Blonde Ale - great taste, very little carbonation

did the 1-2-3, and after 3-4 weeks in bottles, my Blonde Ale has little carbonation, but tastes great?

I don't get it? I made this Bumble Bee Blonde Ale for the 4th of July in honor of Transformers debuting, but I don't think it's ready....any ideas?

What do the EAC's need to know to help solve this mystery?

So there is carbonation, correct?

If so, then it's working, it just takes a long time. You can try some stuff, like making sure the bottles are warm (70-76 F worked for me), or try tipping the bottles upside down and then righting them so that the yeast gets back in suspension.

Ultimately, this is the most frustrating part about bottling, and quickly makes you jump ship to kegging/ force carbonation.

camaro ale, eh? j/k

what did you use/how much did you use to prime?

what kind of capper did you use and are they nice and sealed?

what temperature have they been at (3-4 weeks shouldn't really matter, tho)?

are you talking carbonation or head retention or both?

Chris_K said:

So there is carbonation, correct?

If so, then it's working, it just takes a long time. You can try some stuff, like making sure the bottles are warm (70-76 F worked for me), or try tipping the bottles upside down and then righting them so that the yeast gets back in suspension.

Ultimately, this is the most frustrating part about bottling, and quickly makes you jump ship to kegging/ force carbonation.

Click to expand...

Yes, but very little carbonation.

Now that I think about it, based on a previous post of mine, these were moved into the basement for storage about 1 week after bottling. Where I usually ferment, the temp is between 72-75 degrees and the basement has been hovering around 68. Could the lower temps be making the carbonation take longer?

This was the 6th batch bottled, and I had great luck prior....so I'm not totally going to force carb/keggin yet. I want more brew equipment before I start into kegging.....

DeathBrewer said:

camaro ale, eh? j/k

what did you use/how much did you use to prime?

what kind of capper did you use and are they nice and sealed?

what temperature have they been at (3-4 weeks shouldn't really matter, tho)?

are you talking carbonation or head retention or both?

Click to expand...

Camaro Ale? I'm lost

I used a cup of priming sugar to bottle, like all of my other beers (except for the stout)

Red Baron capper, same as the previous 5 batches

last 3 weeks have been at 68-ish........4 weeks in bottles Week 1 was mid 70's

bumblebee is a camaro in the new movie. hope it doesn't ruin your childhood.

i try to keep my bottles at 75-80 until they're ready, so yes the lower temperature could make them carbonate slower, but after 4 weeks i'd say they should be finished...68 is not an extreme low.

you may want to give them a slight swirl to get the yeast back in suspension and put them somewhere a little higher.

btw, 68 would be better for fermenting most beers and 75 better for bottling IMO

DeathBrewer said:

bumblebee is a camaro in the new movie. hope it doesn't ruin your childhood.

i try to keep my bottles at 75-80 until they're ready, so yes the lower temperature could make them carbonate slower, but after 4 weeks i'd say they should be finished...68 is not an extreme low.

you may want to give them a slight swirl to get the yeast back in suspension and put them somewhere a little higher.

btw, 68 would be better for fermenting most beers and 75 better for bottling IMO

Click to expand...

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Yes, my childhood is ruined! (heh, yeah right)

maybe when I go home, I'll do this:
Take my Camaro Blonde Ale, the beer formerly known as Bumble Bee Blonde Ale, and put that upstairs, give all the bottles a swirl, and put where I have my VirginFest and GQ Brews, and put those two in the basement....they have been sitting in mid 70's for 3 weeks, and I have those ready for August.

sounds like a plan.

yeah, after your bottles are good and carbonated, you want to move them to "cellar" temps. looks like teh basement is the best you got.

i, unfortunately, don't have anywhere to store my brews in the apartment that is less than 70. cept the fridge, of course.

hmm, maybe that will help the last week before they get consumed

I see where your problem is for storing in the fridge...makes you wanna drink them

well, i'm talking more about aging...for bigger beers mostly.

i have far too much to drink on my own anyway. my roomate hasn't been drinking lately and i'm going on a bit of a sabatical myself (drank WAAAAY too much last weekend) so stuff is going to be sitting around for a while. i only have one fridge, too, so if i put all my beer in there, i wouldn't have room for food!

I need a small meat freezer and a small fridge for beer, then i'd probably be cool.