ANy way to check the carbonation progress in bottles?

[San_Diego_Matt]

My first batch has been in the bottle for nearly 2 weeks now and I havent opened any of them and don't plan on opening any of them until Sunday at the earliest.

I do pull a bottle out every few days to look at it and I can't see any sign of carbonation.

Is there a way to check to see if anything's going on? shake one?

 

[c.n.budz]

only way to check is to open and sample

 

[Yooper]

There should be a layer of spent yeast on the bottom. That doesn't guarentee carbonation, but that is a clue that the yeast has been working.

 

[Orfy]

It's a good idea to sample for carbing and taste at reqgular intervals.
You'll learn about how the brew ages.

 

[bradsul]

I know some guys will bottle one in a PET plastic bottle so they can do the squeeze test. Otherwise as c.n.budz said, just open one and see.

 

[BierMuncher]

What temperature are you conditioning them?

A few things to help guarantee carbonation:

Condition them at 70 degrees +.

Give them a minimum of 21 days.

Give the cases of beer a gentle rocking every other day to agitate the yeast and wake things up a bit.

Ifyou do these things, there's no need to "test" for carbonation. Next time (as someone mentioned), fill a plastic soda bottle and use that as your tester.

 

[San_Diego_Matt]

they've been right around 70 degrees the entire time they've been fermenting and I've moved the cases a few times that would agitate them a bit. I'll start rocking them tonight.

I'm sure things are fine. I'm just paranoid. The next time I bottle I'm going to bottle a 6-pack of 12 oz bottles that I can test thoughout the carbination phase so I'm not in the position I'm in now of having to open up a 22oz bottle to check them.

I'll open one and give it a try at 18 days and go from there.

 

[BierMuncher]

...I'll open one and give it a try at 18 days and go from there.

Don't be disappointed if it's not quite there yet.

My first batch was completely flat at 15 days and then only slightly better at 18 days...and then miraculously, was perfect at 22 days.

 

[Boerderij_Kabouter]

My batch of pumpkin beer that I bottled this fall took ~8 weeks to carbonate. I think this was because it sat in secondary for sooo long. I was very bizarre, at 7 weeks it was still completely flat and then one day I opened one up and it was perfect. Very strange but who knows, maybe I did something weird or forgot to prime properly.

Never give up on a brew!

 

[San_Diego_Matt]

so I was able to hold out the entire 21 days and actually went 24 days before cracking one open.

The carbonation is great and the beer is tasty!

 

[Guinness71]

I always sample two weeks, then three weeks etc from bottling.. If I'm bottling 22oz - I'll always bottle three or four 12 oz-ers to be marked for 'testing'!

And its interesting to see the changes in the flavors over the weeks..

 

[left field brewer]

Flip top bottles also make it easy to check carb.(Groelsch, etc.) like the plastic bottles--except no sqeezing. I have seen some really small flip tops like 8oz or something(originally had maple syrup in them) that are handy for small sample brews.

 

[Kaiser]

The book "German Wheat beer" by Eric Warner shows a picture of a manometer (pressure gauge) attached to a bottle used by a brewery to monotor the pressure build-up during wheat beer bottle condititioning. I'd be intruiged to build something like this myself. Not that it has an affect on the quality of the beer it's just neat and geeky.

Kai

 

[Bruscar]

I just tasted my latest ale the other day. 2 weeks in the bottle and flaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat! Checked my thermometer where they condition - never got above 64 and got as cold as 56.
Time to move them out of the garage. Whoulda thunk: too cold in So Cal!

 

[San_Diego_Matt]

yeah, I was going to condition them in the garage, but we had that bitter (for so-cal)) cold spell a couple weeks ago so I conditioned them in the bathroom instead.

 

[BierMuncher]

2 weeks in the bottle and flaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat!....never got above 64 and got as cold as 56....

Join in the mantra with me...

21 days at 70 degrees...
21 days at 70 degrees...
21 days at 70 degrees...
21 days at 70 degrees...
21 days at 70 degrees...

No less....no cooler...