Carbonation issues in 1st beer - HELP!

I am very new to home brewing and I finally bottled my first beer! I was excited to see how my first beer was coming along, and I tried one after a week of bottle conditioning. The beer did not taste as carbonated as it should have been following a week in the bottle. I used the Honey Nut Brown kit from Midwest Supply, which suggested to use 5oz of the provided corn sugar boiled with 1 cup of water. Did I do something wrong? Is it too soon to worry? Is there a way to carbonate the beer more now that it has been bottled for a week now? Thanks for the help!

Mike

jmwhelan11 said:

... The beer did not taste as carbonated as it should have been following a week in the bottle.

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At a week in the bottle I wouldn't expect it to be carbonated at all.

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.

Thanks for the feedback! I will relax and let a few more weeks pass. Thanks again.

All my beers seem perfectly carbed after a week... Hell, I drink some after 4 days

Vismich said:

All my beers seem perfectly carbed after a week... Hell, I drink some after 4 days

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All?? You must have some kind of mojo or something. I've had some of mine that I tested early nicely carbed in one week, mainly hefe's, though it's rare and some aren't fully carbed until 3 weeks.

My guess is that just don't notice, or care, whether it's fully carbed or not because there's no way you can bottle carb every one of your beers perfectly within one weeks time.


Rev.

jmwhelan11

How did it go?

I messed up with a batch a little while back. I started bottling without the priming sugar.

I had a few sixers done before I realized. It was a porter. Actually, even without the bottling sugar I still get a little puff of carbon dioxide and evena little bit of foam and tiny bubbles.

It is very drinkable.