First time, flat beer

Hello home brew talk,

First brew and everything went well. After about 6 days of bottle conditioning I lose carbonation within 30s and end up drinking a flat beer. Pours with a good head and bubbles well for that first moment, but flat as water after that. Do I need to give the beer more time in the bottle or could something else be wrong?

The rule of thumb is it takes a three weeks to fully carbonate a bottle conditioned beer.

Beyond just the carbonation factor the flavors blend more the longer it sits. The common analogy is Spaghetti tastes better the next day.

6 days is probably not enough time but it also depends on the temp the bottles are contitioning at.

Mine run about 3 weeks for an average gravity beer at about 68°-70°F. I have had some carb up sooner but not too often. After they are carbed I refregerate for at least 24 hours to let the CO2 absorb a little more.

Of course bigger beers can take a lot longer to carb!

Patience generally wins out every time!

Rdwhahb

It sounds like everything is working fine since CO2 is obviously being produced but if you have not chilled your beers for at least 24 hours the carbonation will not stay in them for very long.

Havent used this one in a couple days...

Of Patience and Bottle Conditioning. - Home Brew Forums

jvlpdillon said:

... Spaghetti tastes better the next day.

Click to expand...

Ack!! My Italian friends would shudder to hear this. Spaghetti (and basically all pastas) must be eaten within an hour of being cooked, at most (and really should be cooked within an hour of being made).

...tick tok ... on day 11 now of Batch 1 in the bottles, day 10 of Batch 2 in the primary...

Mattamue said:

Hello home brew talk,

First brew and everything went well. After about 6 days of bottle conditioning I lose carbonation within 30s and end up drinking a flat beer. Pours with a good head and bubbles well for that first moment, but flat as water after that. Do I need to give the beer more time in the bottle or could something else be wrong?

Click to expand...

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/bottling-tips-homebrewer-94812/

--------------GOTO THIS THREAD------------------

Just-a-Guy said:

Ack!! My Italian friends would shudder to hear this. Spaghetti (and basically all pastas) must be eaten within an hour of being cooked, at most (and really should be cooked within an hour of being made).

...tick tok ... on day 11 now of Batch 1 in the bottles, day 10 of Batch 2 in the primary...

Click to expand...

I think that he is referring to the sauce and not the actual pasta...

Patience, got it. Thanks folks.