Flat and sweet?

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Howdy my fellow beer aficionados,

I was hoping to continue to reap the benefits of your collective wisdom! I recently had some unusual results from my second attempt at bottling and capping. We bottled a 6 pack of our beer early and that worked perfectly but after leaving the rest in the fermenter for an additional two weeks and bottling it the beer ended up being flat and very sweet. We did leave them in the bottles for about two and a half weeks, why wouldn't the yeast have reactivated with the carbonation tab? Is that my problem or am I misdiagnosing?

Any help is always appreciated!

-Dan
 
hello midearthbrew
can you provide more info to aid in a diagnosis.
extract kit or all grain?
what beer?
by bottled early do you meen after a week in the fermenter?
"very sweet" sounds like unfinished fermentation or carb drops not fermenting. what was your og, your fg and your expected fg (final gravity) it would be on the kit instructions. open a bottle and see is your gravity higher than when you bottled.
where were the bottles stored and at what temp? cold temp inhibits fermentation. if they were in the fridge for the 2 weeks thats the problem
the more info you give the more instruction we can give you
 
Hi, thanks for the help!

It was an all grain pale ale that we bottled. The first batch we wanted to submit for feedback and so after 4 weeks in the primary we bottled and it worked. But the rest we left in the secondary for three more weeks the bottled it. Those bottles sat for two weeks at about z65-68 degrees then went to the fridge for three days.
It was the second batch that didn't really carbonate. Any tips on how to prevent that problem from happening again?
I will check the gravity! Thanks for the tip
 
They probably need a little more time at room temperature. Take them out of the 'fridge and let them sit at 70 degrees for a week or so and then see how they are. Three weeks at 70 is generally the minimum recomended.
 
Assuming you carbonated the same way and same amount, it sounds like you just need to wait a bit longer for the second set to carbonate. Ensure the bottles are at room temp, not in the fridge. After another week, put on in the fridge to cool, then check carbonation again. If okay, you are set to chill the rest.
 
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