Carbonation Problem - Waited 4 weeks and fridge 72 hours

[Turk10mm]

So I brewed this beer over 4 weeks ago, 4 weeks and 1 day ago. This was my second batch of beer. My first batch a belgian whit has no problem with carbonation (actually overly carbed), but this one is almost flat. I used 4.5 ounces of corn/priming sugar when I bottled. There is enough carbonation in the glass to foam for a brief 30 seconds or so and then the beer is flat. Within 2 or 3 minutes the beer is totally flat, although still drinkable.

I ran this one week in primary and one week in secondary. The beer tastes good. It has a slight sour flavor I'm not very keen on, but it was very pronounced in the wort when I pitched and its slowly but surely going away.

Any ideas?


Size: 5.22 gal
Efficiency: 75.0%
Attenuation: 75.0%
Calories: 165.3 kcal per 12.0 fl oz

Original Gravity: 1.050 (1.045 - 1.051)
Terminal Gravity: 1.012 (1.008 - 1.012)
Color: 5.04 (3.0 - 5.0)
Alcohol: 4.89% (4.7% - 5.4%)
Bitterness: 17.4 (16.0 - 22.0)

Ingredients:
.25 lb Munich Malt
.5 lb Crystal Malt 10°L
2.5 lb 2-Row Brewers Malt
3.0 lb Pale Liquid
2.0 lb Corn Sugar
1.0 oz Hallertau Tradition (4.4%) - added during boil, boiled 60 min
.25 oz Hallertau (3.8%) - added during boil, boiled 15 min
.25 oz Hallertau (3.8%) - added during boil, boiled 0.0 min
1.0 ea White Labs WLP840 American Lager

Schedule:
Ambient Air: 70.0 °F
Source Water: 60.0 °F
Elevation: 0.0 m


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[SKMO]

Sure this is not the answer but are your glasses clean of detergent ? Do you use Jet Dry or another spot free rinse in your dishwasher ?

If you have detergent or Jet Dry on your glassware your foam head will go to Zero almost immediately.

Just an idea.

 

[Maxkling]

First of all 2 weeks fermentation isn't usually recommended. You usually want to look for a month at least. Also only 7 days in the primary and then you racked to the secondary depending on when your fermentation started and how fast or slow fermentation was, you most likely moved it while it was in the middle of fermentation.

To answer your question it may take up to 3 week in the bottle to carb. If you search the forum or you tube you will find a very good video on bottle conditioning.

You are also stopping the carbing process by putting the beer in the fridge causing the yeast to go dormant.

I cant really tell by the post on how long its been conditioning 2 weeks or 4 weeks?

Also what temperature are you keeping the beer at while conditioning.

 

[hotbrew]

First of all, I've gone from grain to glass in 2 weeks before with pales so don't worry about that. Your gravity measurements show that you clearly achieved adequate attenuation. Though I wouldn't suggest moving it to the secondary so quickly. You really don't even have to use a secondary, but that's a debate for another thread.

I do agree with Maxkling about the bottle conditioning. Don't put them in the fridge. Let them condition at room temp for at least 3 weeks. If you're really impatient and can't stand waiting that long; switch to kegs and you can force carb in a day. Other than that, make sure you have clean glasses.

 

[Turk10mm]

They bottle conditioned at 70 degrees for 4 weeks and 1 day. sorry if my post wasn't clear.

 

[hotbrew]

Then let them bottle condition some more.

I've always had mixed results with bottle conditioning. Even if I stir the hell out of it after adding the priming sugar and then bottling, I still have some bottle bombs while others are not carbonated at all. You might find that you have the same problem.