3 weeks and still undercarbonated?

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inturnldemize

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I taste tested my IPA tonight for the first time. DELICIOUS!!!

Citrusy, bitter, medium bodied goodness! Seriously, I can't believe I made a beer this good. BUT, there is one worry. The beer was under carbonated and created no head. Here's an overview:

- Bottled 3 weeks ago and has been sitting at 71.5 degrees.
- Used enough priming solution to get me to about 2.2 CO2 according to Tasty Brew calculator.
- I put the test bottle in the fridge 3-4 hours before testing it.

Like I said, the taste is great. There is some carbonation, just very little compared to what I was expecting. Any words of encouragement or am I kinda out of luck here?

Thanks!
 
I would wait another two or three weeks and give it another try. The toughest part of this is the waiting. It is just ready when it is ready no matter what your recipe might say.
 
Can it be because I only chilled the bottle for 3-4 hours before drinking or would this make no difference?
 
3 weeks at 70 degrees is enough time to carb up. plus with it being an ipa, i don't know about sitting waiting and hoping. my guess is that you just opened one that for whatever reason had relatively little priming sugar in it. i agree with the others, i'd shake all the bottles a bit, wait a couple days, and try again. the chilling 3-4 hours before drinking isn't important, i think most of us chill our first couple of beers like that.

also, at these lower carbonation volumes, sometimes you almost need to pour straight down to get much of a head
 
I agree with Jarrod that it's just time. I had a pumpkin ale for the holidays last year that carbed up beautifully, after nearly two months. That was far from normal, but for some reason it just took forever. It was so flat after three weeks that we were sure we must have forgotten the priming sugar, the only catch was that we were 100% positive that we did due to a photo-journal we happened to be making that day. Anyway, I could probably brew the same beer today, and have it carb in two-four weeks and it would just be some great mystery.
 
I've noticed better results lately by leaving my beers in the fridge as long as possible before drinking. From what i've read this forces the CO2 back down into the beer for more even carbonation. It also seems this allows most of the particles in suspension time to drop down to the bottom, creating a tight little yeast cake that doesn't get disturbed as easily by a vigorous pour.
 
Have you gotten a decent head with other beers? Sometimes your dishwashing detergent will leave a film that kills your head. This wouldn't help with the actual beer being undercarbed, but it's something to consider.
 
Can it be because I only chilled the bottle for 3-4 hours before drinking or would this make no difference?

I think it does make a difference. Just because there's not much of a head doesn't really mean it's undercarbed. 3 weeks should be enough, especially if you used the correct amount of priming sugar. The only reason to wait longer is if you don't like the taste. Like i said above, leaving it in the fridge longer will allow you to pour it more vigorously for a thicker head.
 
The weeks is usually the MINIMUM for most beers, some can and do take longer.

Carbing is really foolproof, if you add sugar, the beer WILL carb in as long as it needs to to get the job done.

People keep saying your beer should be ready in 3 weeks...but guess what? Yours is clearly not....but that DOESN'T mean anything is wrong.....

We're not in charge of this, the yeast is....
 
I had the opposite experience with my bitter. I cracked one at three days just to sample the flavor and found it carbed nicely for a bitter.
 
The weeks is usually the MINIMUM for most beers, some can and do take longer.

Carbing is really foolproof, if you add sugar, the beer WILL carb in as long as it needs to to get the job done.

People keep saying your beer should be ready in 3 weeks...but guess what? Yours is clearly not....but that DOESN'T mean anything is wrong.....

We're not in charge of this, the yeast is....

Quoted for truth. That's all you need to know right there. I've seen beer carb up in 4 days, and I've seen beers take 8 weeks to get right. RDWHAHB.
 
You guys are so helpful! If I could, i'd send you all a homebrew. You'd just have to wait a few more weeks for it to be properly carbed lol.
 
Again, I have repeatedly found that 3 weeks is often not enough. Also, disturbing the yeast and re-suspending it makes a difference.
 
enkamania said:
You can gently tip the bottles, was a magic fix for me when I didn't have carbonation.

This worked for me on a high gravity black IPA that refused to carbonate at all. The "low carbonation" however tells me that it may have just been this bottle.
 
The 3-4 hour chill time might have had something to do with it actually. The colder the liquid gets, the more CO2 it can absorb. If it hadn't chilled all the way some of the CO2 could have escaped when you poured it.
 
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