Worried

I tried Coopers Carbonation Tabs for the first time with a batch of pumpkin ale I just bottled. As per the instructions I used two tabs per 12 oz long neck. After two weeks I have a pop when the lid is cracked but absolutely no other signs of carbonation. As I have done some investigating online I've noticed that a lot of people use just one drop per bottle. Did I over do it? Last night I gave them all a swirl to hopefully get the yeast back up in solution and active again. I really hope I didn't screw up because the beer tasted great. Any thoughts or ideas would be greatly appreciated.

If you hear a pop, that means some carbing is happening, which means the yeast are eating up the sugars and releasing CO2. So I wouldn't worry about it yet, just give the yeast some more time to do their duty.

In addition to swirling it up, you might also consider moving the bottles to the warmest place you have in the home - warmer temps will encourage the yeast to get busy.

Can't help you with the number of tabs per bottle, have never used them.

I think you just need to give it more time. A medium gravity beer typically takes at least three weeks at room temperature to carb up. Bigger beers will take even longer.

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.

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."

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.

At two weeks I wouldn't expect ANY of my beers to be carbed yet.....

The coopers tabs I used a while back were 2 tabs per 750ml (just over 25oz). So it seems despite the lack of carbonation so far, you may get a lot more than you hoped for eventually.

unionrdr said:

The 2 carb drops per bottle bit is intended for cooper's own 25oz PET bottles. 12oz bottles should get only one. When I used them,they took at least 3 weeks to start showing decent carbonation. $ to 5 weeks seemed to be better. But at 7 weeks on,they started to over-carbonate.
Bubbles got bigger,& with head like soda pop. That's why I went to bulk priming 100 times better.

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They shouldn't over carb like that are you positive they didn't overcarb at 7 weeks because of an in bottle infection? Sounds like a gusher to me. The sugar should have been long consumed by then.

Well, from what I'm hearing the situation isn't as bad as I expected. I'm still a rookie at this and wasn't sure if I had maybe overpowered it with sugar. I guess they will just be a bit sweeter than expected. The reason I tried the tabs this time was that I split my batch. Half was bottled as is and the other half had additional spices added to it. Still though, I have read a lot of positive experiences with them so I might give the tabs one more shot. (with the correct amount of course)

Pilgrumbrews said:

Well, from what I'm hearing the situation isn't as bad as I expected. I'm still a rookie at this and wasn't sure if I had maybe overpowered it with sugar. I guess they will just be a bit sweeter than expected. The reason I tried the tabs this time was that I split my batch. Half was bottled as is and the other half had additional spices added to it. Still though, I have read a lot of positive experiences with them so I might give the tabs one more shot. (with the correct amount of course)

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It won't be more sweeter it will be more highly carbed. Simple sugars ferment 100% or nearly that, so it won't be sweet there will be a tiny bit more alcohol and more co2....In order to have a sweet taste in beer, you either have to kill the yeast off so it won't ferment the sugar, have so much additional sugars in their that the yeast die leaving unfermented behind (It takes a lot more sugar to do this) OR you have to add an unfermentable sugar such as lactose.

That's good news. I read the Of Patience and Bottling article. Yeah patience is the thing I need to work on the most when it comes to brewing. Thanks again for the input. Now we wait.

So the beer is now carbonated. And yes, it is way over carbonated. At the risk of asking a dumb question, can too much priming sugar over do it to the point of bottle caps popping off?

Pilgrumbrews said:

So the beer is now carbonated. And yes, it is way over carbonated. At the risk of asking a dumb question, can too much priming sugar over do it to the point of bottle caps popping off?

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I've actually never read of caps being blown off, but have read plenty of exploding bottle stories.

Be careful. Brewing is supposed to be fun, not hazardous...

Cheers!

Put beer in a plastic tote with a lid and pray they don't blow. If they do, they will be contained.
Sticking them in the coolest place can help slow over-carbonation, and help you drink them faster too.
Good luck

Awesome. At least it tastes good so quickly drinking them shouldn't be a problem. I've heard stories of bottles exploding due to bacterial infections and it surprises me the cap doesn't pop off before the bottle breaks. Well, at least now I know the Coopers tabs work. Which is good since I have two bags of them.

Pilgrumbrews said:

I've heard stories of bottles exploding due to bacterial infections and it surprises me the cap doesn't pop off before the bottle breaks.

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Yeah, that crimp connection of the cap on the lip of the bottle is pretty dang strong. Glass, not too much. Well, drink up.