No carbonation.

I am just finishing off my first batch of beer, it was fantastic. It carbonated in about ten days and I've been enjoying a bottle a day for about a month About ten minutes ago, I opened my first bottle of the second batch. It has been sitting at room temperature for 13 days. There was absolutely no carbonation. I drank it. It was flat. It tasted okay, like beer and there is certainly alcohol, but no carbonation. I guess I really screwed up this batch...

while you may have had carbonation in 10 days once, you many not always. Wait another week, 13 days is short.

As the previous poster said, 13 days is not very long. Beers very rarely ferment exactly the same. Even if it was the exact same recipe, with the same abv, at the same temperature carbonation time would likely be different.

There are no carbonation problems, only patience ones.

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.

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.

Ok, thanks guys. I'll let it sit for another week. I'll just have to do without any home brew for a couple days.


I am curious though, if I wait a few weeks and it still doesn't carbonate, what is the most likely reason for not carbonating? I did do a secondary fermentation with this one.

Randomnoob said:

Ok, thanks guys. I'll let it sit for another week. I'll just have to do without any home brew for a couple days.


I am curious though, if I wait a few weeks and it still doesn't carbonate, what is the most likely reason for not carbonating? I did do a secondary fermentation with this one.

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The only way it wouldn't be carbed at all after a few more weeks is if you forgot to add your priming sugar. It'll carb.

RDWHAHB

Randomnoob said:

Ok, thanks guys. I'll let it sit for another week. I'll just have to do without any home brew for a couple days.


I am curious though, if I wait a few weeks and it still doesn't carbonate, what is the most likely reason for not carbonating? I did do a secondary fermentation with this one.

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Gaylord said:

The only way it wouldn't be carbed at all after a few more weeks is if you forgot to add your priming sugar. It'll carb.

RDWHAHB

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Gaylord nailed it....I'll say it again, "There are no carbing problems, only patience ones."

I've yet to see, or have a "normal" gravity beer not carb.

While I do believe the saying give it time and beer will carb. My first batch did not carb and after 8 months i finally gave up and dumped it. It was a MidWest Amber ale extract kit and came with the cheap 6 gram pack of Muntons yeast. I did not know what I was doing. It fermented way to hot (mid 70's at least). I left it in the primary for 3 weeks. I did put the bag labeled priming sugar in the bottling bucket and gave it 3 weeks before trying one. It was horrible tasted like green apple sweet beer with no carb at all. I left it alone for a few months and tried a few more and still no carb. There wasnt even a layer a yeast at the bottom of the bottles. I tried shaking them up in case the yeast all dropped out but finally I dumped it after 7 months in the bottle. Still sweet green apple amber beer. I don't know if my yeast all died due to the high temp or the underpitch just stressed them too much but there was little to no yeast in the bottles and there was just a little CO2 released when I opened the bottles but no carb at all.

TNTgill said:

While I do believe the saying give it time and beer will carb. My first batch did not carb and after 8 months i finally gave up and dumped it. It was a MidWest Amber ale extract kit and came with the cheap 6 gram pack of Muntons yeast. I did not know what I was doing. It fermented way to hot (mid 70's at least). I left it in the primary for 3 weeks. I did put the bag labeled priming sugar in the bottling bucket and gave it 3 weeks before trying one. It was horrible tasted like green apple sweet beer with no carb at all. I left it alone for a few months and tried a few more and still no carb. There wasnt even a layer a yeast at the bottom of the bottles. I tried shaking them up in case the yeast all dropped out but finally I dumped it after 7 months in the bottle. Still sweet green apple amber beer. I don't know if my yeast all died due to the high temp or the underpitch just stressed them too much but there was little to no yeast in the bottles and there was just a little CO2 released when I opened the bottles but no carb at all.

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Hmm. I usually pitch the yeast at about 75 degrees. It ferments in my basement at about 63 degrees.

Very similar issue, don't want to start a new thread....SO

I put 4 bottles of my first batch in the fridge (2 weeks in bottle). Cracked one open and no carb, tasted a little green. Going to give it a few more weeks.

Should I just put the three remaining cold ones with the others and let the warm up and finish up? Or will I do more harm than good warming the up at this point?

Should I just put the three remaining cold ones with the others and let the warm up and finish up? Or will I do more harm than good warming the up at this point?

Yeah just let em warm up and drink them last since the fridge time delayed the process a little.

If you have beer in the fridge, take them out and let them warm back up. The yeast will wake back up and finish the job.

Thanks hopmonster and revvy