My first own ale recipe is not carbonating

[webtopf]

I brewed my own recipe for the first time and ran into a problem with carbonation.

I'd really appreciate if someone more experienced could look at my brew log and let me know if there's something i did wrong.

I wanted to create a lighter (low abv and body) version of a pale ale. I tried it a few times, but even after more than a month, nothing. There's a hiss when I open a bottle but almost no carbonation at all when drinking it.

Thanks in advance!

LOG:
Brewed oct 27

100g caramel malts steeped @ 70-80° for 1h in 2l of water
Boiled 6 liters of water
added 1.5kg briess golden light extract and the wort from caramel malt
Added 12g of cascade 7.8 @ 60min
Added 10g of citra 13.8 @ 15min
Added 14g of citra 13.8 to dry hop

A lot of water evaporated while boiling. down to about 4l. added 7 again to get the final batch size to 11L.

OG measured at room temperature: 1.040

Bottled on Thursday nov 8th after 12 days in the primary. I used 70 grams of dextrose sugar that i boiled in a cup of water. I put this in the bottling bucket before adding the beer.

FG: 1.008
Fermentation was at around 22deg c

I stored the bottles in the same conditions like the primary fermenter

I tried one bottle nov 18th. No carbonation at all.

Tried again Nov 28th, still the same.

Tried again Dec 5th, still nothing.

 

[TurnipGreen]

You say you do hear a hiss when you open a bottle? Thatyfoos that means carbon is being made. It sounds like it just hasn’t reached a level to saturate the beer.

To bottle carb, I usually leave beers in my basement for about a mont or keep them in a room temperature closet in the house for two to three weeks.

I recommend you raise the temperature for a week (all though 22c/72f ought to be fine) or just give them more time.

What yeast did you use? Some take a bit longer.

 

[kh54s10]

You used the proper amount of priming sugar, you have a good conditioning temperature.

Do you have carbonation, but lack of head? Does the beer taste bubbly?

The possibilities are that the sugar did not get mixed into the beer. You have carbonation, but lack head. You need to wait longer. Something not noted in your procedure caused a problem, though I can't see what that could be.

You should have carbonation by now but sometime it takes a little longer. Though that is usually with dark high alcohol beers.

 

[indymedic]

You may not have thoroughly mixed your priming sugar in. When I bottle, I usually add my priming sugar in 3 parts through out racking from fermenter to bottling bucket.

A month in bottles should be more than enough time to carbonate even in a slightly cooler room.

I second the suggestion though to move a few bottles to a warmer area and give them a week or two.

 

[balrog]

Any chance you kept track of first bottle that was bottled vs last bottle?
If first bottle is well carbed, the sugar did not mix in bottling bucket well.

 

[webtopf]

Thanks for the feedback. I used Safale US-5 yeast. Good to have someone double check the priming sugar amounts I first suspected that to be off.

I know which one was bottled last because i first filled all the glass bottles and the last one was definitely a plastic bottle. That one feels hard, so maybe really the sugar wasn't mixed in well. I'll open it this weekend and check if it's different. [emoji106]

 

[cmybeer]

Haha, I ran the numbers three separate times and they look right. I should note I've had three beers and needed to convert first grams to ounces, then liters to gallons then Celsius to Fahrenheit but it looks good after a little internet converting.

Anyways... I second moving them to a warmer spot but also tip them upside down once to get whatever yeast is in there back into suspension. If it still doesn't work after a little flip and some heat you can try reyeasting which is a pain but I've seen work in the past.

 

[webtopf]

I did try the last bottled one now and had to find out there was also no carbonation there. Same like before, a slight hiss when opening the bottle, but then it's completely flat. The few liters left now after trying a few times I'll just pour away. Thanks for your help!

 

[kh54s10]

You could try re-priming. Uncap, add sugar to the bottle and recap. I think people use 3/4 teaspoon of table sugar to a 12 ounce bottle. I would use a little less (and check on my recollection) since you have some carbonation.

 

[ncbrewer]

You could try re-priming. Uncap, add sugar to the bottle and recap. I think people use 3/4 teaspoon of table sugar to a 12 ounce bottle. I would use a little less (and check on my recollection) since you have some carbonation.

I divided my usual 4.5 oz into 48 bottles and come up with 0.56 tsp per bottle. I show 3/4 tsp would over carb at around 3.4 - 3.5 volumes - probable bottle bombs. [Edit: A closer calculation shows more like 3.3 volumes - still too high]

I agree with not using the full normal amount since it's already partly carbonated, but I'd be concerned about still over carbonating since you don't know the present carb level. I feel adding sugar would be risky. If you do this, store and handle the bottles with caution in case of bombs.

 

[kh54s10]

I divided my usual 4.5 oz into 48 bottles and come up with 0.56 tsp per bottle. I show 3/4 tsp would over carb at around 3.4 - 3.5 volumes - probable bottle bombs. [Edit: A closer calculation shows more like 3.3 volumes - still too high]

I agree with not using the full normal amount since it's already partly carbonated, but I'd be concerned about still over carbonating since you don't know the present carb level. I feel adding sugar would be risky. If you do this, store and handle the bottles with caution in case of bombs.

I think it is worth a try to carbonate rather than dump the beer. I was purposely vague on the amounts because it is something I have never had to try. Also it is something to really think out so that you don't over prime or create bottle bombs. Right off the bat I excluded priming tabs, since the bottles already have some carbonation.

 

[Soulshine2]

I brewed my own recipe for the first time and ran into a problem with carbonation.

I'd really appreciate if someone more experienced could look at my brew log and let me know if there's something i did wrong.

I wanted to create a lighter (low abv and body) version of a pale ale. I tried it a few times, but even after more than a month, nothing. There's a hiss when I open a bottle but almost no carbonation at all when drinking it.

Thanks in advance!

LOG:
Brewed oct 27

100g caramel malts steeped @ 70-80° for 1h in 2l of water
Boiled 6 liters of water
added 1.5kg briess golden light extract and the wort from caramel malt
Added 12g of cascade 7.8 @ 60min
Added 10g of citra 13.8 @ 15min
Added 14g of citra 13.8 to dry hop

A lot of water evaporated while boiling. down to about 4l. added 7 again to get the final batch size to 11L.

OG measured at room temperature: 1.040

Bottled on Thursday nov 8th after 12 days in the primary. I used 70 grams of dextrose sugar that i boiled in a cup of water. I put this in the bottling bucket before adding the beer.

FG: 1.008
Fermentation was at around 22deg c

I stored the bottles in the same conditions like the primary fermenter

I tried one bottle nov 18th. No carbonation at all.

Tried again Nov 28th, still the same.

Tried again Dec 5th, still nothing.

your temperatures are a bit ambiguous..."Room temperature" is different for everyones comfort. Your hydrometer should be calibrated at 60*F . If your room temp is different from that , you need to use the chart that comes with it to come to your actual gravity number.
I generally use the 1oz /gallon of priming sugar in 1 cup boiled water in the priming bucket,stirred gently but well while the finished wort is racking into it.
Are your caps on correctly, might have a bad capper that isnt sealing correctly and the bottles are losing the carbonation youre trying to build.
Let it prime in the same temperature that you fermented in(as long as that temperature is the yeasts working range) My guess , 70*F should be fine ,that is correct so you dont have bottle bombs.
Nov 18-28...10 days is probably the shortest time frame to carb, give it a few more days , 2 weeks it should be getting right. Try opening another bottle next week and see if its not better.

 

[brewfrog]

Well i ferment at room temperature for at least 13 days or ruin the batch!and sounds like you need a little more sugar.