didn't get good carbonation

hello.

I'm very new at this...

i bottled my first brew, and after 7 days a cracked open a bottle to test it. it surprisingly tasted descent, however, there was only minimal carbonation. I used the recommended amount of cane sugar and bottled it about 2" from the top of the bottle. also, the beer i bottled was VERY clear, almost like there were no yeast in it. beer was a bit sweet though.

Questions: did i do things right?
is there a way to improve carbonation?
will waiting another week improve carbonation?
is it a problem that the beer was extremely clear?

thanks for your time helping out a new brewer!

breweRN said:

hello.

I'm very new at this...

i bottled my first brew, and after 7 days a cracked open a bottle to test it. it surprisingly tasted descent, however, there was only minimal carbonation. I used the recommended amount of cane sugar and bottled it about 2" from the top of the bottle. also, the beer i bottled was VERY clear, almost like there were no yeast in it. beer was a bit sweet though.

Questions: did i do things right?
is there a way to improve carbonation?
will waiting another week improve carbonation?
is it a problem that the beer was extremely clear?

thanks for your time helping out a new brewer!

Click to expand...

Three weeks room temp then 48 hours in bottles

im assuming you mean fridge, . thanks.. ill wait 2 more weeks!

breweRN said:

im assuming you mean fridge, . thanks.. ill wait 2 more weeks!

Click to expand...

Yup sorry.

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. But if a beer's not ready yet, or seems low carbed, and you added the right amount of sugar to it, then it's not stalled, it's just not time yet.

Everything you need to know about carbing and conditioning, can be found here Of Patience and Bottle Conditioning. With emphasis on the word, "patience."

If a beer isn't carbed by "x number of weeks" you just have to give them more time. If you added your sugar, then the beer will carb up eventually, it's really a foolroof process. All beers will carb up eventually. A lot of new brewers think they have to "troubleshoot" a bottling issue, when there really is none, the beer knows how to carb itself. In fact if you run beersmiths carbing calculator, some lower grav beers don't even require additional sugar to reach their minimum level of carbonation. Just time.

I've carbed hundreds of gallons of beer, and never had a beer that wasn't carbed, or under carbed or anything of the sort (Except for a batch where I accidently mixed up lactose or Maltodextrine for priming sugar). Some took awhile, (as I said up to six months) but they ALL eventually carbed.

Give it three weeks at 70 degrees, take 2 bottles, one from each bottle box or not near each other. Chill them for at least 48 hours and drink them...if both are carbed and taste good more than likely they're ready. If only one is ready, that means the bottles aren't quite there yet, and the one that was carbed was a tad warmer than the other. Wait another week or two and try again.

Revvy, your response has to become a sticky. How many times has this question come up?