Carbonation issues

[ReaperOnefour]

Hello all. As my thread title says I'm having some carbonation issues, & I could use a little help. I have a red ale, & a brown ale. I used carbonation drops in both batches. I used northern Brewer's fizz drops in the brown, & coopers in the red ale. Both batches sat for two weeks before they were refrigerated, & in both batches The carbonation level sucked. Might as well have been cold flat beer. I'll be bottling a one gallon batch of a black IPA this coming Sunday. Not sure if I should give the drops the benefit of the dought & give them another try. I saw these conditioning tablets on Amazon that I like, or maybe should I just batch prime? If I do batch prime. How much corn sugar & water do I need for a one gallon batch?

 

[flars]

The carbonation drops need to dissolve completely before all of the sugar contained can be used by the yeast to produce CO2. The drops dissolve slowly. Warm you bottles to 70°F to 75°F. Give them a few more weeks at this temperature to build carbonation.

Gently invert the bottles a couple of times after the beer is warmed to resuspend the yeast.

 

[dawn_kiebawls]

ReaperOneFour,

I am still VERY new to this game (having only two batches under my belt),but, I found a thread that might help you. I also saw this genera rule of thumb posted on another thread earlier today so it seems fairly consistent. Generally 1oz sugar per Gallon and 'just enough water just to dissolve the sugar' (quoted from the attached thread)

Check this thread out, there's some good info in there.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=506150

Also, I'm not sure if you have tried yet or not. I typed 'how much priming sugar in 1 gallon', into the Google bar built into HBT and it gave me several threads to read though. Hope this has been helpful!

 

[Lefou]

Drop the dextrose/glucose tabs for Domino sugar cubes. They're more economical and just as easy to use. The yeast won't care.
Sucrose is just as digestible for yeast as the glucose drops. Make sure you carb at room temps for 3-4 weeks. If you refrigerate your beer before then, the yeasties in the bottle will decide to hibernate and cahnces are, you'll get an acetaldehyde "green apple" twang, especially if your beer was an extract.
Typically, I add one Domino cube per 11.2oz bottle, two per 22oz bottle and carb for 3-4 weeks before refrigeration.

 

[Rob2010SS]

ReaperOneFour, as dawn said, I'm also very new to this hobby. My first batch is currently sitting in bottles waiting to carbonate. I saw the priming tablets you used online and I seriously considered it, but I was paranoid about the carbonation thing so I went with the batch priming. I used the below link for determining the right amount of priming sugar to use. I forget who but someone on this forum recommended it to me as well. Just another tool to add to your brewing arsenal.
https://www.brewersfriend.com/beer-priming-calculator/

 

[Revvy]

Take you beers out of the fridge, read this, and wait a couple of weeks... and in the future repeat after me, "3 weeks at 70, 3 weeks at 70, 3 weeks at 70."

 

[ReaperOnefour]

Thanks guys for all the great tips. I think I'll give the beer another week to carb up. Before I throw them in the fridge. That will be 4 weeks total. I will also check out those links you guys gave me too.

 

[kyoun1e]

Take you beers out of the fridge, read this, and wait a couple of weeks... and in the future repeat after me, "3 weeks at 70, 3 weeks at 70, 3 weeks at 70."

Revvy,

Great post. I'm going to try my best as a beginner and try and hold off, but take notes at 2 and 3 weeks (and 4 if I can wait).

I've got an IPA in bottles now that should land at 5.0% ABV and had an original gravity of 1.052. The bottles are in my basement and it's pretty cold...apprx 62-66 degrees. I'm assuming, per your linked post, that not only should I keep bottled for your recommended 3 weeks, but since it's colder than 70, maybe wait for 4 weeks at minimum?

I'm on vaca starting next Friday. Over the weekend will be the two week period. Think I'll crack one and do taste/notes event #1.

Thanks

 

[ReaperOnefour]

Hi all. I think I'm gonna try an ounce of corn sugar to prime my one gallon with. I've never batched primed before, so I'm a little nervous. I'm looking for a medium carbonation. Hopefully that will be enough. Should I give the bottles two or three weeks to carb up before throwing them in the fridge?

 

[ericbw]

Yes, 2 weeks minimum, but 3 is better. Then at least 3 days in the fridge.

 

[ReaperOnefour]

Sounds good.

 

[Rob2010SS]

Reaper, you should be good at 1 oz. Brewers friend priming calc says .9oz of corn sugar for 1 gal at 68*. This is the priming calculator I used for mine and it seems to be dead on where I wanted it. I cracked one of mine open at 8 days after bottling and it was already carbing up pretty well.

 

[ReaperOnefour]

Thanks rob201. I saw those online calculaters, but I wasn't sure what they meant about c02 volumes. So I didn't know how to use the calculater.

 

[Revvy]

Thanks rob201. I saw those online calculaters, but I wasn't sure what they meant about c02 volumes. So I didn't know how to use the calculater.

The amount a beer is carbed is represented as "volume of co2." Every beer style technically has a range of co2 that fits the style.

Within each style a brewer can choose within that range how they best thing their beer will taste.

Given that most average gravity beers usually overlap in their range at 2 or 2.5 volumes of co2- and that's also why most boxed kits that come with priming sugar come with between 4.5 and 5 ounces of co2 (or about 1 ounce/gallon), because in most beers at room temp it's that much that will give the beer that volume....

so if you want to 'carb a beer to a certain style, you can choose where within that range you want it, and in those calculators if you imput the temp of beer (there's a lot of debate at what temp, lowest it's been at, highest it's been at or current temp, or temp you plan to carb at- endless debate- I opt for current temp) it will tell you how much corn or table sugar you need.

Or like I said you can opt for the average of most styles and aim for 2 or 2.5

 

[ReaperOnefour]

Thanks revy. That diagram is really cool. I really appreciate you showing me that. My two favorite beer's that I brew the most are an American red ale, & an American brown ale. I'm gonna start brewing this American cream ale that my wife likes. Seeing how she don't like real hoppy beers. Those three beer are all around 2.5 volumes of c02. So im gonna go with the ounce of corn sugar to batch prime with. I saw on this YouTube video this guy said to use a cup & a half of water, I think I'll try that too.

 

[Revvy]

I go with the 2 cups of water that has been the standard for long since before I was born.... Don't know why people feel the need to change the amount.

If you haven't, look at my bottling tips stickey....

 

[ericbw]

I often wonder what the smallest noticeable difference in carbonation is. I aim for 2.5 with everything, too.

 

[ReaperOnefour]

2 cups? Ok, I'll try that. Is there a certain brand of corn sugar that stands out above the others?

 

[robbeh]

No, DEX is DEX and to be honest, sugar is sugar when batch priming. Two cups of water, weigh your corn sugar and boil for 5 minutes covered. Cool it (let it sit for 20-30 min) and pour it in. Stir gently and my rule of thumb is stir every 1/3 as a bottle.

 

[ReaperOnefour]

Thanks fellas for all the great tips. I'm looking forward to trying out batch priming for the first time.

 

[Rob2010SS]

Good luck reaper. Let us know how it goes

 

[ncbrewer]

Table sugar (sucrose) works fine, too. It just takes slightly less - the calculators will tell you how much.

 

[ReaperOnefour]

Thanks again fellas for all the great tips. I really appreciate it. I'm gonna brew the cream ale tomorrow, then bottle the black IPA on Sunday. I'm thinking of brewing an American wheat after that.