Wondering if anyone can provide some insight into why some of my stout and weizenbeer that I store in the fridge over a few days appear to lose its carbonation. Take the beers stored at room temperatures refrigerate for 2-3 hours and they are fine. Leave them in the fridge for 2-3 days or longer and they lose carbonation. The stout was brewed in May and the Weizenbier in August. My fridge is set to 8 degrees C or 46F Thoughts?
Lack of carbonation after storing beer in refrigerator.
- Thread starter RussW
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Are you batch priming , bottle priming or bottling from a keg?
Could be unequal priming sugar in some bottles. Ive left bottled beer in the fridge for a month with zero issues of carbonation loss. As long as the bottles are primed fully you shouldn't have any problems.
Could be unequal priming sugar in some bottles. Ive left bottled beer in the fridge for a month with zero issues of carbonation loss. As long as the bottles are primed fully you shouldn't have any problems.
Hey Jag75, thanks for the comment. I’m batch priming. All of my other beers that I’ve done the past year are lighter beers and have no issues with carbonation after being in the fridge for a couple of weeks. I wondering if the darker beers has anything to do with lack of carbonation,
Its possible they weren't fully carbed or you didn't mix the batch prime fully so some were less carbonated . How long did you leave them in approx 70f to carb up. Ive heard stouts take a little longer.
stout : at 70+F since May. It’s fine if I place in fridge to chill for a couple hours, then drink. But if I leave it in the fridge for a few days or longer, it definitely loses carbonation (flat).
Weizenbier: at 70+F since Aug. carbonation only attained in mid-December. Place in fridge for a couple of hours, carbonation is fine. Leave in fridge a few days, carbonation lessens to a point of flatness.
Very odd! I guess I’ll have to drink faster!
Your un-chilled or briefly chilled beers will have less CO2 in solution- and what CO2 is in solution will leave solution more rapidly. This can make your beer seem more carbed than it is. When they've had prolonged cold the CO2 becomes fully absorbed, and the cold temp keeps it absorbed longer.
Your beers are probably undercarbonated is what I'm getting at.
Your beers are probably undercarbonated is what I'm getting at.
What you are noticing is the solubility of CO2 in beer with varying temperature. It's a well know phenomenon. As you cool the beer it can absorb more CO2 but this takes some time. Chill for an hour, very little more gets dissolved. Chill for days, lots gets dissolved.
Thanks for the insight!
Thanks for the insight!
And where should that "lots" of CO2 come from? Unless he only half filled his bottles there is very little headspace in a bottle and therefore very little CO2 that can move from headspace to beer. The maximum increase in carbonation probably will not exceed 0.05 vols and that will hardly make any perceptible difference.
dwhite60
Well-Known Member
Are these your two latest beers? Did you use caps you recently purchased on both batches?
I'd put a couple in the fridge a few days then try turning the cap before I opened them. Might just be marginally sealing at room temp but leak when they get cold.
Just an idea.
I'd put a couple in the fridge a few days then try turning the cap before I opened them. Might just be marginally sealing at room temp but leak when they get cold.
Just an idea.
Since those use a metal frame to push the top against the bottle neck I would also expect those to seal better at lower temperatures which is the opposite of what you are observing.
I too think that your beer is simply undercarbed but as long as lots of CO2 still comes out of solution you are not perceiving it as such. Once the beer has been chilled for some time it becomes more stable and you then perceive it as lacking carbonation but the carbonation itself hasn't really changed (at least not by an amount that could be detected without using expensive instrumentation).
I thought my very cold beer was not carbed up after 2 weeks at #12. I took one salt grain from course grind salt mill and dropped it in glass. Oh boy did it foam up. I need to buy one of those glasses with the nucleation point since I clean my glasses well and move my fridge out of garage.
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