I need advice

[amrmedic]

I know, many people post questions about bottle conditioning.

However, I seem to have a problem. I bottled my brew 5 weeks ago. The beer was in secondatry for 2 weeks and primary for 1 prior to that.

When I chill a bottle and open it, it seems to have very poor carbonization. It has almost no head and the beer tastes flat. Any ideas?

I used 3/4 cup corn sugar for priming and it was thoroughly mixed without being aerated. The bottles are well sealed and I left about 1-1 1/2 inch space in the neck of the bottles.

Thanks

 

[HBHoss]

Did you boil the sugar first?

 

[JacobInIndy]

I know, many people post questions about bottle conditioning.

However, I seem to have a problem. I bottled my brew 5 weeks ago. The beer was in secondatry for 2 weeks and primary for 1 prior to that.

When I chill a bottle and open it, it seems to have very poor carbonization. It has almost no head and the beer tastes flat. Any ideas?

I used 3/4 cup corn sugar for priming and it was thoroughly mixed without being aerated. The bottles are well sealed and I left about 1-1 1/2 inch space in the neck of the bottles.

Thanks

At what temperature are you storing the bottles? What kind of beer is it?

 

[tranceamerica]

when I was first starting, I had a lot of problems with carbonation too. Here's what I do, to get decent carbonation (almost) every time:

1) I use a bit more than 3/4 cup of sugar, I've even used up to 1.25 cups, but really, I find that 7/8 or 1 cup works great.

2) I boil it in at least a quart of water - if you don't use enough water, the sugar solution will be too thick to mix well. If you simply put the sugar in the beer, it won't carb at all (and probably a couple of bottles will become bottle bombs because they'll get all the sugar).

3) I pour it into the bottom of the bottling bucket, then rack the beer on top of it.

4) when the beer's done racking, I give it a couple of gentle stirs with the racking cane

5) after I'm done bottling, the bottles sit in a warm (room temp) place for 2 weeks, then they are fully carb'd.

you'll have trouble if you are keeping them cold, or if the sugar isn't mixed in well. Try shaking up the bottles, and leaving them in a warmer place for 2 weeks.

 

[alpo]

To add to what has already been said and asked, it helps to use a scale. I've found that different brands of dextrose have different densities. What matters is the weight of the priming sugar, not the volume.

 

[Evan!]

First off, keep them warm, 70 or above. Second, shake every bottle up to rouse the yeast. Shake them once or twice a day if possible. After a week, try a test bottle. If it's carbonated, cool. If not, try it for another week and test another bottle.

 

[Revvy]

If it's not ready at four weeks, then leave them in a warm 70 plus degrees space and try one in another week..and another after that...DIfferent beers take different amounts of time..I've had porters and stouts take 6-8 weeks...Some barleywines may take MONTHS to carb up...and some beers maybe carbed in a week and taste green...

It sounds like you did everything right...now it is just a waiting game...

 

[Flattop]

Alpo is right, you need a scale, somewhere online there is a converter that will give you carbonation scales by volume google it....
basically it says for x?? liters(23) you will need y oz of dex in order to reach z carb level.

 

[amrmedic]

Thanks for the advice.

I keep my bottles in a dark closet in my house. I live in Souh Florida, so being cold is not a problem. I brewed a porter this batch. Most of my previous beers were IPA or lighter beers. I will try stirring the bottles and I will try weighing the corn sugar next time vs volume.

 

[Penguin]

i have the opposite problem with a ginger beer thats been lurking in my closet for about 5 months. You pour that from a bottle and you get about 3/4 inch of beer in the glass and the rest is solid head. first one ive ever had be that foamy. so i just drink it from the bottle now.

 

[shaundesjardins]

i have the opposite problem with a ginger beer thats been lurking in my closet for about 5 months. You pour that from a bottle and you get about 3/4 inch of beer in the glass and the rest is solid head. first one ive ever had be that foamy. so i just drink it from the bottle now.

Even with a gentle and angled pour?