Halfway through 1st batch, seems undercarbed

[Spaceball1]

All is well with my first batch (NXNW Amber Ale extract kit from AHS). The taste is very good. However, I do have to say that it seems to be a little undercarbed.

It IS carbed, but it just seems to have come up a little short. No matter how aggressively I pour, it just wont establish much of a head, and what little there is disappears pretty quickly.

OG and FG were precisely what the instructions said they should be. I followed all of the instructions when I bottled. All of the bottles seem to be equally carbed, so my priming sugar was mixed in well. They conditioned in my closet for 2-3 weeks (the remaining ones are on week #4 or so..) which was kept at 68-74 degrees.

Here's my question.. I'm about to bottle my 2nd batch (Real Ale Rio Blanco PA) and was wondering if I should do anything differently with this batch, or if I should just follow the instructions again and hope for a better result.. Should I maybe add some new yeast when I rack to my carboy? Should I add a touch of extra priming sugar? Any other thoughts?

 

[ChshreCat]

How much priming sugar did you use?

 

[Spaceball1]

Errr... whatever came in the kit... haha..

I have another kit at home with the same size package. I'll check & post..

 

[ChshreCat]

If it's not labeled, throw it on a scale. Weight is the best way to measure sugar.

 

[BenS]

I'm about to bottle my 2nd batch (Real Ale Rio Blanco PA)

I love that beer! I wonder if there's an all grain clone recipe...

 

[BioBeing]

It is unlikely you will need extra yeast.


What temp did you ferment at? What temp was the beer when you bottled? This can affect the amount of CO2 in the beer. The colder the fermentation temp, the more CO2 there will be. And vice versa. Warm beer needs more priming sugar.

What temp did you store the bottles at after capping, and for how long? They should generally be at 70F for 3 weeks. Sometimes it takes longer.

How long did you chill the bottles down before opening them? CO2 takes a while to dissolve into the liquid. If the bottles are warm, the CO2 is all in the headspace, and escapes as a nice hiss when you pop the top. Chilling them for 3 days is recommended.

 

[DaveMcPhee]

I'm about to bottle my 2nd batch (Real Ale Rio Blanco PA) and was wondering if I should do anything differently with this batch, or if I should just follow the instructions again and hope for a better result.. Should I maybe add some new yeast when I rack to my carboy? Should I add a touch of extra priming sugar? Any other thoughts?

I'm one or two days away from throwing this exact kit from AHS into the secondary, where it will sit for a week before bottling. If you shoot me a PM the day before you're due to bottle, I'll crack open a bottle of mine and let you know the carbonation.

 

[Spaceball1]

I love that beer! I wonder if there's an all grain clone recipe...

Yep, it's good stuff. Nice & hoppy but not overwhelming. Just all around simple, well balanced goodness...

I think AHS has an all-grain kit for the 3 or 4 common Real Ale brews..

 

[Spaceball1]

Ok, found the priming sugar.. It's 4.5oz..

It is unlikely you will need extra yeast.

What temp did you ferment at? What temp was the beer when you bottled? This can affect the amount of CO2 in the beer. The colder the fermentation temp, the more CO2 there will be. And vice versa. Warm beer needs more priming sugar.

What temp did you store the bottles at after capping, and for how long? They should generally be at 70F for 3 weeks. Sometimes it takes longer.

How long did you chill the bottles down before opening them? CO2 takes a while to dissolve into the liquid. If the bottles are warm, the CO2 is all in the headspace, and escapes as a nice hiss when you pop the top. Chilling them for 3 days is recommended.

I put my primary in an icechest with water. I kept that water in the low 60's (with icepacks in the water) for the first week or two, then let it slide a little higher for the remainder of fermentation (which was 4 weeks total). We had a very cold winter (for S. Texas, anyway) so my house stayed between 68 and 74 for the whole fermentation. Maybe that's a bit warm?

I didn't take the temp when I bottled. I'd guess mid to high 60's?

Bottles conditioning was in my closet, at ambient temp which again, was 68-74. First bottles were sampled just short of 3 weeks. Most of the ones we've had to drink stayed longer. I have about half the batch left and it's at 5 weeks.

I've left them in the closet, and then putting a few in the fridge at a time - chilling for 1-2 days before drinking. I have noticed quite a bit of hiss and some champagne-level pops from my swingtop bottles. I'm having one right now that's chilled for 4 or 5 days, and does seem to be slightly more carbed.

So...
It sounds like my fermentation was a bit warm. I think my conditioning temp was good. I gave it plenty of conditioning time, but maybe I should chill for another day before drinking.

 

[Spaceball1]

I'm one or two days away from throwing this exact kit from AHS into the secondary, where it will sit for a week before bottling. If you shoot me a PM the day before you're due to bottle, I'll crack open a bottle of mine and let you know the carbonation.

Will do. I'll probably bottle in less than a week though, so it sounds like we might be on a pretty similar schedule.

 

[ChshreCat]

It IS carbed, but it just seems to have come up a little short. No matter how aggressively I pour, it just wont establish much of a head, and what little there is disappears pretty quickly.

Obvious question. How fizzy is it? It might just be you're not getting head retention for reasons other than carbonation. It can be as simple as Jet Dry residue on the glass if you use a dishwasher, or something in the recipe that didn't give you what you need for a good head on your beer. If the beer is nice and bubbly, but no head... then it's not your carbonation level that's at fault.

Try a simple test. Next time you have one of your beers, hand-wash the glass first. Give it a GOOD cleaning and a GOOD rinsing to get any residues off the inside of the glass. See if that makes any difference at all.

 

[BioBeing]

The Cat has some good ideas too. 4.5 oz should have been enough.

Check out this post (and the rest of the thread, if you haven't already!).