Carb Tab Quandry

I just bottled two batches of a fantastic surly furious clone. I used cooper's carbonation tabs, as I am trying to isolate a problem with flavor that I have had. (Assuming it is from a lingering residue in my kegs). Anyways the first batch was 12 oz. bottles which I capped and PUT IN THE FRIDGE immediately. The second batch I put approx. 12 oz. into grolsch style flip tops at fermentation temperature. I am worried about the low temps for my first batch, and the excess head space in the second. Will a more experienced brewer please lay my worries to rest, or provide a solution to a problem if one exists? EXTRA INFO...one tab in each bottle, the beer had been dry hopped in the secondary for over a month, and settled out extremely well (small amount of yeast left in suspension already?) Thank You.... smile is for my first post:cross:

I just bottled two batches of a fantastic surly furious clone. I used cooper's carbonation tabs, as I am trying to isolate a problem with flavor that I have had. (Assuming it is from a lingering residue in my kegs). Anyways the first batch was 12 oz. bottles which I capped and PUT IN THE FRIDGE immediately. The second batch I put approx. 12 oz. into grolsch style flip tops at fermentation temperature. I am worried about the low temps for my first batch, and the excess head space in the second. Will a more experienced brewer please lay my worries to rest, or provide a solution to a problem if one exists? EXTRA INFO...one tab in each bottle, the beer had been dry hopped in the secondary for over a month, and settled out extremely well (small amount of yeast left in suspension already?) Thank You.... smile is for my first post

I'm not sure exactly what your question or quandry is here, but let me see if I can get it. You are concerned that you will have not enough carbonation in either of the bottle sets.

For the ones in the fridge, Option 1 - wait longer Option 2 - take out of fridge let them warm up and carb for a couple of weeks, months. - Assuming you have no Carb.

For both sets (after you've done options 1 or 2 ) if you don't have good carb, you can put a little more sugar in each bottle, you have to open them up, and I'd go with no more than 1/4th a teaspoon, an dthen recap them.

I'd bet however that the swingwing ones will be just fine. I usually leave the neck empty - gives it space incase I've over sugared, which I've always had plenty of head provided I leave it long enough to carb. I had one set that was to cold (about 60 F on the concrete floor so maybe colder) and that took FOREVER to carb.

Since these are your first - I guess I have to say "Relax, Don't Worry, Have a Craft Beer" - since you don't have any homebrew to drink

Get the beers out of the fridge. You can't carb in the fridge. The yeast will go dormant in the fridge and not produce and co2- you'll have flat beer no matter how long you leave them in there.

The 3 weeks at 70 degrees, that we recommend is the minimum time it takes for average gravity beers to carbonate and condition. Higher grav beers take longer.

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.

Temp and gravity are the two factors that contribute to the time it takes to carb beer.

Everything you need to know about carbing and conditioning, can be found here Of Patience and Bottle Conditioning.

JackTheRipper said:

I just bottled two batches of a fantastic surly furious clone. I used cooper's carbonation tabs, as I am trying to isolate a problem with flavor that I have had. (Assuming it is from a lingering residue in my kegs). Anyways the first batch was 12 oz. bottles which I capped and PUT IN THE FRIDGE immediately. The second batch I put approx. 12 oz. into grolsch style flip tops at fermentation temperature. I am worried about the low temps for my first batch, and the excess head space in the second. Will a more experienced brewer please lay my worries to rest, or provide a solution to a problem if one exists? EXTRA INFO...one tab in each bottle, the beer had been dry hopped in the secondary for over a month, and settled out extremely well (small amount of yeast left in suspension already?) Thank You.... smile is for my first post

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Ok, a couple of problems. One, you need to let your beer bottle condition at 70 F for 3 weeks! The problem with taking your 12 ouncers and putting them directly in the fridge is that it doesn't give the yeast a chance to do their job. When you get them cold, they hibernate, they don't eat, and that's exactly what you need them to do to produce CO2 to carbonate your beer. The general rule of thumb is 3 weeks at 70F, then 3 - 5 days in the fridge. Take them out of the fridge and let them age for 3 weeks when they warm up.

Second problem is when you put approximately 12 ounces of beer in a roughly 22 ounce bottle. That's WAY to much head space. The yeast in your beer will not have enough food to eat to produce enough CO2 to carbonate your beer. Although with this problem, I do not see a way to fix it without oxidizing the hell out of it. I am thinking maybe add 2 more tabs each bottle, but then you run the risk of bottle bombs if to much CO2 is produced, and that's not something you want to have happen with swing top bottles. My suggestion is you are going to have some flat beer to drink.

Any reason for the double post? https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f29/carb-tab-quandry-243338/

Revvy said:

Any reason for the double post? https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f29/carb-tab-quandry-243338/

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the two threads are only a few minutes apart. I'm guessing he stumbled upon the site, posted in the first forum he saw (Introductions), and then reposted when he found the correct forum (beginners).

yes to polish stout

Revvy said:

Get the beers out of the fridge. You can't carb in the fridge. The yeast will go dormant in the fridge and not produce and co2- you'll have flat beer no matter how long you leave them in there.

Click to expand...

I thought cold conditioning you carbed at lower temps? (and waited forever)... Since I do ales, I've not tried lagering yet. Although my experience with the beer this winter and the basement floor seems good proof that warmer temps were needed for carbing.

You dry hopped for over 1 month?!

When keg space is available I plan to dump all of my fridge bottles in and force carbonate. Might be a little sweet, but better than sweet and flat. As for the flip tops...patience. Thanks for your help