bottling problem: no carbonation

[dfcwilliams]

so this was my second brewing, and i knew there would be a problem because i botched the bottling. to sum it up, there was a problem with the priming sugar and it didn't have any effect on my beer. i just opened a bottle yesterday (2 weeks after bottling) and it was completely flat. is it possible to start over with the bottling process? in other words, could i pour all the beer back into a bucket, add the priming sugar properly, then re-bottle it? or have i lost my yeast? and if so, could i add a little yeast back into the beer, then try again?

if none of these approaches will work, does anyone have some good recipes or ideas for 5 gallons of 'oatmeal stout'?

many thanks!

 

[JMSetzler]

What was the problem you had with the priming sugar?

In theory, you could put the beer back in a bottling bucket and do it again. You would need to be extra careful to avoid oxygenating the beer while it is being poured back into the bucket. I would also leave the yeast sediment behind in the bottle if possible during that process. I would also rehydrate about 1/2 of a pack of dry yeast and add it to the bottling bucket with the proper amount of priming sugar.

This is not a recommended procedure by any means, but it might keep you from suffering a total loss on this batch of beer.

 

[Revvy]

When we say 3 weeks at 70 we mean it usually takes a minimum of three weeks to reach the level of carbonation for average beers. Gravity and storage temp are the biggest factors in carbonation/conditioning times...Less than seventy severely slows down the yeast...2 degrees may seem like nothing to us, but to micro-organisms that could be like 10.

Stouts and porters have taken me between 6 and 8 weeks to carb up..I have a 1.090 Belgian strong that took three months to carb up.


Everything you need to know about carbing and conditioning, can be found here Of Patience and Bottle Conditioning. With emphasis on the word, "patience."

It's not surprising that a beer wouldn't do anything after only two weeks, in my experience very few do......

Don't DO ANYTHING!!! There is NOTHING WRONG!!!!!!!

And you wil cause more harm if you dump them into a bucket.

If you added the priming sugar, then when the time is right, they will carb up fine.

Just put them in a warm place and give them a couple more weeks.

 

[phatuna]

My advice is to wait another week or two. 2 weeks in the bottle is not nearly enough time to panic. some beers take a week to have a little psssst, others take a month. I wouldn't screw with it at all at this point

Revvy beat me to the punch!

 

[Hermit]

Try carb tablets in a few, recap and wait?

 

[Revvy]

Try carb tablets in a few, recap and wait?

Why?? Why try to "fix" something if you don't know yet if it is broken? If you are under 6-ish weeks, then how do you know if there is anything wrong...or it's just not time for the beer to be carbed up yet?

And if you add too much sugar...by adding carb tabs, and there WAS the right amount of sugar already present...then you run the risk of blowing up your bottles.....

It's best to wait.....rarely does a beer not carb up given enough time.

 

[Brewin06111]

Try carb tablets in a few, recap and wait?

That may create bottle bombs.. He needs to wait this out...


BAH! Beat by the master of cut and pasting old threads

 

[Revvy]

That may create bottle bombs.. He needs to wait this out...


BAH! Beat by the master of cut and pasting old threads

Hey, on that answer, I typed it out.

 

[Hermit]

Why?? Why try to "fix" something if you don't know yet if it is broken? If you are under 6-ish weeks, then how do you know if there is anything wrong...or it's just not time for the beer to be carbed up yet?

And if you add too much sugar...by adding carb tabs, and there WAS the right amount of sugar already present...then you run the risk of blowing up your bottles.....

It's best to wait.....rarely does a beer not carb up given enough time.

I guess it was a knee jerk reaction to him pouring it ALL back into the bucket. Plus if he has to order the drops, another week goes by.

And we really need to know what the sugar problem was he alluded to.

 

[Hermit]

Hey, on that answer, I typed it out.

You should have a template up somewhere for cut and paste on this one.

 

[dfcwilliams]

i should have posted this earlier, but i wanted to save you all the gory details:

i know the process well: i dissolved my priming sugar into some warm water, then set the water aside to cool. well, instead of being patient, i decided to put the pot into an ice bath. i looked away, and the pot had slid down into the bath, mixing with the non-sterile, and sugar-free water. well i knew that solution was botched. so i bought some corn syrup and was planning on mixing it in with my bucket of beer. i poured a 5/4 a cup of syrup to the bottom of the bucket, syphoned the beer in, then began bottling. of course, i didn't consider that the syrup is a lot more dense than the beer, and would require a bit of prodding to dissolve well. instead, i just began bottling. when i got to the bottom, i noticed that most (if not all) of the corn syrup was still sitting at the bottom of the bucket. so i figured from the get-go that my beer would not carbonate. at that point, i should have just began again. but i decided to wait and see what happened.

y'all are right: i should probably just wait another few weeks. but considering the gravity of my mistake and the fact that the beer was ABSOLUTELY flat when i opened it a few days ago, i feel like i'm already in dire straits.

any further thoughts? i appreciate all the responses!

 

[Revvy]

.... the fact that the beer was ABSOLUTELY flat when i opened it a few days ago.....

any further thoughts? i appreciate all the responses!

I'm sticking with my guns...MANY beers are ABSOLUTELY FLAT at two weeks, whether or not we screw up the bottling process.....My Belgian Strong was ABSOLUTELY FLAT FOR 2 MONTHS, and didn't carb fully for one more month.

Look, there is REALLY nothing else you can do right now....If you were to go back into a bucket, you run the risk of oxydizing your beer. Beside, what's the point of doing it...You really should not add anymore fermentables right now. By adding corn syrup to the dilluted priming solution, you really don't know, nor do you have anyway to control the amount of fermentables you already have in the bottles.

If you add any more, you run the risk of bottles bombs, pure and simple. Beer bottles can only hold a limited (though relatively high) amount of pressure....You don't know the potential amount of pressure you may have when carbonation begins to take off.

You need to pass a safety window, before you add any more sugar in the form of prime tabs....You your really need to wait at least another 4 weeks, so the yeast can consume everything in there.

More than likey by then you will have carbonation and everything will be fine, if not You would be pretty safe in assuming the yeast has consumed everything in there and hasn't blown the lid, THEN you could consider adding more sugar.

But right now you are in an extremely touchy uncontrollable situation....Bottle bombs can be dangerous...So you don't WANT to add anything else right now, I can't STRESS that enough.

Just agitate the bottles once a week for the next 3 weeks, rotate them once to kick up the yeast....leave them in a warm place. Let them sit undisurbed for the forth week, then chill down one and test it...

Then report back, and we will suggest your next option...

But do nothing right now......

 

[PT Ray]

No doubt, roll with the way they are. I would much rather have flat than something foaming over. Leave them at room temp and chill a couple here and to check progress. I force carb and start hitting the keg from day 1. I usually have about 1/3 of the keg gone before there's suds.

If your out of corn sugar, just use 1/2-2/3 cups table sugar. It seems to take a little longer to carb but that about the only difference.

 

[OHIOSTEVE]

I had a batch that at 3 weeks was as flat as a pancake....posted on here and got the same advice you are getting..WAIT. I did turn the bottles upside down once a day for a week....Now I have perfectly carbed beer with a nice head that lasts the entire brew. 3 weeks NOTHING...4 weeks perfect. Seemed to just wait and wait and then BLAM carbed.

 

[mgr_stl]

Time to resurrect this thread, though I'm sure there are countless others just like it...

I brewed the Austin Homebrew Agave Wit, added the sugar at bottling as directed, but alas no carbonation. Bottled in middle/late July (so we're talking 1.5+ months in bottle). I guess I shouldn't say NO carbonation, but EXTREMELY LITTLE carbonation.

I had the bottles at about 68-70 degrees for about 3 weeks, then moved them to a warmer closet (about 75 degrees) since then.

Should I add some carbing pellets (or whatever they are called), turn them upside-down once a day for the next couple of days, or something else? I'd really prefer not to drink 50 flat beers.