Bottle Conditioning Oddity

[tim_s]

Hi Everyone,

I have a strange issue.

I brewed an Ale from an Extract Kit and everything went really well *at-least it seemed to*. Temperatures both in the making of the wort and fermentation where spot on. I left the wort to ferment 1 week longer than the instructions and the result of this seemed great as the krausen layer dropped and the beer was ultra clear.

I primed the beer with the priming sugar the kit came with and cleaned out the beer bottles *nothing unusual here*. I have a temperature controlled fridge and I have it statically set between 68 - 70.

The issue is, it is like my yeast is dead. 2 weeks later after bottling, the beer is flat (uncarbonated) and I can still taste the priming sugar.

Any thoughts?

 

[unionrdr]

I condition my bottled beers at room temp & they carb up decent in about 3 weeks. What did you clean out the bottles with, & did you rinse the " Cleaner"?

 

[TastyAdventure]

Interesting. Is there even a little "hiss" when you open one? My beers are usually carbed at 1 week, fully carbed at 2-3 weeks. Unless your cleaner was bleach, not rinsing it shouldn't be an issue

 

[tim_s]

I condition my bottled beers at room temp & they carb up decent in about 3 weeks. What did you clean out the bottles with, & did you rinse the " Cleaner"?

My process is to fill a bucket with star-san. I dunk the bottles, scrub, re-dip and then fill.

 

[tim_s]

Interesting. Is there even a little "hiss" when you open one? My beers are usually carbed at 1 week, fully carbed at 2-3 weeks. Unless your cleaner was bleach, not rinsing it shouldn't be an issue

It is 9:41 AM in the morning, I will listen a little closely but nothing that I notice and I use Star-san.

 

[mkyl428]

What temp is the room you are keeping g the bottles in? You have the bottles in the temple controlled fridge? If so I bet that's your problem take them out and warm them up for a couple weeks in a room over 70 degrees

 

[unionrdr]

Starsan is a no-rinse sanitizer, not a cleaner. I use PBW for cleaning, rinse, then sanitize. Give'em another week & see if it changes. Sometimes they take a little longer. Also, if per chance the temp in that fridge is dipping below 68F, it'll take longer to carb up.

 

[flars]

I had read a thread where the brewer primed with the pack in the kit, and the next day noticed a pack of corn sugar in the box. He primed with a pack of cleaner that was included with the kit. Hopefully this is not what happened to you.

Check the actual temp in your refrigerator, may be cooler than you have it set for. Unless you are in the far north, let your bottles condition at room temperature, 70°to 75°F.

 

[1977Brewer]

Warming them would be my first step. My bottles condition in my garage, in Texas. Easily 90 out there most of the time, and I've had decent carb within a week.

 

[Venari]

Unless you are in the far north, let your bottles condition at room temperature, 70°to 75°F.

Contrary to popular belief, the insides of our houses are still warm. Outside gets to -60°, and the inside stays a nice +20° to 23°, depending on the thermostat settings

 

[tim_s]

Contrary to popular belief, the insides of our houses are still warm. Outside gets to -60°, and the inside stays a nice +20° to 23°, depending on the thermostat settings

Our temperature in-doors is probably in the 80s but not as high as Texas lol

 

[tim_s]

I had read a thread where the brewer primed with the pack in the kit, and the next day noticed a pack of corn sugar in the box. He primed with a pack of cleaner that was included with the kit. Hopefully this is not what happened to you.

I have been drinking it lol

 

[tim_s]

Starsan is a no-rinse sanitizer, not a cleaner. I use PBW for cleaning, rinse, then sanitize.

Sorry,

Bottles are washed in the dish washer, I am just sanitizing with the star-san. My carboys are cleaned with OxiClean.

 

[andrewf1985]

Patience i think is the key on this one. If the yeast is from the kit, you dont know exactly what it is so it could work a bit slower after the stress of fermentation. Get another batch on the go, so you can forget about it while you drink this batch and they should be perfect when you come round to them. Bottle carbing is slow for me at the mo, hence the list but be patient with them, they'll come good

 

[TheMadKing]

What temp is the room you are keeping g the bottles in? You have the bottles in the temple controlled fridge? If so I bet that's your problem take them out and warm them up for a couple weeks in a room over 70 degrees

+1, I usually condition between 75-80

EDIT: also, giving the bottles a quick shake once they are warm might rouse the yeast, but I've heard a lot of advice not to do this as you can oxygenate your beer. I've done it when in your exact situation and ended up with carbed beer 1 week later, and I never noticed any off flavors from it personally.

Any more experienced HBT-ers have an opinion on this?

 

[unionrdr]

I've just swirled the bottles a little to get them going again a couple times. But nothing violent.

 

[ncbrewer]

Sorry,

Bottles are washed in the dish washer, I am just sanitizing with the star-san. My carboys are cleaned with OxiClean.

A dish washer isn't a good way to clean bottles either. The small neck restricts the water flow into the bottles. Try soaking them in oxi, followed by a hot water rinse with a jet washer. An alternative, once you get into recycling your own used bottles, is to give them a good hot water rinse immediately after pouring. By not giving sludge a chance to dry out, it rinses out well. Some use this method, but some don't trust it - decide for yourself.

But this is totally different from your carbonation problem.

 

[1977Brewer]

A dish washer isn't a good way to clean bottles either. The small neck restricts the water flow into the bottles. Try soaking them in oxi, followed by a hot water rinse with a jet washer. An alternative, once you get into recycling your own used bottles, is to give them a good hot water rinse immediately after pouring. By not giving sludge a chance to dry out, it rinses out well. Some use this method, but some don't trust it - decide for yourself.



But this is totally different from your carbonation problem.

I rinse mine right after pouring, twice, and a third time before sanitizing them.

 

[ncbrewer]

1977Brewer: I'm glad you mentioned that - I didn't mean to give the impression that I just rinse once. I actually use two partial rinses (fill about 2", swirl well, and dump) plus three full rinses (fill and dump). And inspect after this rinse and again before sanitizing.

 

[The_Glue]

One of my first brews was a 1.090 DIPA which I probably underpitched with non-hidrated dry yeast. I left it in the primary for 4 weeks.
It never carbonated, not even 6 months later. I'd guess it is a yeast health issue.

 

[Gavin C]

Sorry,

Bottles are washed in the dish washer, I am just sanitizing with the star-san. My carboys are cleaned with OxiClean.

This all sounds fine.

My diswasher does a great job. Bottles come out sparkling with all the labels gone sitting in the filter at the bottom.

I think it's just that your beers have been stored a little cool.

With higher ABV brews it can take a little longer for the carbonation to happen (Apfelwein took 6 weeks to really reach it's full carbonation (8.5% ABV). What was the OG and FG of the brew?

Get them into a warm place and let them sit another couple of weeks. I think that is all that's needed.

One other thing to check is he seals of the bottles. Put one under water and see if any bubbles escape. I think that's unlikely but worth ruling out.

 

[tim_s]

Ok, I just opened a bottle and it was nicely carbed - so weird. It is spot on! Nice!

 

[tim_s]

Second on which is showing signs of carbs.

 

[tim_s]

You guys nailed it, the beers are carbing nicely now

 

[Gavin C]

Glad to hear the good news Tim.

Nicely done.

 

[Old_el_Paseo]

He primed with a pack of cleaner that was included with the kit. Hopefully this is not what happened to you..

Lol ! That one is funny. Never drink too much and brew. Oh and look at the labels BEFORE you use the contents...