carbonation

I've just finished my 1st brew. Blond ale extract kit. Dissapointed with the carbonation.followed directions for priming w corn sugar.am I expecting too much?are homebrews always much less carbonated than store beers?

How much did you use, and how did you use it? Added it to the bottles or mixed into the beer beforehand in your bottling bucket? How long has it been bottle conditioning?

For future reference: http://www.tastybrew.com/calculators/priming.html

Mine sat for 3 weeks in the bottles.....no carb. Figured out I was storing it at too cold of a room Needs to be at least 70* to carb up.

Guaranteed the OP is tasting green beer.

aiptasia said:

How much did you use, and how did you use it? Added it to the bottles or mixed into the beer beforehand in your bottling bucket? How long has it been bottle conditioning?

For future reference: http://www.tastybrew.com/calculators/priming.html

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3/4 cup & mixed into the bottling bucket. Its been almost 2. Wdeks

badbrew said:

Guaranteed the OP is tasting green beer.

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+1.

how long has the beer been bottled? can take 3 weeks or more to carb properly, depending on the beer. also, make sure you're storing them at 70*F or warmer.

sweetcell said:

+1.

how long has the beer been bottled? can take 3 weeks or more to carb properly, depending on the beer. also, make sure you're storing them at 70*F or warmer.

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Thanks

For Beer to carb up it has to be stored at 70 degrees? What if right after bottling it was being stored in the refrigerator for two weeks? It's been two weeks and I cracked one open to taste test it and there is absolutely no carbonation. Can I pull them out of the fridge to get them back down to 70 degrees, or is that gonna skunk it?

Frydaddy said:

For Beer to carb up it has to be stored at 70 degrees? What if right after bottling it was being stored in the refrigerator for two weeks? It's been two weeks and I cracked one open to taste test it and there is absolutely no carbonation. Can I pull them out of the fridge to get them back down to 70 degrees, or is that gonna skunk it?

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Yes do that. Skunking is only gonna happen if you place the bottles on your windowsill to condition. Just keep them dark in a cupboard for 3 weeks. It will take a few weeks or months to carb up in the fridge.

Rookie mistake I did was immediately placed the bottled beer in the fridge. This obviously killed the primer affect. I cracked all the beers open and added sugar recapped and placed in a dark temp controlled area and two weeks later they were good as new !!!!!

boysbrew2012 said:

Rookie mistake I did was immediately placed the bottled beer in the fridge. This obviously killed the primer affect. I cracked all the beers open and added sugar recapped and placed in a dark temp controlled area and two weeks later they were good as new !!!!!

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Be very careful here...if you primed the bottles then put them in the fridge, all you did was put the yeast to sleep....the sugar solution is still in the beer. You could have just moved them to somewhere over 70F, once warmed up they would have started carbonating. You could have inverted them carefully just to be sure the yeast was back in suspension.

If you opened them and added more primer...you're likely over primed, which could very well lead to bottle bombs. I suggest you keep ALL those bottles in the fridge from now on, if they're carbonated...don't let any warm up without opening them.

second rookie mistake: you primed twice, or primed double.

once they're sufficiently carbonated you're going to need to keep them in the fridge or somewhere cold. if they get warm for too long, the yeast will have time to eat the double-serving of sugar and create too much CO2.