Do I Dump my Beer? Waaa!

[Kosch]

Again, thanks! I appreciate all the posts. I will definitely wait. I tried 2 beers from this batch and both were flat. But I will wait it out and report back. Didn't mean to offend anyone by thinking about dumping, I was just a bit disappointed and wanted to make sure since I never used cane sugar. Only used it bc the home brew place is a bit of a distance and when I made the trek to buy the ingredients I forgot the priming sugar. So I went with table cane sugar.

How long did you chill for? I've found that if I test right around the 3 week mark I need to chill for a good 2-3 days for the carbonation to be right. After I've let them sit a couple more weeks it seems just overnight is fine.

And, like everyone else has said, 3 weeks seems to be the minimum, I tend to notice dramatic differences waiting 4 weeks. But our house tends to stay a bit cooler.

I'm sure it will be fine!

Cheers,

Kosch

 

[Budzien]

Even screwed up brew is still beer. Better than drinking water...

 

[Wolfhound180]

Even screwed up brew is still beer. Better than drinking water...

Water sucks! It really really sucks!

 

[homebrewdad]

OP - I don't think anybody is offended. It's your beer; what you do with it affects you, not us. Some of us may have been surprised or confused as to why you would consider dumping, that's all. No need to apologize, this kind of question is why we have this forum.

 

[GioGomez2010]

Hey man,
I had this same problem with my last batch and I'm pretty sure it was because my temp at home was ridiculous. Our heater was pretty much busted the whole winter, and inside my house it was an ice chest, poor beer had no chance of carbonating well. I left it though, and forgot about it and wouldn't you know before I knew it it was more carbonated though not perfect. The beer tasted great, just flat. I would say try some of the tips other guys have given you, and brew on. :rockin:

 

[scottab]

What was your og and fg? If it is a high gravity beer it will take more time to carb but it will carb. It sounds like you used enoigh sugar to prime. Don't do anything to yor bottles or you risk making bombs, infecting brew, oxidization... if you feel you must do something you can swirl the yeast in the bottles but i would not do even that. If you have them stored in a fridge remove them to a dark warm (not hot) place and wait a few days. Try another one at that point and if still not carbed as you would like wait some more days. There is no rule of thumb as to how long it will take your brew to carb. I have some that carbed in 2 weeks and some that took 4-6 weeks.

 

[jonmohno]

After a half dozen or dozen batches you will know what minimum carbonation is. And you will probably know exactly how much priming sugar for carbonation may be too much .Its a simple controlable process.Add sugar knowing exactly the volume your priming with-wait.Anybody mention its better to go with measuring priming sugar voulume in oz rather than Cups?
I had a low carbonated batch still after 4 wks.Swirled agitated them some and waited a week or two.Sometimes it just takes longer,others times its almost instant under a week.But i wouldnt say completely carbonated-instantly.

 

[brewchick3]

I'm happy to report that after only a few days, the brew actually has a little bit of head. A huge improvement from the weekend. I swirled the bottles and put them on top of the fridge. I'm enjoying one now and even though it's not fully carbed, it's enough to drink it and enjoy it. I wanted to test one out and now that I see improvement I can relax and wait it out for another couple weeks.

Thanks to everyone for the advice! It's a learning process and I'm glad I have my fellow home brewers to share their experiences and insight!

 

[beergolf]

I'm happy to report that after only a few days, the brew actually has a little bit of head. A huge improvement from the weekend. I swirled the bottles and put them on top of the fridge. I'm enjoying one now and even though it's not fully carbed, it's enough to drink it and enjoy it. I wanted to test one out and now that I see improvement I can relax and wait it out for another couple weeks.

Thanks to everyone for the advice! It's a learning process and I'm glad I have my fellow home brewers to share their experiences and insight!

That is what makes this forum such a great place. We are all here to help. When we started we all gleaned a lot of good info, now we are willing to pass it on.

Brew more.".

 

[homebrewdad]

I'm happy to report that after only a few days, the brew actually has a little bit of head. A huge improvement from the weekend. I swirled the bottles and put them on top of the fridge. I'm enjoying one now and even though it's not fully carbed, it's enough to drink it and enjoy it. I wanted to test one out and now that I see improvement I can relax and wait it out for another couple weeks.

Thanks to everyone for the advice! It's a learning process and I'm glad I have my fellow home brewers to share their experiences and insight!

Awesome news!

As Revvy loves to tell us, carbonation is pretty much foolproof. If you added your sugar correctly and capped your bottles firmly, it will carb - just give it time.

Now, try to quit drinking them while they are still flat and green, or you'll kick yourself later as your last few bottles are so much better than the ones you drink now.

 

[opus345]

Another batch of beer saved!