Low carbonation :(

[Noz03]

I've bottle 3 batches so far, and in all 3 I have had extremely low carbonation I've tried using up to double the amount of sugar, Ive tried using a secondary to mix the sugar in, I just dont get it....

The things that might be unique in my brewing are that I only use soda bottles (I dont have a capper and cant get one). Also the temps are pretty high around here so the bottles are being left in temps around 30*C but from what i know neither of these should affect it. Any suggestions?

 

[Indianhead_Brewer]

OK. I'll start with a few questions. What size was your batch? How much sugar did you prime with? Are you using new caps or trying to recycle old ones? That's it for now, but there will probably be more.

 

[Noz03]

OK. I'll start with a few questions. What size was your batch? How much sugar did you prime with? Are you using new caps or trying to recycle old ones? That's it for now, but there will probably be more.

Batches are around 20lt, the first 2 batches I put the sugar into the bottles 1tsp per litre, I also tried putting 1.5tsp per litre but no change. 3rd batch I put the same amount but I put it into a 10litre bottle and mixed it before bottling.

as for caps I dont use caps at all. I use plastic soda bottles between 1 litre and 2 litre mixed. Over all Ive barely noticed any difference in the carbonation by the different size of bottles OR the amount of sugar I put.

They are not completely flat but just flatter than they should be, I usually pour without tilting the glass to get a small amount of head which quickly disappears

 

[progmac]

The proper procedure is to take about 130 grams of sugar, mix it with a cup or so of water, and boil the sugar water on the stove. Then pour the sugar water into your bottling (second) bucket and add your beer on top of that. Give it a couple gentle stirs and then bottle.

 

[Dovage]

How long are you letting them carb up? I've used 2 liter Pepsi bottles before and it works fine, but it take at least 3 weeks. Plus you really have to crank the twist tops on, or some of the carbonation leaks.

 

[KepowOb]

How long do you refrigerate them before drinking? You'll want them to be in your fridge for 2-3 days before popping them open to get the CO2 into the beer.

 

[dstranger99]

If you double the amount of sugar, your gonna have a sh*tload of yeast/sugar residue in your bottles..........

 

[Indianhead_Brewer]

Interesting. At the temps you are conditioning (30°C/86°F), 1.5 tsp sugar/liter should get you about 2.4 volumes of CO2.

Someone else already asked how long you have been bottle conditioning for, as that is pertinent to the equation too.

I guess I still have questions about the soda bottle aspect of this. You are talking about screw top soda bottles right? If so are you using recycled soda bottles with the old caps or new caps? I'm just wondering if you might be having leakage issues.

 

[freisste]

I have to imagine the issue is a leak. If your carbonation is roughly equal irrespective of priming sugar added and time, your caps are probably not tight enough. They are acting almost like little regulators. They let out a little gas when they reach a certain carbonation (pressure) level.

You could turn one upside down to check this - instead of leaking a little gas, it would leak a little beer. This would be a definite indication of a leak.

Also, this makes no sense to me, but I have heard it many times. Screw tops will loosen over time, so get them tight and then retighted once or twice after a day or two.

 

[BansheeRider]

Stick a balloon over the bottle, if the balloon inflates then you have a leak through the caps (this may take a few days to notice). I am willing to bet that your caps are not air tight. At 30 degrees celsius you should have carbed beer in a week or 2 depending on the gravity of the beer.

As mentioned above the preferred method is to batch prime using a bottling bucket. There are many calculators online that tell you how much priming sugar to use. Boil the sugar with water for a few minutes and pour it into your bottling bucket. Then rack your beer into the bucket and give it a gentle swirl to ensure even distribution of the sugar. Then you will use the spigot with a bottling wand or tubing to fill your bottles.

 

[ulsh72]

Is the final result tasting pretty 'normal' or is it tasting sweet, suggesting the priming sugar is not being fully utilized. What type of beer and how long from completing fermentation to bottling? could be weak yeast not able to attenuate all the priming sugar and not giving you full carbonation.

On a side note, I used to make sweet sparkling cider in reused 20oz soda bottles. Never once had a problem with a seal, and they were reused a couple times...

The other thing to reiterate is head space. Are you filling the bottles and leaving little head space? Too much head space will take up too much CO2.

Lastly, as said before, be sure to refrigerate for at least a few days to allow the CO2 to disolve in solution. The warmer the liquid is, the less CO2 can be in solution, and thus will be lost in the headspace when you open the bottle...

 

[jungatheart]

Great answers guys.

 

[Noz03]

Ok, I'm going to try again tomorrow and get everything exactly perfect, I'll write down everything I did, maybe even take a gravity reading before and after. Wish me luck.

Oh and btw I give them around 1inch head space. Is that ok?