can you see anything happening through your bottles while carbonating?

[RippinLt]

will you see any signs of carbonation without opening a bottle?

 

[Pappers_]

no

 

[frazier]

The only time I did, was when I saw tiny bubbles rising in the bottle, and correctly diagnosed a bad seal at the cap.

So, no.

 

[klyph]

This is anecdotal and non scientific, but I had a batch that wasn't carbing up very well, and when I held the bottles up to a strong light, the ones with some trub buildup on the bottom seemed to be carbed, while the ones with no sediment were flat.

FWIW

 

[Beer_Guy]

I sometimes see a tiny ring of Krausen scum just above the beer level. It is very slight, but it has been there on several bottles.

Also, during carbing I have noticed the small Krausen foam layer itself around the edge.

 

[ForRealBeer]

About the only thing I have ever seen in bottles is yeast clinging to the side of the bottle after about 7-10 days. In my bottle conditioned brews, I like to wait 10 days and then give each of the bottles a sharp quick twist to dislodge that, and also to roust the yeasties one last time. Don't know if it really rousts them or not, but it makes me feel good and it doesn't hurt the brew. But...the clinging yeast is all I have ever seen besides the beer clearing up as everything finishes and settles down.

 

[nutty_gnome]

I sometimes see a tiny ring of Krausen scum just above the beer level. It is very slight, but it has been there on several bottles.

Also, during carbing I have noticed the small Krausen foam layer itself around the edge.

I've also seen these on occasion. Nothing to worry about.

 

[Revvy]

Sometimes you may see a bottle krausen on top, sometimes you may see sediment on the bottom but there are too many factors like recipes, what you prime with, type of yeast, storage temp, proteins, and phases of the moon to ever be a consistant way to judge if a beer is carbed. If you bottle in plastic bottles and squeeze them, supposedly if they are really hard they are carbed, but that doesn't really factor in whether or not the beer is conditioned yet, nor would it necessesarily mean that if you bottled one in a plastic bottle and the rest in 12 ounce glass ones, that the rest of them would be carbed.

It really just comes down to time and temp. The 3 weeks at 70 degrees, that that we recommend is the minimum time it takes for average gravity beers to carbonate and condition. Higher grav beers take longer.

Stouts and porters have taken me between 6 and 8 weeks to carb up..I have a 1.090 Belgian strong that took three months to carb up.

Temp and gravity are the two factors that contribute to the time it takes to carb beer. But if a beer's not ready yet, or seems low carbed, and you added the right amount of sugar to it, then it's not stalled, it's just not time yet.

Everything you need to know about carbing and conditioning, can be found here Of Patience and Bottle Conditioning. With emphasis on the word, "patience."

Read the above blog, and come back to the beer in a couple more weeks.

 

[smizak]

About the only thing I have ever seen in bottles is yeast clinging to the side of the bottle after about 7-10 days. In my bottle conditioned brews, I like to wait 10 days and then give each of the bottles a sharp quick twist to dislodge that, and also to roust the yeasties one last time. Don't know if it really rousts them or not, but it makes me feel good and it doesn't hurt the brew. But...the clinging yeast is all I have ever seen besides the beer clearing up as everything finishes and settles down.

Ha, I do the same, right before they go in the fridge.

To the OP, when my beer looks like ForRealBeer's description, I usually crack one to test the carbonation. That's the only indication that the beer may be done carbonating. Not foolproof in the least. The only real indication that carbonation is in progress would be yeast in suspension, i.e., cloudy beer in the bottles. Again not foolproof, I've had Apfelwein bottles look crystal and still be flat, depends on the amount of yeast in suspension.