Carbonation

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gt_andy

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I think Im having an issue with my last few batches and carbonation.

I have done everything as the instructions said. I'm still pretty new at home brewing. I made 5gal of some American cream ale from a brewers best kit. I bottled it aug 25th. From what I have researched and it takes about 2 weeks to fully carbonate. So that means it would be ready by sept 8th. I noticed at sept 8 it still wasnt quite ready.

Well tonight I cracked one open and I poured it in a glass. I got a good head but I dont see much bubbles as it sits. My last batch did this also. When I get a store bought beer it is full of bubble rising to the top constantly.

Any Ideas?
 
The last batch I made the brown ale by festa did not carbonate months after it was bottled, someone suggested I reopen them and add a teaspoon to my 500ml bottles and after waiting 2 weeks they got a little more carbonation, I suggest adding more sugar
 
What was the fermentable you used to carbonate and how much did you use? Also 5 gallon recipe right?
I ran out of priming sugar aka corn sugar one time and decided to use malt extract as a sub which is perfectly acceptable. However that beer never quite carbed up to where it was supposed to. Reason is, malt extract (DME) is less dependable as to the extent of fermentables whereas corn sugar is 100% or very close to it.
 
In my next batch I'm gonna substitute sugar for light dry malt extract, but when priming bottles or adding sugar to beer kits I've always had success with cane sugar
 
Usually used 1/3teaspoon per bottle that's 500ml but last time I added a little more the a cup to boiling water and mixed with the fermented wort then bottled
 
I used what came with the the kit. It was corn sugar. I boiled it with water and added it to batch when I racked it into the bottling bucket.

Now my last batch i made was a simple Amber. I bottled that on july 25 and to this day it seem not so bubbly.. Doing the same thing as this batch. Could it be my bottles not holding pressure? When i crack the top i get a good "PSSST" or however you call it. lol

My bottles are mostly Dos equis bottles and some tall 22oz heineken bottles. They are all in perfect shape and was properly sanitized.
 
Ime,the darker a beer is,the longer it takes to carbonate. Average gravity ales generally take 3-4 weeks to carb & condition. Also,you need to fridge them for at least a week to get decent carbonation from the head space into the beer. I've found that 2 weeks fridge time gives thicker head & longer lasting carbonation. What temp are you letting them carb up at?
 
5 oz of corn sugar for a 5 gallon batch is what I base my priming amount. My last batch, a 2.5 gallon beer, I used 2.5 oz. Always measure by weight, not by volume.

My RIS has been in bottles for over 2 months, still almost no carbonation and no head, but thats expected with an almost 12% beer :)
 
After I bottle I place the bottles in room temp (68-73) to age/carbonate for 2 weeks. But 2 weeks was sept 8th. So last night was close enought to another week. But I only put the in the fridge as I need them. They are only in there for a few hours before I drink them? Should I be putting them in the fridge for a week or so before driniking? If so, I will need to go get extra fridge :(

I also used 5oz of corn sugar for a 5 gal batch to prime it for bottling. Seems to work for everyone else.

The American Cream Ale is not a dark beer. Its like a straw in color. The Amber is a darker beer, I'll give you that. Maybe I will wait another week. The waiting game sucks. I wanna drink it NOW. hahaha
 
I've found that my dark beers that aren't high ABV need more time than the lighter colored Pales to carbonate & condition. I still think it's the darker malts.
 
Ok, i must not be understanding my issue with Carbonation.

So i brewed a Imperial Blond Ale from Brewers Best on Feb 21st. Sat in Primary for 2 weeks, secondary for 2 weeks. Then bottled on March 21st. Did the standard priming with the priming sugar. I mainly bottle most my brew in 22OZ bottles but sometimes get a few 12 OZ bottles. I do thin because i dont want to waste any beer in the bottle bucket and to monitor the Carb levels and monitor the tasite. Well I opened one 12 oz bottle on 28th of march (So, one full week = 7 days). Carb was really good. Lots of bubbles great tasite. I opened another 12oz on the 4th for another test (would be 2 weeks = 14 days) and it was FLAT as can be. I got a presure release sound when I poped the cap off so i know it had pressure in the bottle.

My question.. Putting the fact higher Gavity beers take longer to carb... If they are stored in the same type of bottle, same room temp, why would one carb more then the other? Like why would the first one be decent carb at week 1 and one aged longer have less carb? Is my caps not holding pressure? Is there something im doing wrong? Am i letting it sit in the fermenters too long?
 
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. Beers stored cooler than 70, 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.

Watch Poindexter's time lapsed carbonation video..



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

Carbing is foolprrof. You ad the right amount of sugar, leave it at the right temp, and it will carb.

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.
 
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I have watched that video many times.

Just makes no sence that one would carb at week1 and one is flat at week2. Make me feel like my seal on the caps are inconsistant.
 
There are a couple of reasons why one would be carbed and one flat.

First off would be poor mixture of priming sugar. Do you boil the sugar in a little water first, or do you dump the dry sugar in? If you don't boil, odds are VERY high of getting uneven carbonation.

The next thing is that you are dealing with an organic process. One bottle may have more yeast than another. One bottle may have some yeast that are more active than another.


You know what kills me? I regularly see people with carbonation issues that open the bottles early (1-2 weeks), then complain about the beer being flat or unevenly carbed. Time and time again, they want to argue how it doesn't make sense, how they are doing everything right, how there must be some issue everyone else is missing. I see improper seals mentoned time and time again, but unless your capper is broken, the seals are almost certainly just fine.

On the other hand, it's really rare to see the same complaints out of those who wait 3 weeks (or longer) to open their first bottle.

Yeah, some people get carb in 10-14 days. A few get it sooner. Recipe, yeast, process, temperature are all factors.

3 weeks at 70 degrees is the baseline. If you are ready sooner, yay for you! If it's not ready, there's no point in complaining... just wait.

If you add the required amount of priming sugar, if you let the bottles sit at a good temp, if you distribute the sugar evenly, if you haven't somehow killed off your yeast... the beer WILL carb up 100% of the time. Leave it alone, and it will carb. It's that flipping simple.
 
Quick question same topic.


I have a two keg system with one regulator. One with home brew keg and one commercial sanke tap. Yesterday I had both unhooked to C02 for an hour or so while I changed lines and did some work to kegerator. Both have had C02 since. Today I poured a beer from commercial keg. It tasted flat even though it had tons of head. It is at 40 degrees and 11 psi. Could it have gone flat??? I am confused.
 
There are a couple of reasons why one would be carbed and one flat.

First off would be poor mixture of priming sugar. Do you boil the sugar in a little water first, or do you dump the dry sugar in? If you don't boil, odds are VERY high of getting unever carbonation.

The next thing is that you are dealing with an organic process. One bottle may have more yeast than another. One bottle may have some yeast that are more active than another.


You know what kills me? I regularly see peple with carbonation issues that open the bottles early (1-2 weeks), then complain about the beer being flat or unevenly carbed. Time and time again, they want to argue how it doesn't make sense, how they are doing everything right, how there must be some issue everyone else is missing. I see improper seals mentoned time and time again, but unless your capper is broken, the seals are almost certainly just fine.

On the other hand, it's really rare to see the same complaints out of those who wait 3 weeks (or longer) to open their first bottle.

Yeah, some people get carb in 10-14 days. A few get it sooner. Recipe, yeast, process, temperature are all factors.

3 weeks at 70 degrees is the baseline. If you are ready sooner, yay for you! If it's not ready, there's no point in complaining... just wait.

If you add the required amount of priming sugar, if you let the bottles sit at a good temp, if you distribute the sugar evenly, if you haven't somehow killed off your yeast... the beer WILL carb up 100% of the time. Leave it alone, and it will carb. It's that flipping simple.

I did boil the Priming sugar in about a cup of water. I also poured half in at the very begining of the shipon, and the rest in half way throught. Hoping to evenly distribute the sugar evenly. I never figured the yeast count or activeness could come into play. Never thought of that. It makes sence.

Im not complaining. Just tring to understand. I figured this batch would take about a full 4 weeks to carb. Just wanted to fine some answers while i wait. I didnt know if leaving it in the secondary a full 2 weeks. would allow the yeast to become inactive.

I will wait another 2 weeks. See what happens.
 
I did boil the Priming sugar in about a cup of water. I also poured half in at the very begining of the shipon, and the rest in half way throught. Hoping to evenly distribute the sugar evenly. I never figured the yeast count or activeness could come into play. Never thought of that. It makes sence.

Im not complaining. Just tring to understand. I figured this batch would take about a full 4 weeks to carb. Just wanted to fine some answers while i wait. I didnt know if leaving it in the secondary a full 2 weeks. would allow the yeast to become inactive.

I will wait another 2 weeks. See what happens.

Give it time, it'll carb up. Again, it's really just that you are dealing with an organic process that's done when it's done. You can brew the same recipe with the same process and still have it turn out a bit different - that's why commerical brewing is so impressive... they get such predictable consistency.
 
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