5 weeks in bottles - no carbonation

Hi all,

First time homebrewer trying to figure out what might be going on and I'd appreciate any thoughts.

I brewed a little over two months ago (amber ale). It spent five days in primary - bubbling vigorously on days one and two and about once every five minutes on day five. After about 3 1/2 weeks in secondary I bottled it. I gave it a week or so in bottles and then tried it and found it flat. Same thing two, three, four, and now five weeks in.

A lot of the threads I've read on this site regarding under-carbonation have centered on the bottles. I washed the labels off using a combination of dish soap and baking soda then ran them through the dish washer for an entire cycle without detergent. I sanitized by putting them in the oven and "baking" on low for half an hour (lhbs suggestion). I didn't forget priming sugar. My lhbs thinks the temperature could be too cold and suggested warming the bottles - the thing is, the ambient temperature in my apt has only gone up (~68-70F), if anything, since the beer was in primary (and I'd assume that if it was warm enough to ferment in primary, it's warm enough to ferment in bottles, no?).

Does anyone have any thoughts as to what could be going on? I'd love to save the beer (or at the very least avoid any mistakes in the future).

Thanks!

A five day primary is very short. I doubt that fermentation was complete at all.

i bottled up some amber ale myself... im drinking it now at about 4 weeks.. it sat in bottles at 68-70 deg F. at 3 weeks i had good enough carb.. at 4 weeks its a little better. But,, i left mine in the primary ferm for 3 weeks. not sure if that would make a diff. or not. I guess some hydrometer readings would be helpful.

how hot were the baked bottles when you bottled/capped them?

also baking soda kills yeast and I doubt the dishwasher could get enough water in the bottles to completely rinse it out

My LHBS's website suggests the baking method but they say 350 F (which is not low in my opinion) and for 90 minutes, 1 hour longer than you did. Maybe that's the issue?

Does your dishwasher have a Sanitize cycle? Use that if it does. I just rinse my bottles out after I use them and put them on the bottle tree. Then on bottling day I re-rinse them all and then plunge them in a bucket of Star-San then hang back on the tree before bottling. Spray your tree with Star-San as well. I haven't done this before but will from now on.

I know you'll hate to hear this, but find a warmer spot than 70, that may not be enough. I had a pumpkin ale take MONTHS to carb because the room it was in was a little too cold, probably around 68.

Your sanitation procedure may have something to do with it as well, but I doubt it. In the future, get yourself some starsan or something similar, it'll make your life a lot easier. I use oxyclean to get labels off, and then one of the various no rinse sanitizers before bottling.

Also, good fermenting temps are not necessarily the same as good carbing temps. Fermenting temp should be cooler, in fact, to avoid funky flavors with most yeast.

Thanks all for the replies!

gmcastil said:

A five day primary is very short. I doubt that fermentation was complete at all.

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True. But let's say the fermentation wasn't complete in primary - wouldn't it have taken care of itself in secondary?

grimzella said:

I guess some hydrometer readings would be helpful.

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My LHBS said to not worry about taking gravities on the first batch, so I only have a FG to share: 1.010

amandabab said:

how hot were the baked bottles when you bottled/capped them?

also baking soda kills yeast and I doubt the dishwasher could get enough water in the bottles to completely rinse it out

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At the worst, they were warm. I let them cool for ~an hour before bottling.

Regarding the baking soda point, that was one of my fears - I wonder if I need to throw in a few more rinse steps in the future?

yancydc said:

Also, good fermenting temps are not necessarily the same as good carbing temps. Fermenting temp should be cooler, in fact, to avoid funky flavors with most yeast.

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Interesting. You have any reading to suggest on this point? Would love to dig deeper.

The challenge for me is that there is really nowhere in my apartment with a temperature that is noticeably higher than ambient. I've heard people suggest the top of the fridge, but mine has a built in slot, so there is only ~1" of clearance on top. I suppose I could set them in my room and turn the radiant heater on, but that just seems absurd given 70+ degree temperatures outside. Maybe that will end up being the best course of action, though.

Mid sixties or higher is fine for carbing. I wouldn't spend time looking for a place any warmer than that.

How much priming sugar did you use?
Batch prime or bottle prime?

avsrock90 said:

Thanks all for the replies!



True. But let's say the fermentation wasn't complete in primary - wouldn't it have taken care of itself in secondary?

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yes it will, it will slowdown, its a hated process today, gets people foaming at the mouth over long primaries but it will work

At the worst, they were warm. I let them cool for ~an hour before bottling.

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not a problem

Regarding the baking soda point, that was one of my fears - I wonder if I need to throw in a few more rinse steps in the future?

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I'd just take it out of the process altogether

I didn't forget priming sugar on my 2nd batch ever, I just used much too little!
Since then, I boil 3/4 cup corn sugar or 1 1/4 cup DME in 1 pint of water for 10 min, cool it down in an ice water bath in the sink (while still in the pot), pour it into my fermenter, stir the beer for about 3 seconds (very gently and slowly), and then let it sit for 20 min before bottling. This method seems to get good carbonation after 3 weeks of sitting in a room that's 68 deg F.
I've still noticed at times that a few random bottles might not be as carb'd as the rest. I haven't determined why that happens for sure. But anyway, maybe some of the beers that you just haven't gotten around to opening yet are carbonated.

Kealia said:

Mid sixties or higher is fine for carbing. I wouldn't spend time looking for a place any warmer than that.

How much priming sugar did you use?
Batch prime or bottle prime?

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Batch prime. I don't have my log with me, but the amount was standard (pre-measured by the LHBS). I can confirm on Monday.

amandabab said:

I'd just take it out of the process altogether

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Agreed