Well I messed up. Can someone give me advise. I didn't put enough sugar to properly prime my beers and after a month they are still flat. Can I save them and how would I do it. I thought about popping the tops putting them back in a carbon with some sugar and yeast. Would it work?
Can i save my flat beer?
- Thread starter Fredie_T
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bottlebomber
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Coopers carbonation tabs would be an accurate way to fix the problem. How much sugar did you add?
j_adkison27
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I can tell you how you may have gone wrong but fixing it... No - not at this point.
bottlebomber
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j_adkison27 said:
Why do you say that?
AVLbrewing
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I've read a few different things to try on flat beer, although I should also mention I haven't tried any of these myself. Just use these recommendations as a starting point for future research, but before we get to those, what temperature did you bottle condition at? Just wanted to double check before you start un-capping, etc.... It seems that a lot of people a trying to carbonate/bottle condition too cold.
Possible remedy's in no particular order
1)Carbonation tabs (like bottlebomber recomends)
2)Papazian recommends un-capping, adding a few grains of dry yeast, recapping, waiting a week, then check. If still no carbonation, add 1/4tsp of corn sugar to each bottle, recap, wait another week. If that fails, blend with a properly carbonated beer.
3)My LHBS had a blog post about flipping the bottles upside down for three days (cap down), then putting them back right side up for another three days. This essentially gets the yeast back into solution. If you know for a fact that you put in way to little priming solution this may not work, but it also seems to be the least invasive.
Let us know what you do and how it turns out. Good luck!
Possible remedy's in no particular order
1)Carbonation tabs (like bottlebomber recomends)
2)Papazian recommends un-capping, adding a few grains of dry yeast, recapping, waiting a week, then check. If still no carbonation, add 1/4tsp of corn sugar to each bottle, recap, wait another week. If that fails, blend with a properly carbonated beer.
3)My LHBS had a blog post about flipping the bottles upside down for three days (cap down), then putting them back right side up for another three days. This essentially gets the yeast back into solution. If you know for a fact that you put in way to little priming solution this may not work, but it also seems to be the least invasive.
Let us know what you do and how it turns out. Good luck!
Revvy has posted on several threads about this, and I believe the information is accurate. Yeast + sugar + time in bottle = carbonation. The 4th variable is temp. You know you have yeast, you already added that, you know you added sugar (how much could be your issue). You have it in bottles. Time is the major factor here.
The specifics about the beer could affect the yeast, i.e. high abv could hamper some yeast strains.
The specifics about the beer could affect the yeast, i.e. high abv could hamper some yeast strains.
derbycitybrewer
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How long did the beer sit In secondary? Did you cold crash it? Does the bottles have settlement at the bottom of them?
GrogNerd
mean old man
Jay's Brewing Blog, Under Carbonated Beer - Quick Fix
he also adds, in the comments:
and keep us posted
AVLbrewing
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That would be the blog post! Good to see another Jay's customer.
Make sure you are NOT carbonating & conditioning at low ferment temps. It will not work that way. the yeast just goes dormant in the bottles. If so,then swirl (don't shake) them up to get some yeast back in suspension. And put them in a dark spot or in covered boxes in a 70F or a bit higher place. They'll carb up. How much depends on how much sugar to how much beer.
dstranger99
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Here's something I once heard. Turn them upside down and put them on a warm surface, like the top of your fridge.
Leaving them upside down is letting gravity do what a swirl or three do a lot sooner. Just don't shake them,& swirling will be fine,if indeed it's capeable of fixing the issue. Besides,I wouldn't want trub compacting at the top off the bottle come time to pour.
Fredie_T, I have a simple question.
1) At what temp have they been sitting?
If the answer is less than 70degrees, then you DON'T HAVE A CARBONATION PROBLEM, you have a patience one.
99.9999999% of the time when someone comes on here asking about flat beer, it's usually been under 3 weeks orthe temps have been below 70 degrees.
3 weeks @ 70 degrees is the minimum most 12 ounce average gravity beers need to carb and condition. Higher grav beers, beers in bigger bottles, and beer stored less than 70 take longer.
Why would ANY of you assume this one is ANY different?
1) At what temp have they been sitting?
If the answer is less than 70degrees, then you DON'T HAVE A CARBONATION PROBLEM, you have a patience one.
99.9999999% of the time when someone comes on here asking about flat beer, it's usually been under 3 weeks orthe temps have been below 70 degrees.
3 weeks @ 70 degrees is the minimum most 12 ounce average gravity beers need to carb and condition. Higher grav beers, beers in bigger bottles, and beer stored less than 70 take longer.
Why would ANY of you assume this one is ANY different?
You don't need to add more sugar, sugar is not the problem, the "problem" is that the yeast simply haven't done their job yet. If you throw more sugar into the bottles, when the yeast gets around to finishing it all, then you'll more than likely have bottle bombs.
Well,i did mention the temp thing,they've been in there a month,& he said he didn't use enough sugar. So swirling them & waiting longer could help. But the carbonation would still be lower than called for per style. Not to critcize or anything...
I missed the month part. But he hasn't said what temp. A month at 60 would still mean it wasn't carbed.
And freddy, you never want to put a beer back into a carboy, if you need to add anything you do it in the bottles. Like with an eye dropper. Putting it back in a carboy would oxydize the beer, because it would be falling through the air into whatever you are moving it to.
derbycitybrewer
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Fredie_T said:
Did u resuspend the yeast when u added the sugar? How long has it been since u added more?
Fredie_T said:
80g is just over half of what is frequently used for carbonation in bottles when using corn sugar on a 5 gal batch. There are styles that use more, or less, but 5 oz (140 g) is so common, it is sold in that volume. According to the calculator, 5oz is too much for many styles. Your 80 grams should be fine, probably a bit low carb, but will carb up...
You can calculate volume required according to style and type of priming sugar here. http://www.northernbrewer.com/priming-sugar-calculator/
One thing I neglected to mention in my earlier post is headspace in the bottle. This can also influence carbonation. Search HBT for more info. It is normally pretty forgiving and doesn't generally make the difference between having carbonation or not, but is a fifth factor in bottle carbing.
Damocles74
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I have the same problem. My honey Braggot bottles are all flat. I know what I did wrong.
I forgot to cool my racking sugar down to room temperature. I pitched 200° racking sugar in my priming carboy and most likely killed all the yeast in my wort.
Can I revive each bottle somehow?
I forgot to cool my racking sugar down to room temperature. I pitched 200° racking sugar in my priming carboy and most likely killed all the yeast in my wort.
Can I revive each bottle somehow?
I don't know how many millions of threads we say this in, but pitching boiling sugar into your bucket WILL NOT KILL ALL THE YEAST.
2 cups of boiling liquid is in a head to head collision with 5 gallons of not boiling beer... realistically, who do you think is going to win the battle? By the time 1/2 gallon of beer dillutes the sugar water it's not going to be boiling anymore is it?
Even if you killed a t-spoon of yeast in that first little bit of beer that hits the boiling sugar, do you really believe that the billions of cells in the entire rest of the beer is going to die as well?
I know when something goes wrong we're always looking for 'what ifs' but we can't throw basic logic out the window.
Your braggot didn't carb because it's 12% and that's a really high alcoholic environment for MOST yeasts to thrive in, let alone the tired yeast you used to ferment the beer with.. and even most yeast you could have added at bottling, may not thrive in the environment.
You'd need to use something like a champagne yeast to carb it.
Besides, according to Wyyeast's definition of Braggot, it's not very carbed if it is at all.
"Carbonation will vary as described in the standard description. A still braggot will usually have some level of carbonation (like a cask bitter) since a completely flat beer is unappetizing. However, just as an aged barleywine may be still, some braggots can be totally still. Overall Impression: A harmonious blend of mead and beer, with the distinctive characteristics of both. A wide range of results are possible, depending on the base style of beer, variety of honey and overall sweetness and strength. Beer flavors tend to somewhat mask typical honey flavors found in other meads. "
You could try a slurry of yeast, with an eyedropper and fresh caps, but then you'll still be waiting.
Me, if the braggot tastes good as is I wouldn't mess with it.
Damocles74
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^ thanks for the advice. I guess I'll just wait a few more months and try it again. It does taste very minty, raw honey thick. I've never had a mead before so I don't know what to compare it to.
