Slow Carbonation

I bottled one week ago today and I opened one to check on it and it had a slight bit of carbonation to it but not much. Made the faintest hiss when I opened the top off of it. I assume that if I just wait another week it should be even better carbonated? Hopefully this isn't as good as it gets. This being my first batch I am very impatient.

Patience is a virtue. Definitely wait another 2 weeks. It will be perfectly carbonated. What did you brew? How did it taste?

it's a brown ale. It came out good. Very malty. Not a lot of hop flavor to it, which is a bit of a drag. I wish I had boiled the bitter hops longer. But as a first beer I am pretty pleased with it.

Stow it away someplace and brew something else. If you like it now, it will blow your mind in a few weeks. Bottle carbonation can take a while. The mantra is 3 weeks at 70F for carbonation, which is OK for most average gravity beers, but it is a minimum standard. And carbonation does not mean the beer is conditioned, a more subtle idea of mellowed flavors and aging.

Really, park it someplace out of sight for a month and then stick a few in the fridge for a few days, THEN try them. It will be completely different (and excellent) beer.

Just to point out that I'm not talking out of my you-know-what; I'm drinking the very last bottle of a milk stout that I brewed back in March. I actually realized that I hated the style early on. The beer was OK, I brewed it properly, but meh. But I have had this brew in the bottle for more than 6 months, and it is actually nice. I'll miss this beer. I have half a glass left. We've been through a lot together.

I've got 10 gallons of English pale ale that has been in the fermenter for 4 weeks and in the bottle for 3 weeks, but I boxed them up for more conditioning because they simply aren't ready. It's taking a while for them to carbonate because I did secondary on them, but they'll get there with time. I'll be loving the hell out of these brews in the spring.

I have a lager going now that I will be enjoying in the heat of next summer. My next brew will be a dry Irish stout that I will be enjoying when autumn sets in next year.

Are you getting a sense of the importance of time? Keep brewing, and you'll see.