure they're fully conditioned at room temp 1st. I can't wait to get a fridge for the ol' man cave so I can fridge'em all!