First batch was terrible!

PROBLEM - Beer was completely flat, no carbonation what's so ever, tasted flat and stale.

I am not sure what happened, I painstakenly followed the directions the best I could. I let sit in primary for about a week then racked to 2ndary for about 3 weeks. When I bottled I diluted and put the priming sugar into the bottleing bucket before pouring from carboy. I let the bottles sit for about 2 weeks in my fridge.

I'm thinking the yeast must have been inactive or dead? What could have caused this? How can I prevent this in the future?

THANKS!

You don't want to keep the bottled beer in the fridge. The colder temps will cause the yeast to go dormant, which means the beer won't carbonate. I'm not certain if taking the beer out of the fridge will help, but I think it's possible that the beer will eventually carbonate. I might just take a lot longer than usual.

What you want to do is condition the bottles at room temp for three weeks, then you can start chilling them. In fact, it's better to only chill the ones you're going to be drinking in the near future, as most beers will only get better the longer they age at room temp. I have a six pack cold in my fridge and four cases in my closet right now. Someone else hopefully can advise you on whether taking the beer back out of the fridge will work or not.

Definately remove them from the fridge. Let them warm up the fermentation temp. Shake each bottle a couple times (wake up the yeast). Store them where you keep your fermentor when its full. Wait three days and shake them again, repeat every three days for the duration of three weeks. Then fridge them and wait until they clear. Pop one open when its crystal clear looking through the bottle.

That should do if you carbed correctly. Good Luck!!