Low Carbonation

Hello all,

I am fairly new to home brewing with about to complete brews under my belt but with both of them the carbonation was not what I think I should have been. I am putting the correct amount of finishing sugar base on what I have found and waiting a full 2 weeks to let the beer carbonate but still not getting much of a head at all. Anyone have any ida what I am missing.

 

Im having the same issue. Everyone has told me to wait another 2 weeks at least!

 

So has that help ?

 

still waiting. lol Got a batch of Cream Ale. Bottled it on aug 25th. Some bottles have decent carb :/, but some barely bubble after poured (as of this last saturday). Im going to wait another 2 weeks. So this has been bottled for 4.5 weeks. It also is a higher ABV beer. I have heard the higher ABV or darker beers take longer to carb.

Im getting fed up with the waiting game honestly. Might need to invest in some keg equipment.

 

That makes sense the beers that I have brewed so far have been a Brown Ale nd the last one was an Oatmeal stout the taste and color are great just very low on the carbonation. But I will keep trying till I get it right. Thanks for the help let me know how it turns out.

 

I have run into this issue too. Racking on top of the sugar may not be enough to mix the sugar in. On a recent batch, the first 6-12 bottles got too much sugar and are overcarbed volcanoes now. the later bottles were lightly carbed. The moral of the story is to stir the beer gently to ensure the sugar gets mixed evenly in your bottling bucket.

Also, many will tell you that 2 weeks is really the minimum. High grav beers can take much longer.

 

How much sugar are you putting in?
How long are you leaving the bottles in the fridge before you try them?

Both important questions.

 

I am using 3.37 ounces of Corn sugar and it is conditioning for 2 weeks

 

For 5 gallon batches I average between 4 and 5 ozs corn sugar. If it's a 5 gallon batch, 3.37 ounces is pretty low.

 

good to Hear I will try that on my next batch how long do you condition it for?

 

Conditioning is only step 1. You have to put it in your fridge for several days to a week. Your producing a lot of CO2, but most of it is stuck in the headspace of the bottle, when you chill the beer at fridge temps it absorbs the CO2 better and it goes into the beer.

3.37oz is also on the low side for a whole 5 gallons, but you should still have some carbonation...chill it for a few days and let us know.

 

3 weeks is a standard time for good carbonation. But temperature is just as important. 70 degrees F. is ideal. I had a stout (OG 1060) that took 4 weeks to even be close. It sounds like inconsistent carbonation is the problem not lack of carbonation. Add half the priming sugar and rack half the beer onto it. Then add the rest of the sugar and continue to rack onto that. A very slight stir (no splashing) is helpful but not totally needed. After 3 solid weeks at 70 degrees, give them a day (or even a week) in the fridge, depending on how patient or thirsty you are. I've personally never found additional fridge time to make a difference but others will swear by giving them a week.

 

Just bottle a brown ale yesterday 1.06 OG 1.02 FG add 5 oz of Corn sugar and letting it sit for 3 weeks. I will let you all know thanks again for all the help.

 

This same thing happened to me. A couple of my brews were full of foam, while others had almost no carbonation. Now I pour my dissolved sugar mixture into my bottling bucket and gently stir with my already sanitized racking cane. O2 is bad at this point so be careful! I had more trouble with that then I did with waiting more than 2 weeks.

 

Made a Brown Ale with an OG of 1.060 & FG of 1.020 after 2 weeks of fermentation. We used 5oz of corn sugar and let condition for 2 weeks the carbonation was great so it looks like our issue was not enough priming sugar. Thank you to everyone here for the help