After Bottling - What should I see

Just brewed and bottled my first batch. This is an Amber from an extract kit. Brewed a week ago Sunday and then bottled last night.

Looked at the bottles this morning and don't see anything happening. Though, I am not sure i would or should see anything.

Thanks for any help!

You won't see anything. The rule of thumb is that normal gravity beers take about three weesk to carb up at 70 degrees. Higher gravity beers or cooler temps take longer.

Either way, you won't know until you crack one open. There likely will be zero visible signs.

If you are expecting to see bubbles cruising up to the top, you won't. The pressure in the headspace quickly builds to the point where it balances the tendency of the CO2 to come out of solution. So, all the yeast activity making CO2 just stays in solution.

The only time I ever saw bubbles in a bottle, was when I had inadvertently cracked the lip of the bottle when capping. Without a good seal, the CO2 could bubble. That bottle was a dumper.

The only think I can think of a far as visible sign would be sediment showing up in the bottom of the bottle..... Though this still is not an indication that your beer is properly carbonated.

If your beer was pretty clear when you bottled it might get a little cloudy but it will clear up fast

Put down the bottles; keep them @ 70F and out of light; come back in 3 weeks.

Voila! Your beer will probably be finished carbonating!

Great thanks everyone! That is kind of what I expected. I just wanted to make sure since it was my first bottling.

I bottled my first batch on Saturday after 3 weeks in fermenter with 1272 yeast and can see some east is already at the bottom if I turn it upside down looks a bit cloudy (it was clear at bottling). PET bottles also got some pressure to them, no bubbles. Defenetly some activity is there.

Am I reading right? Did you bottle a week after you brewed? Seems a little quick to me. Did you take hydrometer readings on consecutive days to make sure it was finished?

I know people do things like this with great results - I'd just want to be sure it was done before bottling that fast.

I'm a 4 weeks in primary kind of guy, so maybe it's just me.

prpromin said:

Am I reading right? Did you bottle a week after you brewed? Seems a little quick to me. Did you take hydrometer readings on consecutive days to make sure it was finished?

I know people do things like this with great results - I'd just want to be sure it was done before bottling that fast.

I'm a 4 weeks in primary kind of guy, so maybe it's just me.

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I took hydrometer readings and watched for fermentation activity. I was not seeing anything out of the airlock and the recipe kit I followed said 7-10 days. I think I could have left it longer but it should be ok. I think it being an Amber and no dry hopping should allow it to be ok after a shorter fermenting process.

My next beer I am doing an IPA and plan to let that one go for 14-20 days in the primary.

prpromin said:

Am I reading right? Did you bottle a week after you brewed? Seems a little quick to me. Did you take hydrometer readings on consecutive days to make sure it was finished?

I know people do things like this with great results - I'd just want to be sure it was done before bottling that fast.

I'm a 4 weeks in primary kind of guy, so maybe it's just me.

Click to expand...

Although now you have me worried. Should I put my bottled beer in garbage bags in case they were to burst?

mxpx5678 said:

Although now you have me worried. Should I put my bottled beer in garbage bags in case they were to burst?

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I usually keep my conditioning bottles in bags anyways...it would suck to have to clean beer off of the items in my pantry

I would - I put mine in a Rubbermaid bin just in case (even though I know it's done fermenting).
Took me 3 hours to clean the priming soluiton and the glass of the kitchen floor and made me extra careful .
Floor needs a lot of washing to stop being sticky...