Can I save my beer ? Carbonation level ?

So I made a Imperial Stout and used a calculator I found online for how much priming sugar I should use to get it right. I don't have a scale so I eyeballed it. The beer turned out great except the carbonation level.

It is too flat. It is honestly pretty close but not close enough to make drinking it as enjoyable as I want it to be.

Can I save it ? How ? Could I pop the tops and add some regular sugar ? If so, how much should I add ?

Thanks in advance for the help.

Just because it's going to be asked... Are you sure you let it sit long enough to fully carb?
At around 70 degrees?

How long has it been since you primed it? REGULAR stouts have taken me between 6 and 8 weeks to fully carb up.....Bigger beers have taken me months.

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."

Read the above blog, and come back to the beer in a couple more weeks.

If a beer isn't carbed by "x number of weeks" you just have to give them ore 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.

Lazy Llama came up with a handy dandy chart to determine how long something takes in brewing, whether it's fermentation, carbonation, bottle conditioning....

haha. love the chart revvy.
i've had beers take a lot longer to carb than three weeks. that being said. if they just wont ever carb then thats a good excuse to get set up for kegging! if your carefull not to splash the beers too much you can pour them into the keg and force carb them

Sounds like a good sales pitch to the significant other to me!
I can't remember what my sales pitch was... :\

rycov said:

haha. love the chart revvy.
i've had beers take a lot longer to carb than three weeks. that being said. if they just wont ever carb then thats a good excuse to get set up for kegging! if your carefull not to splash the beers too much you can pour them into the keg and force carb them

Click to expand...

*GROAN* Can we EVER have a BOTTLING question where someone doesn't answer it by mentioning kegging????? You know, some of us may never keg, or will keg and bottle. It's not the be all and end all of brewing...And doesn't need to be brought up every time someone mentions bottling. I mean, we're not idiots...we've HEARD about kegging actually (it's hard not to considering this IS the bottling/kegging section afterall.

It's as tiring and trite a comment to see in every bottling thread as "You're beer is ruined so send it to me for proper disposal."

It's as old as this guy

krazydave said:

Just because it's going to be asked... Are you sure you let it sit long enough to fully carb?
At around 70 degrees?

Click to expand...

Yeah, sorry. I should have mentioned that. It was bottled on 1/22 at around 74 degrees.

Thanks Rev. I have become WAYYY more patient since I first started brewing and it has really paid off.

So seeing how long I have had it bottled, I guess I should keep waiting.

I would advise against trying to add more sugar to each bottle to increase the carbonation level in them...

For future brews, I would suggest monitoring the temperature the wort is fermenting at while in active fermentation. That's the number you need to enter in the calculation tools. Not the air temp, the actual wort temp (or at least a close number)... Since they're not the same, it's important to at least have an idea. The ambient temp where it ferments could be 60F, but the wort was actually fermenting at 65F. 65F is what you would enter in the calculation tool.

That being said... GET A GOOD SCALE... Get a decent grade digital scale that offers both imperial/US and metric ranges. That way you can actually accurately measure the priming sugar (and other things too). If you only plan to ever measure priming sugar with it, you can get one that has a lower limit (~5#'s or so)... If you think you might get into all grain, or partial mashing, then get one with a higher limit (~10# or more). Just be sure it has accuracy in the <1# range.

Once you do that, you can measure your priming sugar amount more accurately and make sure the brew is carbonated to your liking.

BTW, stouts and porters are typically carbonated lower than ales and lagers. You also usually have a range for a style that's fairly wide, such as 1.8-2.5 CO2 volumes. Try in the middle of the range initially, then either increase, or decrease until you find what you like... Just another reason to brew more. Like we need a reason to brew more. :rockin:

Also, be sure to give your brews at least 3 weeks as close to 70F as you can. I usually check pale ales (or ale types) after about 2 weeks to see how things are going. I do chill the bottle down for at least 3 days before sampling it. That way whatever is in suspension has time to flocculate out into the trub in the bottle...

i wasn't trying to convert him or anything. i bottle too, plan on bottling my next batch. i just like kegging to. and who wouldn't want a tap coming out of the fridge? sorry if i offended anyone. not my intention

rycov said:

i wasn't trying to convert him or anything. i bottle too, plan on bottling my next batch. i just like kegging to. and who wouldn't want a tap coming out of the fridge? sorry if i offended anyone. not my intention

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Trust me, as soon as I have the space I am going to be kegging. We are actually house hunting right now. I cant wait to buy a kegerator and be done with bottles. I guess I would still bottle some to bring to friends houses.

From everything I've read, and talked with other home brewers, about a keezer might be a better option than a kegerator... Typically cheaper to build up, holds more kegs, and gives you more flexibility... You could make one that holds just two kegs, or twenty... :rockin:

I do think that all of us want to keg, it's just not something we can all do for some time. I need to wait until I get into a larger place and such. But, I do plan to bottle about half of each batch, and keg the balance (or the other way around, fill a 3 gallon keg, and bottle what's left over)...

yeah. thats one of the reasons i'm gonna bottle this next batch. but also its just kinda neat, the yeast doing the carbing and all. i'm kinda thinking of kreausening(spelling?) this next batch.

Golddiggie said:

From everything I've read, and talked with other home brewers, about a keezer might be a better option than a kegerator... Typically cheaper to build up, holds more kegs, and gives you more flexibility... You could make one that holds just two kegs, or twenty... :rockin:

I do think that all of us want to keg, it's just not something we can all do for some time. I need to wait until I get into a larger place and such. But, I do plan to bottle about half of each batch, and keg the balance (or the other way around, fill a 3 gallon keg, and bottle what's left over)...

Click to expand...

If I was handy I may try to do that. It would actually be better because I could also store a bunch of bottles. Bob Villa I am not.

You don't need to be Bob Villa, or even Tim Taylor to make a keezer...

Basic keezer parts list:
chest freezer (you pick the size)
Johnson Controller, or Love Controller
Corny kegs to fit and basic kegging hardware

Basically, you find a freezer that you like, often people get them used off of Craigslist postings, decide if you want the CO2 bottle inside or out (I like the idea of outside, so I'll drill a hole for the CO2 line to go into the keezer). Then it's all your normal kegging hardware. You can run with party taps for as long as you want. You could, eventually, mount a tower on the cover of the keezer. Or, simply drill some holes in the side and mount taps there.

I'm sure the guys at your LHBS will be able to help you get it up and running. If not, there should be at least someone close to where you are that can help out... There's always video chat to help get things done too. :rockin:

i just put mine in a fridge i have down stairs. co2 tank on the out side, cut hole, line in. it connects to the keg. keg has a line out. cut a hole where you want the tap to be and attach the tap there. really simple. no bob villa needed

As long as you KNOW how to use tools, like which end to hold onto, you should be able to make a keezer... Select the right size one (height usually matters for the keg type and size) and you're good to go... There are enough posting here about building them, that you should be able to get 97% of the info you need before you even start... The balance is once you've picked up the parts, and do a dry run.

Hell, I bet even Homer Simpson could build a keezer up in a couple of hours (tops)...

lol. i didnt build anything elaborate. trying to remember. i think all i needed was a hole saw, and a wrench.(also i bought some little pvc deals to make the gas line in smooth after i cut it)