Amber Ale Won't Carb

Williams 728
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hellbender said:
Been in bottles at room temp for about 5 weeks. Same technique used as in dozens of prior batches. What now?
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That happened to me once. I did all the right things- 5 ounces of priming sugar, kept at 70 degrees, etc, and it never carbed.

I gently uncapped, and drop a smidgen (literally, like one grain) of yeast into each bottle and recapped. That would work if it was the yeast that was pooped out. Is it possible that you forgot the priming sugar? If that might be the case, you could buy some carb tabs and add them to the bottles.

How does it seem? Any pssst at all? Any sediment from yeast on the bottom?
 
What's your ambient room temp? Could the yeast be dormant becasue it's TOO cold (like with the AC set at 62?)

(Wow it's nice to have a real bottling problem as opposed to n00b impatience.)

Your two options are going to be yeast or food....Either like Yoop said, you'll need to introduce some fresh yeast in the beer, OR you need to introduce fresh sugar (in that case I'd recommend prime tabs.)

The problem is determining which is the problem....Tired yeast, or not enough food....

Is there any "pffft" when you open the bottles? Any CO2 at all? A little cloud that rises when you open the bottle?

Is this a recipe you've done before where you know what it is supposed to taste like? If it is, is it a little sweeter than past batches (maybe meaning that the priming sugar didn't get eaten by the yeast?)
 
No way I forgot the sugar. I can see very little (if any) sediment, but my vision is fairly poor. Pisses me off. Put 8 weeks into this and it's not drinkable.
 
hellbender said:
No way I forgot the sugar. I can see very little (if any) sediment, but my vision is fairly poor. Pisses me off. Put 8 weeks into this and it's not drinkable.
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I'd try the yeast first, then. A package of dry yeast is cheap, besides. I'd add the least amount you can to each bottle, then recap and gently tip end over end. That might fix you up just right.
 
Is there any "pffft" when you open the bottles? Any CO2 at all? A little cloud that rises when you open the bottle?
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If so what would that say - just hang with it longer?? (that is my 6 week problem with my porter).
 
After bottling beer was stored at 72-74 F.
No sound when opening bottle.
Never used the recipe before. Beer tastes good (more's the shame)

Feel like dumping it into a keg and force-carbing. Is oxygenation a big issue if consumed quickly? :p



Revvy said:
What's your ambient room temp?


The problem is determining which is the problem....Tired yeast, or not enough food....

Is there any "pffft" when you open the bottles? Any CO2 at all? A little cloud that rises when you open the bottle?

Is this a recipe you've done before where you know what it is supposed to taste like? If it is, is it a little sweeter than past batches (maybe meaning that the priming sugar didn't get eaten by the yeast?)
Click to expand...
 
hellbender said:
After bottling beer was stored at 72-74 F.
No sound when opening bottle.
Never used the recipe before. Beer tastes good (more's the shame)

Feel like dumping it into a keg and force-carbing. Is oxygenation a big issue if consumed quickly? :p
Click to expand...

No one around here has come back and said they were succesful dumping it into a keg and force carbing, mostly patience has weighd out...or the occasional adding of yeast or sugar...I believe that oxygenation is, like you asked, a long term issue...not a fresh beer thing, YOU could try it....If you are like me, you will have the 5 gallons drunk long before cardboard rears it's ugly head.

but do you want to risk it?

Honestly I would like to know if it feasible....I would salute you if your were the guinee pig...

But whatever you do don't dump the beer....


We stick them in the closet and forget about them for several weeks, or months and go back to them, and thank god we didn't dump them becasue they are now the best beer they ever tasted.....

It is theoretically possible (according to some older brew books, and crunching numbers with beersmith) to carbonate beer with no additional priming...but it takes a long time...at the minimum that will happen with yours....you beer will carb somewhat naturally...but over a few more weeks or months.

I bet you that if you roll the beers back and forth on a table then put them in the closet for 3 more weeks, they will be fully carbed.

I have had beers not be carbed after 4 weeks...and be perfect by the 8th week. But those were higher gravity beers, like porters and stouts...



:mug:
 
Grinder12000 said:
If so what would that say - just hang with it longer?? (that is my 6 week problem with my porter).
Click to expand...

In this case, yes, I think so. If it's carbing, but slowly, I think it'll work out for you. Just follow Revvy's advice on this one, and I think it'll be fine.

hellbender said:
After bottling beer was stored at 72-74 F.
No sound when opening bottle.
Never used the recipe before. Beer tastes good (more's the shame)

Feel like dumping it into a keg and force-carbing. Is oxygenation a big issue if consumed quickly? :p
Click to expand...

Hmmm. If you purged the keg with co2, and ever so gently poured the bottles in (with your arm stuck in there as to not splash, and gently tipped it against the side of the keg, so it ran gently down without splashing), or very gently poured it into a bottling bucket and then gently put it into your keg, MAYBE it wouldn't be too badly aerated.

I'd still consider adding a tiny, tiny bit of yeast to each bottle and recapping. Then, if that didn't work, try the kegging as a last resort.
 
YooperBrew said:
In this case, yes, I think so. If it's carbing, but slowly, I think it'll work out for you. Just follow Revvy's advice on this one, and I think it'll be fine.



Hmmm. If you purged the keg with co2, and ever so gently poured the bottles in (with your arm stuck in there as to not splash, and gently tipped it against the side of the keg, so it ran gently down without splashing), or very gently poured it into a bottling bucket and then gently put it into your keg, MAYBE it wouldn't be too badly aerated.

I'd still consider adding a tiny, tiny bit of yeast to each bottle and recapping. Then, if that didn't work, try the kegging as a last resort.
Click to expand...


If you are willing....I think it would benefit all of us if you tried all four advice given...

Take 3 sixers...Roll 6 and leave them alone for a few more weeks... Add some yeast to 6 bottles, and add some prime tabs or table sugar to the last 6...

Then dump the rest into a keg and force carb it....

and see which works.

You would actually be doing a lot of us a great service if you did that and reported back...Especially if you tried the force carrbing thing.
 
You could try putting a few bottles at a time in 2 liter soda bottles and using a carbonator cap to carbonate the bottles.

That way, you will only expose a couple of liters at a time to oxygen.

At least you should be able to drink the batch that way.
 
I recently had the exact same problem with a batch I did with re-used yeast. Five weeks -- and several "test bottles" later -- I gave up and decided to check back in a month.

Popped the top of one just a few days ago and what do you know -- sweet little bubbles.

Frustrating as all hell, though.
 
Thanks to all for the ideas. I think I am going to continue to wait . . . .perhaps a month and then give it a try. As much as I loke to experiment, I have found that procrastination can often be a very effective approach. If that doesn't help then it will get more interesting.
 
hellbender said:
Thanks to all for the ideas. I think I am going to continue to wait . . . .perhaps a month and then give it a try. As much as I loke to experiment, I have found that procrastination can often be a very effective approach. If that doesn't help then it will get more interesting.
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Keep us posted...Re-post in here. That way any n00bs searching for carb problems will come along, find this thread and see that everything came out OK...Then they won't worry or try to fix something that isn't broken.
 
Revvy said:
Keep us posted...Re-post in here. That way any n00bs searching for carb problems will come along, find this thread and see that everything came out OK...Then they won't worry or try to fix something that isn't broken.
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Popped one today and heard a very satisfying Pfffft! The beer was great with a creamy, very persistent head and well-defined lacing. Lesson learned? Sometimes it takes 8 friggin weeks to bottler-carb even at appropriate temperatures. Besides occassionally opening one and cussing all I did was agitate the bottles at about 5 weeks. I am really going to enjoy these after all they have put me through.:mug:
 
hellbender said:
Popped one today and heard a very satisfying Pfffft! The beer was great with a creamy, very persistent head and well-defined lacing. Lesson learned? Sometimes it takes 8 friggin weeks to bottler-carb even at appropriate temperatures. Besides occassionally opening one and cussing all I did was agitate the bottles at about 5 weeks. I am really going to enjoy these after all they have put me through.:mug:
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Toldja so!!! :D

Now I hope you brewed since then...gotta get your pipeline loaded.

Enjoy!

:mug:
 
Revvy said:
Go out and buy some then :D

(That's what I do during gaps in my pipeline. Don't think that just becasue you brew your own you buy any less....it's called "researching a new style for my next batch.")
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You know I am actually buying more beer now that I have my first batch on the way. I'm also being more discerning (not just looking for non-screw caps with easily removable label ;)), pouring into a glass rather than swigging from the bottle (really makes a big difference), considering what I like in the flavor of each brew. The research is real hard work but someone has to do it! :mug:
 
GroovePuppy said:
You know I am actually buying more beer now that I have my first batch on the way. I'm also being more discerning (not just looking for non-screw caps with easily removable label ;)), pouring into a glass rather than swigging from the bottle (really makes a big difference), considering what I like in the flavor of each brew. The research is real hard work but someone has to do it! :mug:
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Scroll up to yooper's post and read her sigline, it kinda sums up the mental illness that I believe we beer geeks suffer from :D

:ban:
 

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