Flat Beer, help!

So after waiting 3 months to try my 2nd try at Partial Extract Brewing, my beer is flat. I'm pretty sure I didn't add enough priming sugar when I bottled it and now I'm not sure what to do. I'd really like to "rescue" this beer if possible.
Is there anyway to "add" more carbonation to this beer or am I left with the choice of drinking flat beer or pouring it out?
Any help would be appreciated!

Keg it and force carbonate it.

How long has the beer been in the bottle, what temps have you been carbing/conditioning them at and what was the og of the beer?

coryforsenate said:

Keg it and force carbonate it.

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I don't have any kegs or CO2, though I dream about having some...

Revvy said:

How long has the beer been in the bottle, what temps have you been carbing/conditioning them at and what was the og of the beer?

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Beer has been in the bottles for 3-4 months now. Conditioning them at just slightly below room temperature (in the back of my closet in the storage room). Can't remember the OG of the beer, my sheets are at home and I'm at work.

How many beers have you opened so far? The first one one my last batch that I opened was flat but virtually all others were fine.

BoyScout said:

Beer has been in the bottles for 3-4 months now. Conditioning them at just slightly below room temperature (in the back of my closet in the storage room). Can't remember the OG of the beer, my sheets are at home and I'm at work.

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What;'s your slightly below room temperature? Is it above 70 degrees?

MeatyPortion said:

How many beers have you opened so far? The first one one my last batch that I opened was flat but virtually all others were fine.

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Tried about 6 of them so far, cause I thought that it might have been just that bottle, but they've all been flat.

Revvy said:

What;'s your slightly below room temperature? Is it above 70 degrees?

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I'd say it'd be about 65-68oF (around 20-22oC)

Is there literally no carbonation? Not even a little pfft? Some priming sugar would result in some carbonation, so if you're getting absolutely no carbonation, then I'd think it's something else.

Possible causes:
- Not enough time - Shouldn't be your issue.

- Too low of temperature - Can often be remedied by more time. EDIT: If temp. got really low right after bottling, the yeast in the bottle may have gone dormant, shake each bottle to re-suspend the yeast.

- Priming solution unevenly mixed into beer - Some may have little/no carbonation, while others have too much. Maybe the six you've tried were all bottled with beer that had no priming sugar; try a bottle or two that were bottled at the opposite time (i.e. first bottled vs. last bottled).

- Too little/no yeast left in beer at bottling time - How long did you primary and secondary ferment? EDIT: Is there a layer of yeast on the bottom of each bottle?

Depending on the cause, one solution may be to open all your bottles, add a little dry yeast and/or Munton's Carb Tabs or Cooper's Carb Drops, and recap.

How much priming sugar did you add?

wendelgee2 said:

How much priming sugar did you add?

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I added 1/2 cup of dextrose for priming.

JiveTurkey said:

Is there literally no carbonation? Not even a little pfft? Some priming sugar would result in some carbonation, so if you're getting absolutely no carbonation, then I'd think it's something else.

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There is a little bit of carbonation, just not much.

Possible causes:
- Not enough time - Shouldn't be your issue.

- Too low of temperature - Can often be remedied by more time. EDIT: If temp. got really low right after bottling, the yeast in the bottle may have gone dormant, shake each bottle to re-suspend the yeast.

- Priming solution unevenly mixed into beer - Some may have little/no carbonation, while others have too much. Maybe the six you've tried were all bottled with beer that had no priming sugar; try a bottle or two that were bottled at the opposite time (i.e. first bottled vs. last bottled).

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Temps. stayed pretty constant. I'll try giving a few a shake and then let them stand a week to see if that helps

- Too little/no yeast left in beer at bottling time - How long did you primary and secondary ferment? EDIT: Is there a layer of yeast on the bottom of each bottle?

Depending on the cause, one solution may be to open all your bottles, add a little dry yeast and/or Munton's Carb Tabs or Cooper's Carb Drops, and recap.

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Primary - 1 week, Secondary - 3 weeks.
There is a layer of yeast at the bottom of the bottles, about the same as there was in other batches of beer.
Hadn't heard of Carb Drops or Tabs before, I'll take a look for them and see if that helps. Any idea of how much one should add to a bottle?

depending on the brand, the label will tell you. Prime Tabs say 3 per 12oz bottle. I will tell you that's too much - 2 is better. But the Muntons or Coopers, I don't know.

Not bad idea to have a pack around anyway. So when you do keg one day, you can also bottle a 6-er without having to calculate sugar. Pick up some sugar tablets, do about 6 bottles, leave them at room temps for two weeks, maybe three - and see what happens.

good luck!

BoyScout said:

I added 1/2 cup of dextrose for priming.

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That sounds light to me. I use 1 to 3/4 of a cup per 5 gallon batch.

BoyScout said:

I added 1/2 cup of dextrose for priming.

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I was having this issue with my beers before i started weighing out my priming sugar. using a measuring cup can yeild different amounts depending on how compacted the sugar is when measured.

also 1/2 cups seams low, if i remember correctly i think i was using 3/4 cup for a 5 gallon batch, but i has been a while since i measured that way.

My house is on the cool side, mid to low 60's. i have found that my beers take 5-6 weeks to carb at room temp, some have taken 3+months to carb. then they need a week in the fridge to improve even more before drinking.

how long are you letting them sit in the fridge before sampling?

you may be able to add carbination tablets to teh bottles, but i have not used them so maybe someone else can recommend the amount.

BoyScout said:

I added 1/2 cup of dextrose for priming.

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Most things that I've read require at least 5 oz per 5 gallons.. so a little more than that. So that might be the cause?

MeatyPortion said:

That sounds light to me. I use 1 to 3/4 of a cup per 5 gallon batch.

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BoyScout said:

I added 1/2 cup of dextrose for priming.

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For my first batch, a dry stout, I only used 1/2-cup of dextrose. In retrospect, I should have used more, but it still has a healthy carbonation.

JiveTurkey said:

For my first batch, a dry stout, I only used 1/2-cup of dextrose. In retrospect, I should have used more, but it still has a healthy carbonation.

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I can't really give you much insight as to why then. I've used 3/4 to 1 cup for, count 'em, all 6 batches I've done and I haven't had much of an issue. I haven't done a stout though, mainly pale ales.

MeatyPortion said:

I can't really give you much insight as to why then. I've used 3/4 to 1 cup for, count 'em, all 6 batches I've done and I haven't had much of an issue. I haven't done a stout though, mainly pale ales.

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Assuming I accurately estimated the weight of 1/2-cup dextrose (which is about impossible of course), it yielded 1.9 volumes of CO2, which is in the range for a stout, but definitely low for a pale.

With the thickness of the stout, the lower carbonation feels good. I could use a little more carbonation, but it works. It's certainly not flat, so I don't think 1/2-cup would be causing the OP's problem.

robertvrabel said:

Most things that I've read require at least 5 oz per 5 gallons.. so a little more than that. So that might be the cause?

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4oz.
In BeerSmith, I'm pretty sure 5oz = Kaboom. IIRC.

Just a little follow-up in case anyone else has this problem, and is curious about the solution.
I bought a package of Cooper's Carb Drops and added one to each bottle, then recapped them. It's been 3 weeks now and the beer is perfectly carbed. The carb drops did just what I needed them to.
Thanks to everyone here who chimed in with suggestions!!!