Bottle carb indications

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Roasty

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My first batch, a witbier, has been sitting at around 72 degrees for what is now approaching 3 weeks.

Are there any indications that a bottle is carbing as it should from an outside, cursory inspection of the bottle at room temperature?

-I do know that I shouldn't even think about them being fully carbed before 3 weeks.
-I do realize that bottles need to be chilled for around 48 hours for the CO2 to be properly absorbed into the beer.
 
There's no visual clues to bottle carbonation...Sorry...You obviously know the rest, already!

Remember though 3 week is just a rule of thumb, it's not an absolute...some beers take longer...Don't panic if yours aren't ready at exactly 3 weeks...

:mug:

Hopefully you've already brewed to take your mind off this batch.
 
If they have been at a constant 72 degrees they should be basically ready. I'd go ahead and chill one and test it out. I just cracked my first English Pale Ale that was bottled on June 30th and it's perfect.
 
Roasty said:
Are there any indications that a bottle is carbing as it should from an outside, cursory inspection of the bottle at room temperature?
Click to expand...

I suppose you could bottle one bottle in each batch in a plastic soda bottle. Squeezing it would give you an indication of carb level.
 
fratermus said:
I suppose you could bottle one bottle in each batch in a plastic soda bottle. Squeezing it would give you an indication of carb level.
Click to expand...

That's precisely what I was going to suggest. Every bottling run, I fill one sanitized 500ml plastic soda bottle, leaving some headspace at the top of the bottle. Before screwing down the cap, I squeeze the bottle, pushing the beer to the very lip, then I screw down the cap really, really tightly.

As the beer carbonates, the pressure will push the plastic back into shape. You can watch this process day by day, until the pressure is such that the bottle looks 'normal'. After that, there's usually still a couple of weeks to wait, but you can still judge the carbonation level by physically squeezing the plastic bottle. The harder it gets, the more carbonated the beer. It'll never get as hard as bottled soda, because that stuff's much fizzier than our beer.

And the best part is, after three weeks you can crack it open and drink it. ;)

Bob

P.S. This process was briefly described in last year's 'Gadget' issue of Zymurgy.
 
fratermus said:
I suppose you could bottle one bottle in each batch in a plastic soda bottle. Squeezing it would give you an indication of carb level.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the responses guys. That gives me a little less anxiety about the invisible carbing...and less reason to open that closet door and go molesting about bottles that really need to just be sitting there in the dark.

Regarding the plastic bottle, I do plan on using one for my next batch which should be bottle-ready in a couple weeks. Revvy is totally right...once that pipeline gets rolling, life gets much less stressful. :D

I picked up an A&W 20oz plastic bottle root beer from a convenience store the other day just because it was a brown bottle and would be perfect to reuse. :cross:
 
Actually, on that note....

I know that time helps flavor mellow out and get to where it needs to be...

So, once a batch is finished bottle-carbing, should they be time conditioned in the fridge or should they continue to sit at room temp (unless I plan on drinking some, obviously)? Or does it not matter? I figured the colder fridge temperature might retard the mellowing of the flavors.
 
Porters and stouts take a while to carb up.. The lighter beers with less solids are ready sooner. I have full carb in two weeks usually with my ales.. My dark beers i wont even crack them till three weeks in the bottle..
 
I've found that beers that I put in a fridge at 3 weeks(after fully carbed) tend to taste less good at 5-6 weeks than beers that sit in the closet until a day before I'm ready to drink them. They seem to taste cleaner.
 
BobNQ3X said:
That's precisely what I was going to suggest. Every bottling run, I fill one sanitized 500ml plastic soda bottle, leaving some headspace at the top of the bottle. Before screwing down the cap, I squeeze the bottle, pushing the beer to the very lip, then I screw down the cap really, really tightly.

As the beer carbonates, the pressure will push the plastic back into shape. You can watch this process day by day, until the pressure is such that the bottle looks 'normal'. After that, there's usually still a couple of weeks to wait, but you can still judge the carbonation level by physically squeezing the plastic bottle. The harder it gets, the more carbonated the beer. It'll never get as hard as bottled soda, because that stuff's much fizzier than our beer.

And the best part is, after three weeks you can crack it open and drink it. ;)

Bob

P.S. This process was briefly described in last year's 'Gadget' issue of Zymurgy.
Click to expand...

Thats a really cool idea. I think that should be a suggestion fore EVERY new brewer as a visual cue to why it takes longer than a week to carb. I'm definately going to try this, because I've never had the chance to witness carbonation difference day by day.
 
Edcculus said:
Thats a really cool idea. I think that should be a suggestion fore EVERY new brewer as a visual cue to why it takes longer than a week to carb. I'm definately going to try this, because I've never had the chance to witness carbonation difference day by day.
Click to expand...


The only thing to be aware of is that different sized volumes of liquid may take longer to carb...we're dealing with living things here....

If you are using a 22 ounce pet bottle as your "control" yet are bottling in 12's (or vice versa) more than likely that you they are going to be ready at different times....So try at least to match the volume between the plastic and the glass....or don't worry about it, and just walk away from your beers for a minimum of 3 weeks like most of us do....

Because even if it's carbed, let's say in a week, there is a good possibility it is going to taste like crap, carbonation and bottle conditioning are two different and distinct processes. And Conditioning happens mostly after the CO2 is made and reabsorbed back into solution.

:D
 
Is that "48 hours in the fridge to let the CO2 dissolve into the beer" a pretty standard rule? I just opened an IPA that's been bottle conditioning for 9 days now. I had only popped it in the fridge for a couple hours. It had a nice hiss upon opening the bottle but there was no sign of carbonation in the beer. Granted, I didn't expect full carbonation after this 9 days, the main point of opening one up right now was to check the flavor since I didn't sample any during the bottling phase.
 
TrojanAnteater said:
Is that "48 hours in the fridge to let the CO2 dissolve into the beer" a pretty standard rule? I just opened an IPA that's been bottle conditioning for 9 days now. I had only popped it in the fridge for a couple hours. It had a nice hiss upon opening the bottle but there was no sign of carbonation in the beer. Granted, I didn't expect full carbonation after this 9 days, the main point of opening one up right now was to check the flavor since I didn't sample any during the bottling phase.
Click to expand...


That's because after only 9 days you shouldn't expect to see much carbonation at all...3 weeks@ 70 is pretty much the rule of thumb for "normal" grav beers...many take longer...

read this and watch the video for an explanation. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showpost.php?p=558191&postcount=101
 
Revvy said:
The only thing to be aware of is that different sized volumes of liquid may take longer to carb...we're dealing with living things here....

If you are using a 22 ounce pet bottle as your "control" yet are bottling in 12's (or vice versa) more than likely that you they are going to be ready at different times....So try at least to match the volume between the plastic and the glass....or don't worry about it, and just walk away from your beers for a minimum of 3 weeks like most of us do....

Because even if it's carbed, let's say in a week, there is a good possibility it is going to taste like crap, carbonation and bottle conditioning are two different and distinct processes. And Conditioning happens mostly after the CO2 is made and reabsorbed back into solution.

:D
Click to expand...

Yea, I definitely understand all of the other factors going on, and wouldnt intend this method to be an indication of when the beer is ready. I just think the exercise itself would be a good learning experience about carbonation in general.
 
*UPDATE*

I remained intent on not touching one until they hit the 3-week mark. It certainly seemed carbed to me. Not surprisingly, the beer was a bit green and would probably be a bit better in another 3 weeks or so.
 

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