Does "bad" dextrose cause flat beer?

[iduncan804]

My buddy and I started brewing this year and have made some tasty beers. Recently we bought new dextrose and have found our last 2 batch have come out flat with little to no carbonation. We brewed a IPAD and a Pale Ale and both taste good, but are flat.

Can we do anything to fix this after they are in the bottles?

We use grolsch pop tops and can dump them and re-dextrose them to try and reactive the yeast. Is this possible?

Thanks

 

[phenry]

Are you sure you didn't buy dextrin instead of dextrose? I don't know how a simple sugar could be "bad".

 

[Stauffbier]

Dextrose doesn't go bad in any way that would make it no longer fermentable sugar. It might get stale with age, but that's about it. I agree with phenry that you possibly used the wrong type of sugar or there's a flaw in your process. How long have said beers been carbonating in the bottle?

 

[Johnnyhitch1]

Buy new dextrose and make sure to check the label.
If you get carb then you bought the wrong sugar first time.
If you still dont then you have a major problem in your technique or your not waiting long enough.

When was it bottled?
When you take a sip and woosh it around your mouth (like mouthwash) do you feel any foam?
No carb at all is very interesting if you did indeed use dextrose, did not pasteurize some how and waited at least a month with the bottles @ 70* or above.

 

[Revvy]

How long are they in the bottles and at what temps are you storing them at while you're waiting for them to carb?

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. Beers stored cooler than 70, 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."

Carbing is foolproof. You add the right amount of sugar, leave it at the right temp, and it will carb. We're not making coolaid...it takes as long as it needs to.

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.

 

[daksin]

I'm wondering if your gaskets on the bottles have dried out or gotten compressed and aren't sealing. Dextrose is dextrose and it doesn't go bad, so if you didn't buy maltodextrin then the beers should carbonate.

Also, Revvy, give it a rest. Your copy paste is appreciated in the beginners section but you're being too broad and it's not helpful. An average gravity beer kept at 70F should carbonate in a week, two if it get cools down at night. If I ever had a beer that wasn't carbed at 2 weeks, and wasn't 10% ABV, I'd be worried and that's not unreasonable.

 

[Revvy]

Also, Revvy, give it a rest. Your copy paste is appreciated in the beginners section but you're being too broad and it's not helpful. An average gravity beer kept at 70F should carbonate in a week, two if it get cools down at night. If I ever had a beer that wasn't carbed at 2 weeks, and wasn't 10% ABV, I'd be worried and that's not unreasonable.

And yet, so many folks of varying levels of experience, don't have their beers carbed before three weeks. I've yet to have a bottle of beer carb in a 70 degree environment in a week......Else I wouldn't be saying what I say.

And people have been coming back on here a lot longer that you've been on here, and reporting their bottles carbed up AFTER 3 weeks... Sorry pal, numbers and expereince proves otherwise. Just look at the followups in some of the threads instead of giving me grief.

*shrug*

And so how long DID the op ways his beer's been in the bottles?

 

[scubasteve03]

I would look at the seal of your pop tops. Are they new bottles and o rings? If not then you might want to look at replacing the o rings.

 

[homebrewdad]

No such things as a "bad" simple sugar. If the bottles are properly sealed (some have had issues with Grolsh style bottles... check those o rings), if you store at a warm enough temp, if you used enough sugar and mixed it properly (i.e. you boiled in some water, didn't just dump dry sugar in), they will carb up 100% of the time. If they aren't carbed when you try them... give another week or two and try again. They WILL carb.


also...

Also, Revvy, give it a rest. Your copy paste is appreciated in the beginners section but you're being too broad and it's not helpful. An average gravity beer kept at 70F should carbonate in a week, two if it get cools down at night. If I ever had a beer that wasn't carbed at 2 weeks, and wasn't 10% ABV, I'd be worried and that's not unreasonable.

No offense to the OP, but this is a beginner question. And I see many, many people besides Revvy posting the three weeks @ 70 degrees mantra.

You know why? Because there are dozens upon dozens of threads posted every week about how beer at one week, at ten days, at two weeks is still partially/totally flat. To call this bad advice is incorrect. To say that the advice isn't applicable is head scratching.

 

[daksin]

Looks like we're going to have to agree to disagree on this one. In any event, checking the label on the bag and the seals on the bottles is in order, but we won't know much until OP jumps back into the fray.

 

[dracus]

To make the re-carbing easier, try the carb drops. Easier than dumping the beer and oxygenating it. I have had beers that came out so clear they didn't seem to have enough yeast, in those cases it easily can take 3 weeks.

I love the way swing top bottles look, but I've had nothing but trouble with the old style ones. The new ones all have crown caps now.

 

[Hoser_brewing]

One last option, and I'm not doubting the OP's capacity to read, but just something to consider:

Check the label - maybe you picked up Malto-Dextrin. It's not fermentable, but looks just like dextrose (well, most organic compounds look the same). If you had primed with that you'd not be getting any bubbles.