first time brewer, finished bottling

[marcodonaldson]

so i just got started with home brewing and i like it. i bottled my first batch a little over a week ago: added my dextrose into my secondary, waited about 20 mins for it to mix, then began bottling. i've got the bottles sitting in my garage in a semi-cool area. last night i actually opened one of them to see what it tastes like even though i was told to wait at least 14 days, i couldn't resist. so anyway i started drinking and it tasted pretty good. only problem was there wasn't that 'carbonation' look to it. i didn't get the foam/bubbles i'm used to. will it all be there after two weeks? maybe i'm just jumping the gun on it and getting a little too excited.

 

[rod]

usually 3 weeks for good carbonation - at 1 week you may get a slight bit.
be patient - beer gets better with some age(homebrew that is)

you say you waited 20 minutes after adding the sugar?
you didn't stir? you may get uneven carbonation.

it is best to put your priming sugar solution(sugar boiled in a cup of water) in a bottling bucket/spare carboy and syphon from the secondary to it. this ensures proper mixing to prevent some bottles getting more sugar than others.

 

[BierMuncher]

Keep those bottles at 70 degrees (or slightly warmer) for 3 weeks. I had a batch that didn't do squat at 65 degrees and then once I moved em...perfect.

Also, once every other day, give those cases a slight rocking back and forth to stir up the yeast a bit and put them back to work.

Patience....it'll pay off.

 

[malkore]

if you added the raw sugar to the bottling bucket, and didn't stir at all, you'll probably end up with mostly under-carb'd bottles, and a few gushers (they might even explode).

next time, FYI, the preferred way is to boil a cup or two of water with the priming sugar in it. cool it afterwards with an ice bath. this makes a sterile/santized priming solution, and makes it a lot easier to mix in.
pour THAT into the bucket, then rack the beer onto it. I personally like to stir GENTLY about every 10 bottles, to ensure the sugar water doesn't try to fall to the bottom...but that's probably a bit over kill.

 

[Mutilated1]

Well I haven't been doing this long, but in my admittedly limited experience they're carbonated pretty well in a week, but they taste better in 3 weeks

This homebrew I'm enjoying right now is likely the best beer I've ever tasted.