First Batch, But Low Carbonation

I thought I'd take the plunge into home brewing since I can't get a good Wee Heavy up here in Montana.
So, I did the Belhaven Wee Heavy clone out of Beer Captured. I used 1 lb more DME than what the recipe called for. The brew was in the primary for 13 days, then racked to the carboy for 3 weeks. I bottled it not quite 4 weeks ago. All of this was at the 68-72F room temperature in my basement.
The taste is excellent - much better than I'd anticipated, but, the carbonation is very low, almost non-existent. When the cap is popped, I hear a brief wisp of escaping CO2, but, thats really the only hint of carbonation in the beer. After searching through the forums here, I'm going to try refigerating a couple of bottles for at least 48 hours to see if that helps.
If it doesn't, I'm thinking of trying some carb tabs. If I go that route, how many should I add per bottle ? Do I need to add some dry yeast with it ? How much ? How much time after before its ready to drink ? Is there a better way ?

Don't add carb tablets unless you like either over-carbed beer. Only do this if you didn't add an appropriate amount of priming sugar at bottling.

Big beers take a long time to carb. Sit them at room temp for another month and open. Repeat every couple weeks after that until they reach a good carbonation level.

How much sugar did you use for what size batch?

I really suggest giving it more time. If it doesn't carbonate to your liking, just keep that in mind next time you brew it. I don't think you should mess with the bottles at this point, though. Carbonation tabs suck in my opinion, and they will take an additional 3-4 weeks. All those carbonation tabs are made of is sugar. I've used the munton's tabs before (4 per bottle), but I'm not a huge fan of them. They never fully dissolve in my experience.

Are you sure your basement is that warm? I would try moving them upstairs to a warmer room in the house for another week or so. Putting them in the 'fridge will slow or almost stop the carbonation.

As southrncomfort said, I would just adjust your next batch with a little more sugar. When I bottled I would add two tablespoons of sugar to the prepacked bags I got at the LHBS.


I do have success with the carb tabs, though. Now that I am kegging I get a few extra 12 oz. beers after I fill the keg. I have been using the Muntons tabs for those at 4 per bottle and they seem to work fine, although I have only drank a few.

wonderbread23 said:

Don't add carb tablets unless you like either over-carbed beer. Only do this if you didn't add an appropriate amount of priming sugar at bottling.

Big beers take a long time to carb. Sit them at room temp for another month and open. Repeat every couple weeks after that until they reach a good carbonation level.

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+1...bigger beers sometimes take a bit longer to carb up. I've heard stories of RIS that took a few months to get carbed.

Keep them bottles sitting around for a while and see where it is come 3-4 more weeks.

Suthrncomfrt1884 said:

How much sugar did you use for what size batch?

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Batch size was 5 gallons. Priming medium was 1-1/4 cups of DME boiled in 2 cups of water. This was what the book specified. After cooling the priming liquid, I poured it into the bottom of the bottling bucket. The beer was then racked from the carboy into the bottling bucket.

If the carbonation is low, than that just means It's not ready yet! Nothing is wrong except that it needs more time.

Adding more sugar will mean bottle bombs......

Gravity and storage temp are the biggest factors in carbonation/conditioning times...

The bare minimum for most average grav beers is 3 weeks at 70 degrees. But that's just a minimum and that's for beers 1.060 and below, things over will need more time.

Stouts and porters have taken me between 6 and 8 weeks to carb up..I have a 1.090 Belgian strong that took three months to carb up.

More info can be found here....Revvy's Blog, Of Patience and Bottle Conditioning.

Lazy Llama came up with a handy dandy chart to determine how long something takes in brewing, whether it's fermentation, carbonation, bottle conditioning....