Carbonation Levels

Hi folks. I've just brewed a tasty but slightly cloudy Woodforde's Wherry which is my first attempt and I'm quite pleased. However, it seems rather flat and was wandering whether real ales should be quite flat or perhaps I have done something that has affected its level of carbonation.

Your thoughts would be much appreciated.

The real ale movement defines a real ale as cask (wood) conditioned. So, we are looking at about 1/2 psi of carbonation. This is flat. Homebrew is rarely this flat, but they tend to have lower carbonation levels than the yellow fizzy stuff. The measure of carbonation is by volumes of CO2. Most homebrew & craft beers will be around 1.5-2 volumes. The YFS will be around 4-5 volumes, counting on fizz and freezing the taste buds to mask the lack of flavor.

Factoid: hopping rate for Coors 1 lb per 1300 cans.

david_42 said:

Factoid: hopping rate for Coors 1 lb per 1300 cans.

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So that would be 1oz per 7.61 gallons?

Just curious - how long was it fermented in the primary and secondary (if you used a secondary)? How long has it been in the bottle? Did you use steeping grains in the wort?

The first time I brewed, I was unclear about what to do with the priming sugar and I simply dumped it into the primary with the wort. I learned (luckily before I bottled that batch) that I needed to add it to the mix just prior to bottling. Did you maybe make a mistake similar to mine?

If it has not been in the bottle long, give it a week and see if it has improved.

Good point Steve.

I had it in the primary for about 7 days and then I racked it to my secondary (a keg) at which point the priming sugar was added. It has now been in the secondary for two weeks. Perhaps it will improve with a further one to two weeks. It has just started to clear, tastes lovely. I'm not sure whether there's any alcohol in it! Also, when I open the tap on the keg it produces masses of head which is a slight problem when I'm after a large pint to slake my thirst.