Carbonation problems (bottles)

[HollisBT]

So I am now two for two with under carbonated beers, and starting to get slightly frustrated with it... My last brew, a black ipa, I aimed for middle of the road carbonation, and it came out flatter than expected, but had enough protein/residual sugar to hold a nice head. My current brew is a smoked rye porter that I was aiming to carbonate on the high side of the style, and it came out flat and with very little head... I'm not surprised about the lack of head on the porter, I wanted a thin and easy to drink beer, and got just that, I just feel like it would be so much better with more carbonation.

Any tips for carbonating? Particularly ones that don't involve buying a keg setup... I'm getting frustrated with these carb levels.

 

[Pdeezy]

What was the OG/FG, batch size, and how much priming sugar did you use? Also, it would be helpful to know how long you let them sit at 'room temp' before you moved them to the fridge, and what temp is 'room temp' for you?

 

[pstrohs]

Yep...detailed bottling process will help us determine potential issues.

 

[BrewMoreBeers]

Brewheads has a calculator that may help too.

Brewheads.com - Homepage

 

[HollisBT]

Sorry guys, I was frustrated and needed a drink haha.

The black ipa went as follows:

OG: 1.060
FG: 1.010

Carbed to 2.6 volumes, using 4 oz of dextrose. bottled a true 5 gallons

The porter was as follows:

OG: 1.061
FG: 1.011

Carbed to 2.4 volumes, using 3.86 oz of dextrose. Bottled about 4.8 gallons.

Both were kept at very close to 70 degrees, temp ranges between 63 and at the most 70. Both aged in bottles for 14 days.

 

[Revvy]

How long were the bottles stored at near 70 degrees?

 

[HollisBT]

Brewheads has a calculator that may help too.

Brewheads.com - Homepage

According to that, I'm just not using enough sugar? Is that the case?

 

[HollisBT]

How long were the bottles stored at near 70 degrees?

I went back and edited. Both were given at minimum 14 days.

 

[Revvy]

I went back and edited. Both were given at minimum 14 days.

That's the problem, or rather the problem is you're impatient, especially if the beers haven't been consistantly over 70....

The 3 weeks at 70 degrees, that we recommend is the minimum time it takes for average gravity beers to carbonate and condition. Higher grav beers take longer.

Stouts and porters have taken me between 6 and 8 weeks to carb up..I have a 1.090 Belgian strong that took three months to carb up.


Temp and gravity are the two factors that contribute to the time it takes to carb beer. But if a beer's not ready yet, or seems low carbed, and you added the right amount of sugar to it, then it's not stalled, it's just not time yet.

Everything you need to know about carbing and conditioning, can be found here Of Patience and Bottle Conditioning. With emphasis on the word, "patience."

Lazy Llama came up with a handy dandy chart to determine how long something takes in brewing, whether it's fermentation, carbonation, bottle conditioning....

If a beer isn't carbed by "x number of weeks" you just have to give them more time. If you added your sugar, then the beer will carb up eventually, it's really a foolroof process. All beers will carb up eventually. A lot of new brewers think they have to "troubleshoot" a bottling issue, when there really is none, the beer knows how to carb itself. In fact if you run beersmiths carbing calculator, some lower grav beers don't even require additional sugar to reach their minimum level of carbonation. Just time.

 

[HollisBT]

I don't like that answer, I want to drink it now! Haha.

That does make some sense though, I guess I'll just try to drink it slowly And maybe it will be ready before its all gone haha.

 

[Revvy]

That does make some sense though, I guess I'll just try to drink it slowly And maybe it will be ready before its all gone haha.

Or you could stop drinking them, go to a store and get some nice beer to drink, and give them a chance to carb and condition, without wasting them by drinking them while they're flat.

What's the point of doing wasting them? You now know what's wrong, so walk away from them. and then actually enjoy them when they are ready.

 

[HollisBT]

I don't think that my sarcasm was well detected in that post...

I'll let them age a bit more and see what happens. Perhaps I have been trying to rush them, I guess I'll see. I know patience is a virtue, maybe I'll get more virtuous by keeping more finished beer in stock.

 

[LTownLiquorPig]

Revvy, if the beers never get to 70 degrees will they ever carb in bottle?

 

[Revvy]

Revvy, if the beers never get to 70 degrees will they ever carb in bottle?

They'll carb, but just take longer.

 

[LTownLiquorPig]

They'll carb, but just take longer.

Thank you sir! And a stout will likely take an extra long time then?

Still trying to figure out how to best use what I have to work with. My house stays low 60's in the basement for the winter, great for brewing my ales, not so good for carbing.

 

[Revvy]

Thank you sir! And a stout will likely take an extra long time then?

Still trying to figure out how to best use what I have to work with. My house stays low 60's in the basement for the winter, great for brewing my ales, not so good for carbing.

I lived in a loft for a number of years and kept in in the 60's in the winter and it took twice as long, if not more for a beer to carb up. The three weeks @ 70 is just to give a rough idea of what it takes. Like I said above, gravity and storage temps are the two most important factors as to how long it takes.

All you can do is find the warmest space and let it do it's thing.

 

[HollisBT]

So when carbonating you want the beers to get closer to 79 or even slightly above? You don't have to worry about the yeast producing any off favors at those temps?

 

[Pdeezy]

I think if you were closer to 5oz for 5 gallons your beer would be carbed by now.

I would use 5oz as a base line, and move up or down according to style.

 

[Revvy]

So when carbonating you want the beers to get closer to 79 or even slightly above? You don't have to worry about the yeast producing any off favors at those temps?

70, not 79..... But even a higher temp won't really cause any off flavors. It's such a tiny amount of yeast fermenting a tiny amount of sugar solution.

 

[HollisBT]

Oops, the 79 was a typo. But that is good to know, I have always treated it like normal fermentation and kept it cool. Maybe that is the cause of my under carbonation woes. I have a few more brews coming up in jan, I'll try experimenting a little.

 

[Revvy]

Oops, the 79 was a typo. But that is good to know, I have always treated it like normal fermentation and kept it cool. Maybe that is the cause of my under carbonation woes.

I've carbed hundreds of gallons of beer, and never had a beer that wasn't carbed, or under carbed or anything of the sort. Some took awhile, (as I said up to six months) but they ALL eventually carbed.

I don't believe there are ANY carbing problems (besides the rare capper that maybe puts a bad seal on a bottle, or tired yeast in a HIGH gravity beer) that isn't simple impatience.

As I said in my bottling blog, it's really a fool proof process, you add sugar, keep the beer above 7 and wait.