Bottle Conditioning and yeast

[devilishprune]

So I'm drinking my first homebrew, which was a Munton's Wheat beer kit. I just used the yeast that came under the cap, because I didn't know any better at the time. Now, as I'm drinking them, I don't get the level of carbonation that I want even though I used 5 oz (by weight) of corn sugar for the 5 gallon batch.

The bottles have been conditioning at room temp for 3 weeks, so I don't think that's the problem here. Is it because the yeast included with the kit was low quality that I'm not getting the amount of carbonation that I want?

If I would like my beers to be more carbonated than this in the future, should I add more priming sugar than this? Or would there be a risk of bottle bombs here?

 

[TipsyDragon]

what do you consider "room temp"? typically you want to keep the bottles in the mid 70s. just because the room is in the 70's doesn't mean where the bottles are sitting is in the 70's. if i where you i would move the bottles to a place where you know for a fact the temp is in the 70's and wait longer.

 

[DavidHawman]

Are you sure the priming sugar was well mixed? How many bottles have you tried? How long did you primary/secondary for?

I'd try a few more before concluding that they are all undercarbed.

 

[devilishprune]

I primaried for 2 weeks, no secondary and then I bottle carbed for 3 weeks.

Im pretty sure that the carbing solution was well mixed-I made a simple sugar solution and then racked my beer on top of that before I bottled them. Next time i may give it a swirl just to make sure.

I'm keeping the beers in my closet right now, and I just put a thermometer in there telling me that the temperature is 74, the same temperature as the rest of my apartment.

At this point, I have had about 10 (not all today), and they all seem to have a similar level of carbonation. Could the yeast have an effect on this?

 

[earwig]

I don't know how to answer your question but I have been bottle conditioning in temps around 68-69 and they are carbed up very well so I don't think the temperature has much to do with it. Did you take hydrometer readings... and if so did your beer ferment completely? If the yeast was good enough to ferment your beer all the way I would assume that it is good enough to carb up your beer.

 

[Minky]

Five ounces should be plenty for most styles. Are you putting a bottle in the fridge and waiting a day or so before sampling? Much of the CO2 produced during bottle conditioning will remain in the headspace of the bottle until it is stored at or below serving temperature, and it takes awhile for the CO2 to be absorbed into the beer.

I used to put a bottle in the freezer for 20 minutes or so to test it and would be disappointed with the low level of carbonation. Now I know better.

 

[pkeeler]

Bottle conditioned beer will never be as carbed as commercial stuff like bud. If you are comparing it to that, you will need a CO2 set up. I wouldn't go much past 5 oz, and you shouldn't need to. Storing them in the fridge, as Minky says, will allow more CO2 to get absorbed.

 

[SnallygasterBrewery]

Yep, just let it sit in the fridge for a day or two after your conditioning is about done (on average about 3-4 weeks, though it can be longer) and let the gases contract in the fridge. At room temp the gases will expand and try to move up and out of the bottle (ie the headspace in the bottle). Let us know how it works out for you.

 

[Minky]

Bottle conditioned beer will never be as carbed as commercial stuff like bud. If you are comparing it to that, you will need a CO2 set up. I wouldn't go much past 5 oz, and you shouldn't need to. Storing them in the fridge, as Minky says, will allow more CO2 to get absorbed.

5 ounces of priming sugar should give you 2.7 volumes of CO2 in 5 gallons. That's pretty much the industry standard for the light American styles, with very similar levels for many other styles as well.

I think the reason that the super light beers like Bud seem more carbonated is that there really isn't a whole lot of flavor to soften the bite of the CO2, and the carbonation actually becomes a part of the flavor profile. It's actually very difficult to brew such flavorless stuff at home!!

I don't do much bottle conditioning except for hefeweisens, and I aim for about 3.5 volumes with 7 ounces of priming sugar. It's pretty fizzy, but that is to style.

Some styles call for even higher volumes of CO2 but, at some point, you'd want to think about bottling in champagne bottles!!