Carbonation

I'm sure the answer is somewhere on here but I don't have the patience to search for it. I just tasted my first brew, it was a Two Hearted Clone. Tastes delicious, but it's not very carbonated. I ended up bottling just over 4 gal and used 5 oz of priming sugar and thought that might have been too much sugar for that little amount of beer. You guys know what could have went wrong?

I'm going to take a stab at this and assume you haven't waited long enough. If it's been less than 3-4 weeks, you need to wait. Also, make sure they're stored in a room that's around 70 degrees. 5oz. of sugar probably is too much, but it'll most likely turn out fine.

It has been bottled conditioned for 2 weeks. I thought that was the recommended time, but like I said in the original post-I have no patience. I will wait another week and see what happens. I bottled a Porter that same day and that has a really nice head, is that typical? To have different bottle conditioning times for different styles of brew?

Every beer you make will be a bit different. Unless you have a very controlled enviornment (controlling mash temps when/if you go AG, fermentation temps, amount of healthy yeast cells, etc.) then there's no real way to get everything to be exactly the same. We can come close, though. Homebrewing is all about waiting, and eventually (when you get a good pipeline going), you won't have a problem with patience.

I usually do a beer every other weekend so that I'm always stocked. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to brew in a few months since my garage is a mess and my rig is in the process of being remodeled. I'm almost out of homebrew other than a 2 sours I have aging and a few bottles of each of my last 8 or 9 batches.

To answer your question though...it's not uncommon to have two beers carbonate differently. Two weeks is what most kits and books say, but that's the bare minimum. 3-4 weeks will give you a better tasting beer since it's been aged a little bit.

How long did you keep your beer in primary/secondary?

Primary for 8 days, secondary for 21 days, bottle for 14 days. OG of 1.071 and FG is 1.016

3+ weeks at 70F is a starting point for most of us here. I bottled a cream ale (OG 1.065, FG 1.016) on 4/4/11 and had one on Sunday... Good carbonation, but it will be better once I've had some in the fridge for more days.

Not only do you need to wait for the brew to bottle carbonate, but you also need to chill it down long enough. I prefer to let mine chill 4-5 days as a minimum. Then they are really, really good for carbonation, head formation/retention, etc. Served in a room temp glass, they are a thing of wonder. Deviating from those parameters gives other (most often not nearly as good) results. Letting the brew chill down longer also compacts the trub in the bottle better, making for a much cleaner pour.

Also, I've long since abandonded the short primary, long bright tank method (racking to another vessel after 7-10 days)... Getting far better brews this way.

Learning how to be patient with your home brew is one of the more important lessons you will face. Once you have that nailed, you'll start to really enjoy everything about home brewing.

1.07 is fairly big, it might take another week or two..just be happy it tastes good, grab your favorite sixer, and wait it out...nothing like drinking your own brew when it's finally done. Homebrewing tends to teach us all patience!

Your beer is ready when you've drunk the last one. Can't remember who said it, but it's a good reminder that patience can be as important as your ingredient list. Take Mr Popeil's advice -- set it and forget it!

I appreciate all the help, that first brew is tough to be patient with. I've been staring at the damned carboys for two months now just waiting for this day. I've since brewed an Oakes Belgian Dubbel, a IIPA, and a Kolsch and have been better at leaving it alone. I'm very pleased with the flavors so hopefully all of you are right and I just need to wait for that carbonation to come around, cheers everybody!

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