Not sure about carbonation

[Raggedwood]

So I'm working on A ginger beer recipe I created, and I'm pretty new at brewing so this might have been too big a step. But anyway, I boiled my two gallons of water with my ginger, and an amber malt extract, (I know) I let it cool down to recommended temps, pitched 11 grams of yeast, and set it in my ale-pail for a week. I don't have anything for a secondary fermenting, and I'm not really sure why we do that anyway, so I just bottled it. I did prime the bottles with sugar, and I had enough for 16 bottles. It didn't seem carbonated, I could smell alcohol, but no carb. It tasted good when I syphoned it, but I'm just worried it won't carbonate, So that's actually my question. lol I know classic nOOb stuff. lol

Side question, what does the secondary fermentation do? and what can I use to do this?

 

[homebrewdad]

Secondary fermnetation is a misnomer. You shouldn't be racking beer until fermentation is done - secondary can be thought of as a "bright tank" - use it for clarifying the beer, for bulk aging "big" beers, or for freeing up your primary for a new batch. Most folks use a carboy or better bottle for secondary. Note that secondaries are completely optional; some of us use them, many do not (or only do so under certain circumstances).

If your gravity was stable when you bottled, you can expect it to take three weeks at 70 degrees to properly carb up. Lower temps, high gravity beers can take longer.

If your gravity was not stable (i.e. fermentation wasn't actually done), beware - you could have potential bottle bombs on your hands. If you didn't take a gravity reading, invest the $8 and buy a hydrometer before you make batch #2.

 

[Raggedwood]

I just bought a very large glass carboy, and yes I just bought the hydrometer. Now to learn how to use that. haha, fermentation was done, I've had my beer bottled now for about a week and no bottle grenades yet. Also what should the gravity be? what is considered not stable?

 

[bobeer]

I just bought a very large glass carboy, and yes I just bought the hydrometer. Now to learn how to use that. haha, fermentation was done, I've had my beer bottled now for about a week and no bottle grenades yet. Also what should the gravity be? what is considered not stable?

I'm kind of new at brewing too but I've gotten a few batches bottled with success. I'm not sure what you mean by what an unstable gravity is. You usually take the gravity before you pitch the yeast (Original gravity-OG) then before you bottle (final gravity-FG) to make sure the beer is finished fermenting so you don't get bottle bombs. You know you're ready to bottle because the FG doesn't change any further. If it keeps dropping then fermentation isn't complete and you'll have to wait longer. If you've already bottled then I'd just worry about using the hydrometer on your next batch. Hope this helps!

Congrats on your first beer!