brew is flat

[dorlow]

So, I'm not sure what I did wrong brewing this batch. This was my first batch of beer that I've done (other than a Mr. Beer kit.) When getting ready to bottle the beer, I went through the step where I had to boil sugar in water. I then took the sugar water and poured it in the bucket and then pumped the uncarbonated beer into the bucket with the hose in a direction that allowed it to swirl the beer circular (like some youtube videos showed me.) They said to do it also this way instead of adding sugar to the bottles independently because the carbonation will all be the same.

I cracked open the first bottle today and it was flat.

Ok, now I'm getting contradicting instructions. The instructions I followed was keep the beer carbonating at a cool room temperature. After the week of carbonation, then put a few beers in the fridge and try it. If it's not carbinated yet, wait a few more days and try a few more.

Well, I just waited two weeks. But now I just pulled out another book and read what they said. They say keep at room temperature for 6 days then put it in the fridge for 4-6 weeks (for a lagar.) I can't remember the exact name of the beer kit I bought, but it was a red beer. Not sure where that falls in the mix of things.

But big problem is I don't have the refrigerator space to refrigerate 50+ beers for 4-6 weeks. I can't imagine everyone else is doing it that way.

 

[Scruffy1207]

Does the beer have signs of carbination? Bubbles, head, any hiss when opening the bottle? People here will generally say 3 weeks in bottles.

 

[Pappers_]

You don't need to refrigerate the bottles. In fact, if you're worried that your bottles aren't carbonating, its better to have them at 70 F or higher. At two weeks, I wouldn't worry yet, give it at least another week. For more info, read this thread https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/bottling-tips-homebrewer-94812/

 

[Revvy]

The 3 weeks at 70 degrees, that we recommend is the minimum time it takes for average gravity beers to carbonate and condition. Higher grav beers take longer.

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.

Temp and gravity are the two factors that contribute to the time it takes to carb beer. But if a beer's not ready yet, or seems low carbed, and you added the right amount of sugar to it, then it's not stalled, it's just not time yet.

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

If a beer isn't carbed by "x number of weeks" you just have to give them more time. If you added your sugar, then the beer will carb up eventually, it's really a foolroof process. All beers will carb up eventually. A lot of new brewers think they have to "troubleshoot" a bottling issue, when there really is none, the beer knows how to carb itself. In fact if you run beersmiths carbing calculator, some lower grav beers don't even require additional sugar to reach their minimum level of carbonation. Just time.

 

[Pappers_]

Hi Revvy, do I get a referral fee?

 

[abrdnck]

It will carb up as the residual yeast eats up the sugar that you added before bottling. The rate at which that happens depends on a number of different variables. I will assume that you used the correct amount of sugar and that it was well-mixed with your beer. It could be that there is little residual yeast in the beer - if, for example, the yeast flocculated out really well during the fermentation. It will take the smaller yeast population in the bottled beer longer to eat through the bottling sugar, and thus will take longer to carb up.

This actually happened to me on my first batch since university. It took nearly two months before it was satisfactorily carbed up. Unfortunately, I had choked back a number of flat, sweet beers before that and was left with a limited beer supply when it was actually worth drinking. Lesson learned.

Keeping your bottled beer warm will help speed up the carbing process, and there is minimal effect on the flavour. Putting the bottles in the fridge for a few days before drinking helps promote yeast flocculation (cold crashing), so that your beer is clear when you drink it.

The lager information that you cited actually refers to the fermentation process, not bottling. Initial fermentation is at a cool temperature, but then it is chilled down to age for a number of weeks to clean up the flavours. This is not the advice for bottling.

Advice for you - buy a large amount of your favourite beer and do your best to ignore your homebrew for about a month. After the month is up, put a few in the fridge for a good couple days before you want to try them. Pour them out carefully to avoid disturbing the sediment, and enjoy! If it is carbed up, enjoy the rest. If not, repeat for another month.

In the meantime, get your next batch started tout de suite so that your pipeline is never empty again!

 

[ACbrewer]

Being the lazier side I go with the 'get it to 70 and let it sit 3+weeks'....

The other option (mentioned by Palmer and Papazian in their respective books) is to open the bottles back up and add in just a bit more suggar and if that doesn't work after 3 weeks do it again with a bit of yeast.... Hm... 50 caps, opened, adding like 1/4 teaspoon of sugar and then recapping... NO THANK YOU!...

Wait and then wait more...

 

[dorlow]

Does the beer have signs of carbination? Bubbles, head, any hiss when opening the bottle? People here will generally say 3 weeks in bottles.

It did "hiss" when I opened the bottle, so there are signs of carbonation.

 

[jd3]

Walk away from the beer. Put it in the closet and come back in a few weeks.

 

[Scruffy1207]

It did "hiss" when I opened the bottle, so there are signs of carbonation.

Make sure you throw them in the fridge for 2-3 days before testing them. It will allow the co2 to get into the beer. If it's sill not carbed or if it doesn't taste right, wait.

 

[jsweet]

The 3 weeks at 70 degrees, that we recommend is the minimum time it takes for average gravity beers to carbonate and condition. Higher grav beers take longer. etcetera etcetera etcetera

Do you type this every time, or do you have a file saved with it somewhere? It seems like it is phrased differently with different punctuation and formatting every time, so I'm thinking you retype it? Man, you should just save it to a file, and then just plug in a few variables like the OP's name, the amount of time she let it go before trying the first bottle, etc.

You could probably set it up as some kind of Word macro so it would prompt you for those things and then just fill it all out automatically

 

[Scruffy1207]

Do you type this every time, or do you have a file saved with it somewhere? It seems like it is phrased differently with different punctuation and formatting every time, so I'm thinking you retype it? Man, you should just save it to a file, and then just plug in a few variables like the OP's name, the amount of time she let it go before trying the first bottle, etc.

You could probably set it up as some kind of Word macro so it would prompt you for those things and then just fill it all out automatically

I lol'd