Can you have too little priming sugar?

Hello all

I just Brewed a northern Brewer extra pale ale extract kit. The Abv ended up around 4.5%

The recipe recommended 2/3 cup of priming sugar to 16 oz of water for mixing in brew before bottling. This is my 5th batch and I've always used a full 5 oz of priming sugar but my last batch came out over carbonated and I had a hard time with every bottle over flowing so I figured 2/3 cup would be fine and it would help me not have super carbed beer like last time.

Well it's been a week and a half in the bottle and I popped one to see how it's going and there was not even the slightest hint of carbonation. I looked at a couple others and there was barely any residue at the bottom and usually it's a dang slop down there by this point.

Is it possible to use too little priming sugar? Im sure it is possible but is 2/3 cup not enough for a brew like this?

I know it's still super early I've just had pretty much the exact same results with my last 4 batches so I'm wondering why this ones different

Let me know what I you think. Thanks!

 

I use 3/4 cup in just about everything regardless of FG...I would think 2/3rds would be totally fine given enough time and right conditions as its not much different then 3/4..Not sure what happened there.,,Sorry

 

Are your temperatures the same as before? Too low of temps could cause the yeast to go dormant/lag.

 

If you have more sugar, not only will you end up with more carbonation when conditioning is finished, but it will carb up faster. Using a smaller amount of sugar will mean that there will be less carbonation at all points throughout the process. Now, you should have something after 1.5 weeks, so you need to look at your storage temperatures, and make sure you mixed the sugar well enough that all bottles got a charge, and you didn't have some with almost no sugar, and others with too much. Not sure what your process is, so I don't know what the most likely culprit is.

 

Yeah it's mixed pretty well. I'm in a new house and I put the beers in my laundry room that's shut off from the rest of the house so it might have been a few degrees cooler. If I move it in the main part of the house where it's around 72 degrees will it get back in action? Even if the yeast has gone dormant?

 

yep ... but I successfully carb as low as 58 so like I say I don't know whats going on here.

 

Well crap :-/ guess all I can do is put it in some warmer climes and wait

 

It is best to weigh the sugar, not measure it out.Much more accurate.

Look up some of the online carbonation calculators and use the proper weight of sugar and store the bottles at around 70 degrees for three weeks and you should get good carbonation every time. The key is getting the correct amount of cRbonation for each style. For example I will only use 2oz of sugar for an English mild, where I may use as much as 7 oz for a saison. Of course if I carb something that high I use heavy Belgian bottles to be able to handle the high carbonation.

 

I am a fan of 3 weeks at 70 degrees if you have no other way of verifying carbonation. some folks put a beers worth in a soda bottle and check for firmness to verify carbonation. What I don't like to do is waste what could have been a nice fully carbed beer by opening one too early. 2/3 cup should get you good carbonation for a 5 gallon batch. Remember to thoroughly chill before opening so the CO2 can get into solution. Patience....

 

Sorry dude...hope it all works out for you....last thought is if you had them on the floor that could be 10 to 15 degrees colder then the room air....just a thought.

 

2/3 cup is plenty. Give it time. Warm it up to the low 70s and it will be carbed in a week or two.

 

I hope so. Thanks guys!