Does carbonation peak, like fermentation? (priming)

[jlanier01]

Does carbonation typically have a peak period? Is the carbonation stronger in the beginning, before tailing off.

Assumptions:

• 3 Week Bottling Time
• 4.2 Gallons of Beer
• Bottling Temp 72
• Desired Carb Range was 2.0
• 2.68 Ounces of priming sugar.

I'm also wondering if all the carbonation I'm going to get takes place during the first 7-10 days after bottling. The remaining time is just flavor maturation.

My random thoughts:
I used the same calculator to carb 2 different batches of beer, the beer I'm worried about does not have as much "pop" when I opened a test bottle on day 7. I forgot to hydrate the priming sugar on this batch and just added it to the bottling bucket and stirred it in. The batch with the good carbonation I hydrated and nuked in the microwave, and put it in the bottom of the bottling bucket before siphoning on top of it.

 

[Revvy]

The word "Peak" to me assumes that you think after it reaches a point it begins to become less carbonated, that it somehow degrades.

No, as long as the seal holds in the bottle, and it's reached it's full level of carbonation, since there's nowhere for the co2 to go, it will remain carbed.

When we say 3 weeks at 70 we mean it usually takes a minimum of three weeks to reach the level of carbonation for average beers. Gravity and storage temp are the biggest factors in carbonation/conditioning times...Less than seventy severely slows down the yeast...2 degrees may seem like nothing to us, but to micro-organisms that could be like 10.

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.

And usually "flavor maturation" as you call it doesn't start til around the time, if not after the beer has reached it's maximum level of carbonation...that's why many beers at 3 weeks may be carbed fully, but still taste like crap, because they still are green...That same Belgian strong took another 4 months to become drinkable and lose it's rocketfuel character.

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

It's not surprising that a beer wouldn't "POP" on day 7, in my experience very few do......and if they do "pop" at day 7 that doesn't mean that the co2 has been absorbed into solution...if you look at the video in my blog, you wil see, what many of us call "false" or "Newbie" Carbonation, where often people equate foam on top with carbonation...but there are no bubbles of co2 coming out of solution yet....

Read my blog and give them time.

 

[jlanier01]

I'm wondering if my place is a little warmer than 72. When I poured out my tester bottle I saw a lot of what I call champagne bubbles in the glass. Also, I knew that I needed to take out some priming sugar, because I was so low on volume 4.2 gallons at the end. I used this calculator, but wouldn't mind a suggestion if you have one.

http://hbd.org/cgi-bin/recipator/brew/widgets/bp.html