Carbing question

Almost 3 weeks back, I primed and bottled a batch of porter. After siphoning, I had a minor emergency and was unable to bottle until the following morning. The beer is still mostly flat, showing only a thin head that has no real retention.

I know dark beers can take a while to carb up, but am getting nervous. Am I doomed to re-prime?

Don't even worry about it, bra, until 2 weeks. You're fine

So 5 weeks total conditioning?

Thanks for the reassurance man. People on this forum are quite helpful. Anyone else ever get into this situation?

If I understand you correctly you added priming sugar in preparation for bottling and then were pulled away and bottled the next day. While it is unlikely that the yeast consumed all of the priming sugar overnight they certainly could have consumed enough of it to affect the level of CO2 that was produced in the bottles. If you notice, generally the day after you bottle there is already a layer of residue in the bottom of the bottles from the protiens and yeast settling out. Give it another week or two and if they don't carb up by then you may have throw a carb tab or half a tab into each bottle and recap.

Thanks cclloyd. That's exactly what happened. So, Im keeping them nice and warm and hoping for the best. If nothing good happens in the next week or so, looks like it's time to get out the bottle opener and some tabs.

Well. Beers were still flat as a pancake yesterday, so popped the tops and added a couple of the smaller tabs to each. Hoping after a week they will be drinkable, but I know it could take a few. The taste of the brew is nice, but who wants to drink a flat-ass beer? Lol

I had a similar, but not as drastic situation with my very first batch. left mine for an hour or 2 and came back and finished bottling. they were still flat after 3 weeks.

my LHBS owner suggested turning them upside down for 3 days, then back right side up another 3 days, then fridge for 3 days.

did that and it worked on my flat Belgian Blonde. perfect carbonation. only bummer was that I could only do it on the last 4 bottles in the batch. I had resigned myself to a flat batch and just kept drinking them that way until dude posted the tip on his blog

not sure if it will work for you, but you could try it on a couple. got nothin' to lose

May just try that out. Willing to do just about whatever at this point lol. Amazing what just a matter of hours can do when it comes to co2 escaping. Get bottled fast, folks!

Just an update...added 2 tabs to them...upside down for 4 days and back to right side up..has been weeks. Mostly flat..will chug them down and get something new in those bottles. Flavor is excellent but no bubbles. Lesson learned.

sorry it didn't work out.

the bright side: it was a TASTY mistake!

Stuff like this is exactly why I switched to kegging. I just found bottle carbing too inconsistent and unpredictable. Not to mention the bottle sediment is a big turn-off for most people unaccustomed to brewing.

for some, the switch to kegging is not an option, due to space limitations of adding some way to keep the beer cold.

room temperature beer is a big turn off for everyone

Yeah..unfortunately kegging is not an option for me at this time. Luckily I have not had any issue with the old prime, rack, and bottle method except for on this occasion. Just goes to show how important it is to get this done quickly.

kombat said:

Stuff like this is exactly why I switched to kegging. I just found bottle carbing too inconsistent and unpredictable. Not to mention the bottle sediment is a big turn-off for most people unaccustomed to brewing.

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Sorry but telling bottlers to keg is not solving any problems and ImO/IME there is no issue with bottling once you get it down.

I only bottle, I bottle ~200 gallons per year, all very successfully

duboman said:

Sorry but telling bottlers to keg is not solving any problems and ImO/IME there is no issue with bottling once you get it down.

I only bottle, I bottle ~200 gallons per year, all very successfully

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happens in every carbing and bottling thread

and that's "up to 200 gallons per year" but not over, right? as per federal law, right? with another adult in the household, right?

And never an ounce more. I always keep a running count.

GrogNerd said:

happens in every carbing and bottling thread

and that's "up to 200 gallons per year" but not over, right? as per federal law, right? with another adult in the household, right?

Click to expand...

Yup