6 weeks in bottle and no carbination

So I bottled my apfelwein 6 weeks ago.. I cracked open a bottle today.. and absolutely no carbination.

I put 1 cup ~ 8oz of priming sugar in before I bottled..

Im thinking one of the reasons might be that I racked to the secondary, then bottled, so there was no sediment what-so-ever. So could it be that since most of the yeast was gone, that it will take awhile?

How long was it in primary/secondary?

At what temperature have you been storing the bottles? If it's an ale yeast, you'll typically need 65 degrees F or more in order for the yeast to function and carbonate the bottles.

I had it in the primary for a month.. secondary for 2 weeks.

Maybe since I have them on my floor, it is a little colder.. maybe around 60.

I'll try putting them up on a table or something.

I don't have much experience, but my first batch had problems carbonating. I moved the bottles to a warmer temperature and agitated them slightly.

(BTW - just for future info purposes, a cup of sugar does not equal 8 oz, at least the way we quote priming rates. It is actually closer to 5 oz.)

syd138 said:

I had it in the primary for a month.. secondary for 2 weeks.

Maybe since I have them on my floor, it is a little colder.. maybe around 60.

I'll try putting them up on a table or something.

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60 is a bit cool for most ale yeast. If you can put it somewhere that's closer to 70, you should have better luck carbonating.

I wouldn't worry about the long primary and secondary. There should still be enough yeast in suspension to carbonate if it's at the proper temperature.

21 days At 70 degrees

blowmax10 said:

21 weeks At 70 degrees

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I think you mean 21 days....


and yes, the 70 degrees is pretty important, roll them to resuspend the yeast and warm them up, they should carb.

ifishsum said:

I think you mean 21 days....

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um.. yeah thats it

dontman said:

(BTW - just for future info purposes, a cup of sugar does not equal 8 oz, at least the way we quote priming rates. It is actually closer to 5 oz.)

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Wait, when it comes to priming sugar (corn sugar) are we talking about ounces in terms of volume or weight? Cause 1 cup is most definitely 8 oz in terms of volume.

Eves said:

Wait, when it comes to priming sugar (corn sugar) are we talking about ounces in terms of volume or weight? Cause 1 cup is most definitely 8 oz in terms of volume.

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Beer ingredients are referred to by weight not volume.

dontman said:

Beer ingredients are referred to by weight not volume.

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So, based on a previous post, which 1c = 5oz (corn sugar by weight), if I want 8oz, I need to add 1-2/3c?

That is good to know, I assumed 8oz was volume, not weight. I was using less priming sugar than I shhould have.

Thanks!

reim0027 said:

So, based on a previous post, which 1c = 5oz (corn sugar by weight), if I want 8oz, I need to add 1-2/3c?

That is good to know, I assumed 8oz was volume, not weight. I was using less priming sugar than I shhould have.

Thanks!

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No, (EDIT: actually, sort of. I think I might have misread your post initially) Really you should get a kitchen scale and measure out the correct amount by weight. Volume is a very inaccurate measurement method.

I've actually never seen a recipe call for 8 oz by weight of priming sugar. The most I've ever seen beersmith or something similar recommend is 5.5 oz. On a five gallon batch that is. Usually it calls for between 4.25 and 4.75 oz.

I prime my Apfelwein with 4.75 oz for 5 gallons and it gives me a very nice carbonation.