Ginger beer won't carb

[Fabritius]

Hi! I have just started brewing, and I recently finished my second batch of alcoholic ginger beer. Just like the first batch, it fermented, but there was almost no carbonation in the bottles. I've searched around the forum, but I'm still puzzled...

Ok, so here's my recipe for the 2nd batch:

Wort:
2kg rinsed and chopped ginger
1dl lime juice
Zest of three limes
3kg liquid light malt extract
1kg brown sugar
500g white sugar
100g maltodextrin

Poured into fermenting bucket and mixed with water up to 22litres and let it cool to ca 20°C.

Hydrated the dry Lallemand Nottingham Ale Yeast. Aerated, pitched the yeast and added yeast nutrition. OG was 1.062 (measured with hydrometer). Kept the fermenter at ca 20°C. After two weeks the FG was 1.014 wich would result in an ABV around 6.3%

Racked 19 litres to a plastic carboy. Boiled 133gr of white sugar with some water and stirred it in. (7grams pr liter). Sanatized bottles, filled them and capped them. Both 500ml and 330ml bottles. Both ordinary caps and swing tops. Kept the bottles at ca 20°C. Waited two weeks, and... pfft. The tiniest little whistle as I opened the bottles.


My thinking so far:
- The FG is at 1.014, so there doesn't seem to be a problem with the yeast in the first place. This leads me to think that the problem is somewhere after the racking (or the racking itself for that matter).

- All the capped bottles and the swing top bottles have the same embarrasing amount of co2, so I guess I can rule out leakage. I even ran out of bottles and had to use a plastic soda bottle, and was exactly the same.


I guess ginger beer is kind of a niche, so maybe there are some factors here I haven't thought about? Can oxidation during racking cause problems with carbonation?

Thanks in advance!

 

[eddie]

Is there a film of yeast on the bottom of the "finished" bottles?

 

[RM-MN]

You are a little cool and a little short on time for bottle conditioning so you won't have great carbonation. Raise the temperature about 5 degrees and give the bottles another week or a bit more and see if you get better carbonation.

 

[Fabritius]

Is there a film of yeast on the bottom of the "finished" bottles?

Yes, there is. Small strip of yeast. The beer is quite clear at the top and gets cloudier towards the bottom.

 

[bruteforce]

My first ginger beer took about 4 weeks to carbonate. Other things at the same gravity only took maybe 2 weeks. not sure what it was about it, but give it some more time, it should work out.

 

[frydaddy81]

I would give it more time.