Carb. question

[dhoyt714]

My last batch that I bottled 4 weeks ago hasn't really carbed up as much as I would have liked. I don't know if that is due to me cold crashing it to much and taking out the yeast or me not putting enough sugar in when bottling.

What does everyone usually put in for corn sugar while bottling? or did I over cold crash?

 

[GoCrew]

We are going to need more info to give you some advice. What did you use to prime, and what method, what temps were you at?

 

[dhoyt714]

I did a batch prime at 68 degrees with corn sugar.

 

[Revvy]

At what temps are they at. The 3 weeks at 70 degrees is just a minimum for normal grav beers. Big beers and beers below 70 take longer, as do beers in bottles bigger than 12 ounces.

 

[Revvy]

Carbonation is really foolproof. If you add sugar, the beer will carb, when it's ready. There are not carbonation problems, just patience ones. Cold crashing doesn't really affect carbing, there's still plenty of yeast in solution to do the job.

 

[GoCrew]

how much sugar? was it 5 gallons? what type of beer? Did you bottle condition at 68 or was it 68 where you bottled then you moved them to a basement or somewhere cold? Did you bulk age your beer or let it sit for months in the fermenter?

Be as descripitive as you can, bottle conditioning is kind of hard to screw up. If you add something fermentable at bottling time, it should work.

 

[DocScott]

Cold crashing does not reduce the number of yeast to levels that would prevent bottle carbonation. How much sugar did you use? I will typically use between 2.5-4.5 oz of sugar on 5 gallon batch depending on style, temp and desired carb levels.

 

[Jayhem]

What does everyone usually put in for corn sugar while bottling? or did I over cold crash?

It is difficult to over-cold crash...I have heard of people cold crashing at 35F for a week and still bottle carbonating just fine....though it can take a bit longer after extended cold crashing due to a lower suspended yeast count.

If you used at least 3 oz of corn sugar in 5 gallons and mixed it before bottling they should carbonate ok but high gravity, cold crashed beers could easily take 2-3 months to fully carbonate.

Use this priming calculator to determine how much sugar to use to carbonate your beer next time!
http://www.tastybrew.com/calculators/priming.html

 

[dhoyt714]

I was a a 3 gallon chinook IPA and I added 1/3 cup of corn sugar which equates roughly 2.6 oz of corn sugar. They have been in the same 68 degrees roughly since bottling.

 

[Revvy]

There's no such thing as "over cold crashing" we lager beers at near freezing for months on end, and they carb fine. And lagering is usually months, not the few days of cold crashing.

 

[GoCrew]

I think you just need to wait longer. You have plenty of sugar in there.

 

[dhoyt714]

Some of the batch carb way more then others. I think I might have accidentally racked the beer and put the sugar on top without stirring it in.

 

[freisste]

Some of the batch carb way more then others. I think I might have accidentally racked the beer and put the sugar on top without stirring it in.

You have your explanation. Either stir gently or add your boiled sugar solution to the bottle and rack on top with your racking tube producing a swirl. This results in pretty effective mixing.

 

[brewmasterbates]

When bottling, we only use the Coopers bottling drops. 1 drop per bottle, (looks like a Halls cough drop) ALWAYS works. Some ales take longer than others. But a good rule of thumb is 3 to 4 weeks at 68-70 degrees.

 

[dhoyt714]

I have been boiling the sugar and adding it to the bottling bucket and mixing that way. Should I be adding right to the bottle?

 

[Yooper]

I was a a 3 gallon chinook IPA and I added 1/3 cup of corn sugar which equates roughly 2.6 oz of corn sugar. They have been in the same 68 degrees roughly since bottling.

1/3 cup of corn sugar may or may not equal 2.6 ounces. I would suggest a small kitchen scale for measuring hops and priming sugar, because 1/3 of a cup may be far less than 2.6 ounces, or maybe more, depending on the "grain" of the sugar.

I have been boiling the sugar and adding it to the bottling bucket and mixing that way. Should I be adding right to the bottle?

No, you're doing it right!

 

[jp27300]

At what temps are they at. The 3 weeks at 70 degrees is just a minimum for normal grav beers. Big beers and beers below 70 take longer, as do beers in bottles bigger than 12 ounces.

How much longer do larger sized bottles need to carb? I put some Ina 2 liter pet and a 1 liter pet as well s some 20 oz. the pet was just to see what happened.

Jp

 

[jp27300]

1/3 cup of corn sugar may or may not equal 2.6 ounces. I would suggest a small kitchen scale for measuring hops and priming sugar, because 1/3 of a cup may be far less than 2.6 ounces, or maybe more, depending on the "grain" of the sugar.

No, you're doing it right!

I got 5 oz of priming sugar from NB, which equally 8 fluid oz in a measuring cup. I just did the math to get to 4 oz.

 

[Revvy]

How much longer do larger sized bottles need to carb? I put some Ina 2 liter pet and a 1 liter pet as well s some 20 oz. the pet was just to see what happened.

Jp

I can't answer that, there's no set time on theses things. But I wouldn't even think about opening the 2 liter until I had consumed all the other beers.

 

[phattony]

Maybe try rousing the yeast in the bottles up by turning upside down (gently) then turning back over and swirling (gently) and wait another week. ....Thoughts on this from our more experienced members?

 

[Yooper]

I got 5 oz of priming sugar from NB, which equally 8 fluid oz in a measuring cup. I just did the math to get to 4 oz.

But some sugars are "finer" than others, so a cup of one isn't a cup of another. You can't compare weight to liquid measures at all.

You can guestimate 3/4 of a cup for a full batch, and it might not be far off, but it would be impossible to say if that is 4, 5, or 6 ounces by weight.

 

[Revvy]

But some sugars are "finer" than others, so a cup of one isn't a cup of another. You can't compare weight to liquid measures at all.

You can guestimate 3/4 of a cup for a full batch, and it might not be far off, but it would be impossible to say if that is 4, 5, or 6 ounces by weight.

Maybe this will help... There's a classic experiment that Alton Brown did on his show where he took a half cup of unsifted and sifted flour and weighed them both and showed there was a substantial difference in weight between the two.

You can do this your self with a measuring cup of brown sugar. Fill a half cup with brown sugar. Now press the sugar down in the cup. How much is there? Half? Now go and get some more brown sugar and cram all that into the cup. So now you have a half cup of sugar that has twice as much sugar in it as before you compressed it.

Think that would affect carbonation, jp27300?

 

[jp27300]

I can't answer that, there's no set time on theses things. But I wouldn't even think about opening the 2 liter until I had consumed all the other beers.

Crud. Thinking the 2 liter was a major mistake. I didn't realize a larger container would take longer. You think I can still bottle it instead?

I bottled it yesterday.

Jeff

 

[jp27300]

Maybe this will help... There's a classic experiment that Alton Brown did on his show where he took a half cup of unsifted and sifted flour and weighed them both and showed there was a substantial difference in weight between the two.

You can do this your self with a measuring cup of brown sugar. Fill a half cup with brown sugar. Now press the sugar down in the cup. How much is there? Half? Now go and get some more brown sugar and cram all that into the cup. So now you have a half cup of sugar that has twice as much sugar in it as before you compressed it.

Think that would affect carbonation, jp27300?

Yes that is true, however, my package was 5 oz weight = 8 oz in a measuring cup. If I had a bulk supply of corn sugar that would not work. Just for this instance 4/5 of 8 fluid OZ worked out to 4 oz or 6.4 oz liquid measure.

A scale is surely much better.

Jeff

 

[Revvy]

Crud. Thinking the 2 liter was a major mistake. I didn't realize a larger container would take longer. You think I can still bottle it instead?

I bottled it yesterday.

Jeff

Just leave it alone and wait, if you mess with a beer too much you run the risk of oxidyzing or infecting it. Just learn from this mistake, and leave that beer for a couple of months. You may find out you LIKE have 2 liter bottles of beer on hand.

The issue of time really only comes up for new brewers. When you have a pipeline, with different beers at various stages of the process, it becomes less crucial when a beer is finished, you will more than likely always have something on hand. And you're willing to let a beer take as long as it needs to.

 

[jp27300]

Just leave it alone and wait, if you mess with a beer too much you run the risk of oxidyzing or infecting it. Just learn from this mistake, and leave that beer for a couple of months. You may find out you LIKE have 2 liter bottles of beer on hand.

The issue of time really only comes up for new brewers. When you have a pipeline, with different beers at various stages of the process, it becomes less crucial when a beer is finished, you will more than likely always have something on hand. And you're willing to let a beer take as long as it needs to.

Thanks.

I've found your advice in many posts to be to to the effect of RDWHAHB, which I think in general is usually right when someone is questioning something they did.

Jeff