Carbonation failure-- any way to save three weeks down the road?

[woozy]

So my first *real* batch (Mr. Beer's instant beer in a can doesn't count... well, maybe it should...) of beer utterly failed to carbonate. Could be for millions of reasons but probably my bottles simply weren't airtight. (Intructions say siphon or pour beer "gently" during bottling; I was actually very "rough" when I bottled this batch. Would *that* cause carbonation to fail?)

Whatever the reasons, the beer itself seems really good (flavor and color are excellent) that the carbonation failure seems a shame. Is there any way to save it? Buy a carbon infuser?

Sorry if this has been covered before. Couldn't find it in the faqs.

 

[amandabab]

did you add priming sugar?
I wouldn't be surprized if instructions that mentioned pouring beer into bottles might skip that step.

 

[prpromin]

And if you did add priming sugar, what temp were they being stored at?

 

[Kahless]

If the bottles were not airtight you would taste a heavily oxidized flat beer rather than just a tasty but flat beer, so luckily that is not the problem.

Roughness when bottling wouldn't cause carbonation to fail (can cause some oxygen damage to the beer though, although don't worry about a splash and some foaming here and there just be as gentle as you can).

How long have you been carbonating them? Minimum recommendation is 3 weeks in a room temperature place and then 2 weeks in a cold place to force some of the Co2 from the headspace back into the beer.

If the priming sugar has been added, then maybe a warmer place and a gentle shake (I just turn them upside down slowly and back again a few times, as when first bottling) might get them carbonating again. Don't add any more priming sugar if there is some already there. If the priming sugar has not been added and the beer has hit the target for its actual final gravity before bottled, you could use half teaspoons of sugar, or get carbonation tabs/drops and pop the bottles open, add the sugar/tabs and then close them up again. A pain, but there'd be little or no loss to the beer (though I have heard that tabs can take longer to break down, and sugar to bottles can be quite inconsistent).

Alternatively, you could do this:

 

[woozy]

Yes, I added priming sugar.

"Pouring" was my words, not the instructions. However, I *did* modify the instructions as I am using a Mr. Beer fermenter and didn't have a second container. My first "unreal" batch I added a spoonfull of granulated cane sugar to each bottle and that worked fine. (The beer was so-so but the carbonation was fine.) The second (first "real") batch I had priming sugar and I decided to "play grown up" so I mixed that with water put it into a plastic jug and added my wort (via a spigot so that part was properly racked). But then I didn't have a siphon so I "poured" from jug to the bottles trying to be as gentle as I could (that part *wasn't* properly racked). I'll admit I don't know what effect racking gently vs. mixing my wort and priming sugar will a blender will ultimately have. (I assumed whatever ill effect would be on flavor-- a bruised beer-- but not on carbonation. The results however were an excellently flavored utterly flat beer.) I'm willing to give my rough handling a 50% likelihood of being the reason for the carbonation failure. Then again, I bottled the beer in re-used plastic water bottles. I'm equally willing to give *that* a 50% likelihood for the failure.

But whatever the *cause* of the failure, is there any way to reconstitute this beer?

 

[woozy]

>>If the bottles were not airtight you would taste a heavily oxidized flat beer rather than just a tasty but flat beer, so luckily that is not the problem.


Maybe they are oxidized and I'm too dumb to notice.

>>And if you did add priming sugar, what temp were they being stored at?

"room temperature". In my closet. No thermometer there but I imagine mid to high 60s. 2 1/2 weeks (recipe said 2 - 3 weeks) so I *could* test in a week or so but the bottles are *really* soft and I'm not going to fool myself. They aren't going to get harder.

 

[kingogames]

I would just leave them a while longer. I hate throwing out beer.

 

[thejudge]

Just give it time, when it takes off it'll be quick. If all else fails put it in a corny and force carb it. Any other way would be to messy and costly.

And if all else fails drink it flat and use it for
Cooking.

 

[woozy]

I could have mismeasured the priming sugar.

I honestly don't remember what I did. I had a five gallon kit and I measured 40% (for two gallons) and I might have screwed up with my scale. Measuring 40% seems like an easy thing but when you cut open the bags and they spill and then you forget to account for the tare of the scale container and/or the ingredient bags and your scale is dinky kitchen scale from god knows and the leveling lines appear differently depending on whether you are looking at it at eye level or not and... Not ever doing that again; I'll just by the ingredients for two gallon batches directly. Bottled the remaining 3 gallons tody. Invested in real bottles and carbonated tabs this time. But I digress.

 

[woozy]

I'll give 'em another week. Meanwhile I've got batch number #3 (or #1 1/2) to look forward to.

This seems to be a fun hobby, but if I'm to be honest with myself, I may not have the patient temperment for it. (I tend to be serially obsessive... oh, well.)

Thanks all.

 

[thejudge]

I'm not patient either, that's why I brew no less than 5gal at a time to keep the stock up lol

 

[Chattan]

three weeks to let the yeast chew on the priming sugar. Make sure it doesn't drop too much below room temp.

 

[BigFloyd]

After you've given them the recommended time to carb at room temp (70-72*F), give them at least 3 days in the fridge so that the CO2 has a better chance to fully dissolve into the cooler liquid.

Next batch, make notes of each step and all readings (like hydro). That way you can more easily identify problems or, even better, re-create a really good batch.

 

[blueseamonkey]

Then again, I bottled the beer in re-used plastic water bottles. I'm equally willing to give *that* a 50% likelihood for the failure.

But whatever the *cause* of the failure, is there any way to reconstitute this beer?

Most water bottles are not built to hold any kind of pressure - unless they are for sparkling water, so any CO2 generated may well have escaped through the bottle's seal (yet still leaving enough in the bottle's headspace to prevent oxidation - at least after only 3 weeks.) If you want to re-use old plastic bottles, soft drinks bottles from carbonated drinks will work fairly well, just check the seals properly when you close them. (I'm forced to use soft drinks bottles at the moment as my Dad pinched our only bottle capper.)

As for reconstituting - if you have enough of the new bottles, you could carefully tip all the beer back into your bottling bucket and rebottle in the new bottles, probably with some more priming sugar - (though I'd wait for a more expert opinion than mine to be sure about the extra sugar)

 

[tektonjp]

As Bigfloyd said, take notes!

 

[woozy]

>>>Most water bottles are not built to hold any kind of pressure - unless they are for sparkling water, so any CO2 generated may well have escaped through the bottle's seal (yet still leaving enough in the bottle's headspace to prevent oxidation - at least after only 3 weeks.)

Yeah... that's kind of what I'm thinking. I brewed my first batch in "new" water bottles, that is a 24 pack of pint size water bottles I had bought and emptied of their water just for the occasion. That batch came out just fine. (Well, just fine as far as carbonation went... ). This batch was of many reused bottles of varying degree of abuse. (I've been carbonating ginger beer as well.) As of two or three days ago a few of these bottles were soft and the rest were somewhat firm but none were the rock hard solid to the touch that I associate with proper carbonation. Three days later they seem to all be a little firmer but I could be deluding myself with wishful think. I'll give them till Friday (another week) and then try something.

Trouble with soda bottles is I don't drink soda so I'll *never* save up 18-24 soda bottles. Buying soda for the bottles seems too wasteful. Buying water for the bottles seemed wasteful too but they were cheap and I could use the water for making beer. Or so I was able to tell myself.

Anyway, glass bottles from now on. Although I will miss the squeeze test.

 

[thejudge]

Just have one old 20oz soda bottle on hand when bottle carbing. This way you will know when it is time to pasteurize or cold crash your glass bottles.

 

[GrogNerd]

try rousing the yeast

turn them upside down for 3 days, then back right side up for 3 days, then fridge for a day

worked on my 1st batch that was under-carbed

 

[blueseamonkey]

I'm buying my soft drinks bottles from a recycling place as I don't drink much soda either. 2L bottles cost me about 4 or 5c each, smaller ones are cheaper - not sure how much it would be in the US.