My Hefeweizen beer has very low carbonation. It is not pleasant to drink so I decided to fix the low carbonation. After I discovered the low carbonation, I conditioned the beer 3 months in the bottle at room temperature hoping it would help increase the carbonation, but it didn't unfortunately.
I think the cause of the low carbonation might because I didn't put the entire dextrose bag I was given. I only put about 4 oz of dextrose. I looked up the priming table and Hefeweizen requires 7.5 oz as it's highly carbonated.
But still with 4 oz, I would expect a low-to-average carbonation level, which I'm not seeing (it's very low, almost nothing). So I'm not sure what might have happened. At the time of priming 3 months ago, I mixed the dextrose with 1 cup of boiling water and poured the mix into the wort without stirring. One of the instructions said that the pressure of the hot water causes the sweet mix to evenly distribute in the wort without the need for stirring. But next time, I will make sure to stir with a sanitized long spoon just in case.
This is my 7th batch and I've had this problem only happen once before with a witbier. However, the carbonation increased and was sufficient after 3 months with that previous batch.
Now, on to the solution. I am trying to determine if I should add just extra sugar in each bottle and recap, or add sugar and a drop of new yeast. I don't want to add too many things and run the risk of the bottles exploding.
So I added just a little sugar (a tip of a teaspoon) into a bottle which was stored at room temperature. The sugar was immediately sucked into the bottle and caused a lot of little bubbles to go up, and foam to be ejected out of the bottle. Same happened with a few other bottles. Does this mean that the yeast is still healthy and was working on the sugar?
If the yeast is still indeed healthy and active, I don't want to add more yeast. I will only add more sugar. The only problem is the overflowing foam, which empties the bottle a bit and creates more headspace. As an alternative, I can empty all bottles in a mini keg, pour all the beer in it, add sugar, and seal. Then wait two weeks and see.
I was told that it's bad to empty the bottles into a container because this would cause oxidation. And oxidation worsens the flavor of beer.
If you were me, would you try this last experiment at saving this beer, namely emptying the bottles into a container and adding sugar? Would you add new yeast too in addition to sugar? Or shall I just forget about this batch?
I think the cause of the low carbonation might because I didn't put the entire dextrose bag I was given. I only put about 4 oz of dextrose. I looked up the priming table and Hefeweizen requires 7.5 oz as it's highly carbonated.
But still with 4 oz, I would expect a low-to-average carbonation level, which I'm not seeing (it's very low, almost nothing). So I'm not sure what might have happened. At the time of priming 3 months ago, I mixed the dextrose with 1 cup of boiling water and poured the mix into the wort without stirring. One of the instructions said that the pressure of the hot water causes the sweet mix to evenly distribute in the wort without the need for stirring. But next time, I will make sure to stir with a sanitized long spoon just in case.
This is my 7th batch and I've had this problem only happen once before with a witbier. However, the carbonation increased and was sufficient after 3 months with that previous batch.
Now, on to the solution. I am trying to determine if I should add just extra sugar in each bottle and recap, or add sugar and a drop of new yeast. I don't want to add too many things and run the risk of the bottles exploding.
So I added just a little sugar (a tip of a teaspoon) into a bottle which was stored at room temperature. The sugar was immediately sucked into the bottle and caused a lot of little bubbles to go up, and foam to be ejected out of the bottle. Same happened with a few other bottles. Does this mean that the yeast is still healthy and was working on the sugar?
If the yeast is still indeed healthy and active, I don't want to add more yeast. I will only add more sugar. The only problem is the overflowing foam, which empties the bottle a bit and creates more headspace. As an alternative, I can empty all bottles in a mini keg, pour all the beer in it, add sugar, and seal. Then wait two weeks and see.
I was told that it's bad to empty the bottles into a container because this would cause oxidation. And oxidation worsens the flavor of beer.
If you were me, would you try this last experiment at saving this beer, namely emptying the bottles into a container and adding sugar? Would you add new yeast too in addition to sugar? Or shall I just forget about this batch?
