beer carbonating or not?

[sweendogg82]

So, my first batch of beer is an american light kit that I added a pound of honey to. I bottled it 10 days ago and i figured i would try and crack one open to see how its doing. When I opened it it has very very little carbonation. Is it too esrly or did I mess up somewhere? I added 4 oz. Of sugar as it recommends.??

 

[jtratcliff]

What temp are your bottles?

Rule of thumb is 3 weeks at 70F. But it also depends on the ABV. Bigger beers take longer.

There's a video you can search for that shows someone opening beers at different stages of carbonation. Interesting to see how it goes from flat, to gusher, to just right.

 

[Munchkin]

10 days is not nearly enough time to properly carbonate. 3 weeks at room temperature is usually what I see people recommending as the minimum conditioning time. This is usually what i do then leave the beer in the fridge overnight the day before you drink it so the co2 you have produced can be absorbed more easily in the beer. That being said depending on the brew, it could take many more weeks or months before adequate carbonation has been achieved.

 

[sweendogg82]

My alcohol content is about 3% for the batch. My beer is at 70 or above. Guess I just need some more patience.

 

[dkevinb]

You guys take a LONG time to carbonate. I bottle in PET bottles. I can tell when they're carbonated. If they're not rock hard in a week something's wrong. I give them another week to condition and clear. The only times I've had to wait longer was for a high ABV cider. My 9.5% honey cider took about 3 weeks, but I'm betting the S-04 was close to played out at that ABV. Months? Wow. That would have to be a monster beer with like 1 or 2 surviving yeast cells in it.

I usually ferment for 2 weeks before bottling, but if you bottled too early you'd have the opposite problem, i.e., bottle bombs. 4 oz. of corn sugar in a 5 gallon batch is pretty darned close to the right amount. I'm a bit surprised that a light lager kit with an additional pound of honey only wound up at 3%. That should be more like 5%, at least. What were the OG and FG? Could the yeast have just been old?

BTW, it's not a disaster if your beer turns out not to be fizzy. The English have been drinking it like that for hundreds of years, and it still tastes pretty darned good. I have an English ordinary bitter in the fermenter right now that I'm going to very mildly carbonate. It's all good.

 

[Munchkin]

You guys take a LONG time to carbonate. I bottle in PET bottles. I can tell when they're carbonated. If they're not rock hard in a week something's wrong. I give them another week to condition and clear. The only times I've had to wait longer was for a high ABV cider. My 9.5% honey cider took about 3 weeks, but I'm betting the S-04 was close to played out at that ABV. Months? Wow. That would have to be a monster beer with like 1 or 2 surviving yeast cells in it.

I usually ferment for 2 weeks before bottling, but if you bottled too early you'd have the opposite problem, i.e., bottle bombs. 4 oz. of corn sugar in a 5 gallon batch is pretty darned close to the right amount. I'm pretty surprised that a light lager kit with an additional pound of honey only wound up at 3%. That should be more like 5%, at least. What were the OG and FG? Could the yeast have just been old?

What temperature are you bottle conditioning at?

 

[dkevinb]

What temperature are you bottle conditioning at?

If you're asking me I carb/bottle condition at room temp, around 70-75 F. That's pretty optimum for almost any yeast to gobble up some simple sugars and produce CO2, then go back to sleep. The OP said his is at 70+, so that sounds right.

 

[Munchkin]

If you're asking me I carb/bottle condition at room temp, around 70-75 F. That's pretty optimum for almost any yeast to gobble up some simple sugars and produce CO2, then go back to sleep.

Yeah im slightly on the cool side 68-69. With the cooler weather coming my bottles are around 66-67. Might start keeping them in the kitchen cupboards which is more like 73.

 

[dkevinb]

ABV has a lot to do with it in the sense that higher ABV beers will have more stressed yeast who are less capable of bottle carbing. I just checked a batch of 4.2% American wheat (WB-06 yeast) that I bottled two days ago and they are already hard. Not rock hard, but hard enough I can tell I'll be drinking that in two weeks. The 7.5% simple cider (S-04 yeast) that I bottled the same day is still squishy. I'm guessing that one will take 2-3 more weeks to carb. You have to let cider sit for a lot longer than beer before it really tastes good, anyway.

 

[sweendogg82]

When i made the batch i added a little too much water. The alcohol content was 3%, box says 4%. I dont think i messed anything up. There is just very little carbonation. I have a raspberry lemon wheat that is ready to bottle. I will try that on, its 8.2% alcohol.