Carb drops

[jpzep4]

I have a lemon coriander wheat that has been trying to carb for about 3 months now. It was my second attempt at homebrewing. I received a 5 oz. corn sugar packet with my kit and I measured out 3/4 cup of it (as I thought that was the proper amount) and added it to the bottling bucket. Had I paid attention I would have seen that it says 3/4 c=(5 oz.) and I would have dumped the whole thing in. I didn't. I meticulously measured 3/4 c of the dextrose and had some left over. If 3/4 cup = 5 oz. i don't know how that happened but... the bottom line is my beer is not carbing after this long. This is not a high gravity beer. it should be there by now. Can I drop a 1/4-1/2 Coopers tab in each bottle and recap? I have dextose on hand. Can i boil some and add a bit to each bottle? Should I do nothing?

BTW, the temp is now a constant 71 but it still wasn't carbing in the summer when it was 74-75 in my house.

 

[JiveTurkey]

3/4-cup = 5 oz of dextrose is an estimate. Weight (really, mass) is the most accurate measurement since a given amount of dextrose can be packed tightly or loosely, affecting volume but never mass.

How did you add the dextrose to the bucket? A common method is to boil the dextrose in a small amount of water (to sanitize and dissolve it), pour it into the empty bottling bucket, then siphon the beer onto it. The dextrose should get mixed pretty uniformly from the gentle swirling that occurs from the siphon.

This may not be your issue, though, since if some bottles got under-carbonated, then some should be overly-carbonated, maybe to the point of explosion.

Also, how much dextrose was left over after measuring out 3/4-cup? Doesn't sound like a lot, so I'm sure you had plenty enough total priming sugar to at least get the bottles carbonated.

 

[Hang Glider]

first thought is also along the lines of how well it was mixed in.
Test a couple more bottles -you may have some seriously over-carbed bottles.

If you go the carbonation drop routine, and it's really not carbed now, I'd try a whole tab in 6 random bottles and wait 2 -3 weeks. If that's better, do the rest of the batch.

good luck!

 

[jpzep4]

Here's a few more specifics (albeit long-winded): I did use a bottling bucket, boiled sugar + water, added to the bucket, and then siphoned. I opened my first bottle at 3 weeks to try, very little carb. I waited another week, no improvement so I put a heater in the room, swirled the bottles a bit and waited. Did that for a couple days My wife accidentally left the heater on for about 3 hours right next to the beer. When I came home 4-5 of them had exploded (all over the den, but that's another story!). At that point, I put them in a plastic bin and tucked them away to recheck them in a month. No improvement. That brings us to today. There is some carbonation in the beer but not enough to make it enjoyable.


Unless I hear differently here, I'll try your suggestion Hang Glider and do carb tabs in 6 of them, put them covered in a safe area, and check back.

Jive Turkey, there wasn't a lot of sugar left. But I didn't use the common sense required to realize that I could have packed all 5 oz into a 3/4 c. I measured it out loosely like flour in a baking recipe. Live and learn.

 

[WIP]

I am having a similar problem, I have three batches of beer that I have gone through and none of them where COMPLETELY carbed. On this last one I bottled, I put +/- a cup of sugar in to see if that improves it, time will tell.

 

[JiveTurkey]

Jive Turkey, there wasn't a lot of sugar left. But I didn't use the common sense required to realize that I could have packed all 5 oz into a 3/4 c. I measured it out loosely like flour in a baking recipe. Live and learn.

Sounds like you put plenty in, so I don't think that was the problem.

 

[IllWill]

I was discussing this topic at the LHBS last weekend, and it could be your yeast. If you rack to a secondary, and then bottle you may not have enough yeast in suspension to fully carbonate it. A package of dry yeast added before bottling, may provide the added oomph you’re looking for.

 

[WIP]

I thought about that, but wouldn't the yeast make babies and ferment as if it was a starting batch?

 

[squeekysheep]

if the yeast is too tired, or there is too little of it the alcohol can prevent it from getting started. after a long secondary i always add fresh yeast of some sort for bottling.