Problems Bottling First Batch: Not Carbed

devinjames · 12-03-2007, 08:00 PM

So I did some things wrong on my first batch, sure. Detalied here. That could very well have left me with low amounts of yeast for bottle conditioning. But I'm thinking there's somthing more, and I'd like to get it fixed before my second batch goes into bottles.

So after a while carbing, the bottles I chilled and opened to test were barely carbed. These were barely carbed and still sweet from the priming sugar, so I figured they had some more conditioning to do. So I rolled some thinking I'd get some yeast back into suspension and waited. Chilled and popped open. Again barely carbed, but now it's starting to lose that residual sweetness. Those were all 12oz wing-capped bottles. So I chilled a 22oz flip-top to see if there was a difference. It was still only lightly carbed, but much more so than the 12ozers.

So I'm also thinking that besides not really having enough viable yeast around to do the job, I'm also losing some carbonation to leaky caps. Sound right?

I'm going to be much more careful getting good seals in the next batch and pop some balloons over some to see if I'm leaking, but anything I could do now to make sure this next batch comes out drinkable would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Devin

joebou4860 · 12-03-2007, 08:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by devinjames

So I did some things wrong on my first batch, sure. Detalied here. That could very well have left me with low amounts of yeast for bottle conditioning. But I'm thinking there's somthing more, and I'd like to get it fixed before my second batch goes into bottles.

So after a while carbing, the bottles I chilled and opened to test were barely carbed. These were barely carbed and still sweet from the priming sugar, so I figured they had some more conditioning to do. So I rolled some thinking I'd get some yeast back into suspension and waited. Chilled and popped open. Again barely carbed, but now it's starting to lose that residual sweetness. Those were all 12oz wing-capped bottles. So I chilled a 22oz flip-top to see if there was a difference. It was still only lightly carbed, but much more so than the 12ozers.

So I'm also thinking that besides not really having enough viable yeast around to do the job, I'm also losing some carbonation to leaky caps. Sound right?

I'm going to be much more careful getting good seals in the next batch and pop some balloons over some to see if I'm leaking, but anything I could do now to make sure this next batch comes out drinkable would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Devin

Could you give some numbers to the terms in red? How long did you leave the beer in primary/secondary that you think you killed off some yeast? Even afer a month or two fermenting there is usally enough yeast to bottle carb.

devinjames · 12-03-2007, 08:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by joebou4860

Could you give some numbers to the terms in red? How long did you leave the beer in primary/secondary that you think you killed off some yeast? Even afer a month or two fermenting there is usally enough yeast to bottle carb.

Sure. It was in primary for only about 4 or 5 days. About halfway through fermentation racked to secondary. (As measured with hydrometer) Finished off fermentation there for about two weeks. This is where I'm primarily concerned about lack of yeast. See linked post.

From then it was in bottles for two weeks before I cracked the first one.

Then a couple more before I finished my testing.

Now it's probably been in bottles a month or so with little to no improvement.

Thanks. Probably should have been more precise to begin with, but I don't have all the dates on hand.

**BierMuncher** · 12-03-2007, 08:23 PM

What temp have they been sitting at?

Anything below 69 degrees and you're in for avery long conditioning.

Ideally:
72 degrees plus.
Give the bottles a gentle rocking every othe day to agitate the yeast.
3 full weeks using the above and you should have ben okay.

There is always plenty of residual yeast to carb a beer...even if you use gelatin...though the time will be longer.

devinjames · 12-03-2007, 08:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BierMuncher

What temp have they been sitting at?

There is always plenty of residual yeast to carb a beer...even if you use gelatin...though the time will be longer.

Temp has been rocking because of the weather but a large portion of that month was 70+ even 80+ down here in Houston. I figured I had enough temperature to get things going.

**the_bird** · 12-03-2007, 08:32 PM

Two weeks isn't long enough to worry. I've had plenty of batches that had bupkis for carbonation even after three, and they turned out to be fine in the end. RDWHAHB.

devinjames · 12-04-2007, 02:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by the_bird

Two weeks isn't long enough to worry. I've had plenty of batches that had bupkis for carbonation even after three, and they turned out to be fine in the end. RDWHAHB.

Um. ...........

Quote:

Originally Posted by devinjames

Now it's probably been in bottles a month or so with little to no improvement.