Carbonation Dissapears

[Chrispy92]

Ok guys just a quick one, have had all my batches carb up nicely (using priming sugar in bottles). But I have a problem.... It seems they pour really well, nice thick creamy head forms and is retained for a very long time. But the actual liquid itself seems to lose carbonation within a minute or so.... Until it becomes almost completely flat tasting.

Is there a way to retain better spritzy carbonation for longer? Or is this just a downfall of home brewing and bottle priming??

 

[GHBWNY]

You say your beer carbs up "well" by virtue of the appearance of the head, but if the carbonation isn't in solution right to the bottom of the glass, it isn't carbed well enough. The appearance of a head on your beer simply means there is enough carbonation to create an initial layer of foam, but not much more. Main culprits might be:

not enough priming sugar for style?
loose caps?
not letting it condition long enough?
not enough residual yeast?

Also, do you put your priming sugar directly into the bottles? If so, next time try mixing the priming sugar into the bottling bucket when racking the beer to it. That way it mixes more thoroughly and therefore more evenly for each individual bottle. Adding the sugar to each individual bottle (if that's what you're doing) may in effect leave some of it laying on the bottom where, if it's not mixed into solution, does little good in creating carbonation.

 

[beergolf]

How long has it been in the bottle? At what temperature? The reason I ask is that often a beer will act like it is carbonated pretty fast, but it actually takes more time to fully carbonate. Try leaving the bottles at 70 degrees for three weeks and then putting a bottle in the fridge for a minimum of 24 hours.

I second the suggestion of batch priming instead of adding sugar to each bottle.

 

[mattdee1]

often a beer will act like it is carbonated pretty fast, but it actually takes more time to fully carbonate.

^^very true, in my experience.

It's often mentioned that people will fill at least one plastic bottle and then use that bottle to check the progress of carbonation by squeezing it to see how much pressure has built up inside.

IMO this trick isn't good for much more than a rough confirmation that carbonation is happening; it doesn't say much at all about whether the carbonation process is complete. When I use plastic bottles, they can be rock solid at 3-4 days after bottling day, but that doesn't mean the carbonation of the beer is at a good level for drinking.

If you really want to fast track it, you can usually get away with leaving the beer at room temperature for about a week then putting it in the fridge for 1-2 weeks more before drinking. The extended time in the fridge is important because cold beer can hold more gas in solution than room temp beer. So, you build up the CO2 pressure during the room temperature phase, then chill the bottles to facilitate dissolving of that CO2 into the beer.

You can start sampling after just a few days in the fridge if you really want, just be aware that it will be better if you wait.

I don't do really high-gravity stuff, but I've heard that can take longer to carbonate. Also, cold crashing can add some time to the carbonation period because less yeast makes it into the bottle.