Bottle conditioning

Does a Belgian Wit take longer than other brews to bottle condition? My basement temp is about 60 degrees, and they have been in the bottle for about 8 weeks. I had very inconsistent results but lately after 2 months it seems to have come around. Otherwise I was experiencing some flat ones, and the next one would foam over. I usually try to stick to Revy's rules about 3 weeks in the bottle.

what was your carbing method? did you add priming sugar to each bottle individually?

I put about 2 cups of the boiled priming sugar in the bottom of the bottling bucket, then siphon from the secondary to the bottling bucket

Damn man I hope someone smarter then me posts. I got nothing, seems strange.

Warm them up to 60. Wits are meant to drink fresh and tend to have a lot of yeast in suspension. Mine are generally carbed 2 weeks tops.

60 is low for bottle conditioning - if you can raise them to 70+ they will carbonate faster.

Also, 2 cups of sugar or something smaller like 2/3 of cup of sugar boiled in 2 cups of water? 2 cups of sugar for 5 gallons of beer would be too much, I think.

2/3 cup of sugar boiled in 2 cups of water, sorry wasn't very clear on that

It may be just a problem of uneven distribution of priming sugar, when you bottled

How did you prime? Did you first put the priming solution in the bottling bucket before transferring your beer on it? Did you stir a little or no? How much time did you take to bottle?

I'm sure it's just coincidence but I had the same problem with a wit. Never had problems with carbonation in >20 batches or so (forget how many I've made now) and had it for the first time with the wit I made. I just figured it was something I did wrong. They did carbonate but took almost 2 months

Well, if you brewed with WLP400, then it might be normal. This yeast seems to like to take his sweet time. It took 3 weeks for the kraeusen to fall in my batch, with a very healthy yeast. For other people, on the WLP400 review of whitelabs, it seems like a little swirling to resuspend the yeast was needed to have proper attenuation.

So, I guess we have to deal with the yeast's agenda.

I put the priming solution in first, but don't stir. Is stirring recommended?

It still is under debate. However, some people on here reported the same problem as you, and stirring gently seems to have solve it.

Look it : https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f13/bottling-bucket-stir-not-stir-171583/

Ah yes another debate. I think I will try the gentle stir method. Thanks

4.00 Oz. of sugar for 5 gallons is what works for me..I prefer to invert my own sugar I don’t know why but I’ve had better results than with corn sugar the taste is better..?

Dosing with fresh active yeast while not required improves condoning, particularly if you age your beer before bottling. After adding priming sugar and yeast I let it sit for a 10 minutes and then stir with one of these on low for a minute...

http://morebeer.com/view_product/19688/102269/Yeast_Stirrer

I know it's counter intuitive and there's debate about it but but a little extra O2 is beneficial for bottle conditioning beers.

I Condition at 70-75 F. for 2 weeks. If you plan to do much bottle conditioning set up a warm room basically a closet with a small ceramic heater and a temp control. Wyeast labs 3944 Wit beer yeast for example is active 62-75 F. You might simply be on the low end of temperature

I think a bottle conditioning closet is a good idea, I have been tossing that around lately probably time to take the next step.

You absolutely have to stir, or at least swirl. When I was bottling I would put in half the priming solution, rack on top, swirl, add the second half of priming solution, rack and swirl again.

If you use a dyed water solution and rack clear water on top of it you'll see the distribution isn't quite even without any agitation.

Sedge said:

You absolutely have to stir, or at least swirl. When I was bottling I would put in half the priming solution, rack on top, swirl, add the second half of priming solution, rack and swirl again.

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definitely stir, I kinda just gently stir with the siphoning tube as everything is being transferred and have never had a problem.

but as far as your method, wouldn't adding the 2nd half of the priming solution make too much of a splash? i know i try to avoid any kind of splashing so oxygen doesn't get in

So in general do you want your bottle conditioning temperature the same, lower, or higher than your primary and secondary fermenting temperature?

I like the same temperature if you are able to, especially if you're using the same yeast for bottling as fermentation. However, a little higher or lower (within reason) will only change the amount of time it takes to carbonate. Not really too much flavor impact from bottle conditioning hotter or colder. Just don't stick it in the fridge or oven.

bmbox12 said:

So in general do you want your bottle conditioning temperature the same, lower, or higher than your primary and secondary fermenting temperature?

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FWIW, I try to primary and secondary in the low to mid 60s and bottle condition (until the carbonation is where i want it, at least) 70+. I haven't noticed any adverse affects with the higher bottle conditioning temps, but I've not studied it either. Others with a more scientific grounding may explain why my method is a bad idea . . . .

In regards to your bottle conditioning closet, I do this, but put the boxes full of beer in Rubbermaid totes just in case of a bottle bomb or other leakage...

I'm hoping this comment will bump the thread. I recently bottled my third batch of homebrew, a Blue Moon clone, and couldn't wait to try it. Cracked open a bottle on the fourth day, and had a lovely, velvety head, but the beer was slightly under carbonated. Opened another on day five, and the head is now too "active" and the beer has an over-carbonated bite to it.

I've read here that witbiers should be consumed fresh, but I'm perplexed that there could be such a difference after just one additional day. Both of my earlier batches also wound up somewhat harshly carbonated, using casting sugar (added before bottling).

If I allow the beer to condition a few more days, is that likely to hurt or help? Would I be best served chilling the beer now, to at least preserve what I've got?

Thanks!

I sometimes open up tester bottles as soon as 4 or 5 days, but you can't expect the beer to be ready to go that quickly. It helps to store the bottles in the fridge a few days before drinking as well-you may just be noticing temperature differences as much as anything in the two bottles you've consumed so far.

You should definitely let the batch go at least 2 weeks before chilling it, and if you drink one and it's where you want it, just chill all of them.