Little carbonation problem

[petersusaf]

Hey everyone,

Over a month ago I brewed a coffee stout. Right now I do not have a bottling bucket so I individually primed each bottle. I put 3/4 teaspoon of sugar in each bottle, capped them tightly, shook them up real well and stored them in a dark place for 2 weeks. The temperature was a consistent 72 degrees for the 2 weeks.

I opened up my first bottle yesterday after the 2 weeks and there was little to no carbonation.

Is there anything I can do to up the carbonation?

I read on the forum that I could shake them once a day for a week and then let them settle again and that might help.

Should I uncap them and add more sugar? Or simply wait another few weeks? Or do the shaking daily process?

Few notes about the beer

2 gallon batch size

OG- 1.065
FG- 1.016

3/4 teaspoon cane sugar per bottle.


Thanks for any help you can provide.

 

[aspiffymofo]

Not too much you can do at this point, give it another couple of weeks. Stouts/Porters are at their best after 2 months conditioning IMHO. It's possible you didn't add enough (or any at all) sugar to the one you opened, so try another in a week or two. In the mean time, you can always brew another beer. And get a bottling bucket, you can use that big stock pot if you don't have another bucket available.

Oh, and try to refrigerate for 48 hours if you can before serving for the best results. Cheers!

 

[monkeybox]

Should I uncap them and add more sugar?

Almost definitely not. You'll likely do more harm than good.

Or simply wait another few weeks?

This is what you should do.

After two weeks, your yeast may simply not have woken up enough, or the co2 hasn't dissolved yet. Give them more time to properly carb the beer, and then make sure they're refrigerated long enough to allow all the co2 to dissolve. Assuming you added enough sugar at bottling, they'll turn out fine. Sometimes they just take a bit longer to get there.

Or do the shaking daily process?

If after 4-6 weeks, you've still found that there's not enough carbonation, the best thing you can do is enjoy them at that level. You might be able to get a little more by shaking or inverting, but probably you're going to do more harm than good if you try to 'fix' every bottle.

3/4 teaspoon cane sugar per bottle.

This is your mistake. Enjoy this beer as it is. Next time, mix your bottling sugar (preferably by weight) into the entire batch and then bottle. Use a calculator to determine how much to add.

Make sure you give the bottles plenty of time to carbonate.

 

[ericbw]

When you opened it, was there a puff of gas (you know, pffft)? Maybe it just needs to dissolve more.

I had a bottle leak the gas out (PET with screw cap), so I added more sugar, and it foamed all over. Don't add granulated sugar to slightly carbed beer.

 

[petersusaf]

Thanks for all the help. And yes when I opened it there was a small puff of gas. It was a quiet one however.

 

[WileECoyote]

Hey everyone,

Over a month ago I brewed a coffee stout. Right now I do not have a bottling bucket so I individually primed each bottle. I put 3/4 teaspoon of sugar in each bottle, capped them tightly, shook them up real well and stored them in a dark place for 2 weeks. The temperature was a consistent 72 degrees for the 2 weeks.

I opened up my first bottle yesterday after the 2 weeks and there was little to no carbonation.

Is there anything I can do to up the carbonation?

I read on the forum that I could shake them once a day for a week and then let them settle again and that might help.

Should I uncap them and add more sugar? Or simply wait another few weeks? Or do the shaking daily process?

Few notes about the beer

2 gallon batch size

OG- 1.065
FG- 1.016

3/4 teaspoon cane sugar per bottle.


Thanks for any help you can provide.

Hello, Its a Stout ! Stouts take longer to carb up ! Also let it age, carb up and condition !

3 weeks is a minimum to carb up a beer properly The first stout I made took 3 months to carb up !

Give that beer the time it needs to become good, try 2 (minimum) to 4 months at 70 deg aging before trying one.

Also when you do try one again, leave it in the fridge for 3 days before opening it, the co2 needs that time to fully get into solution.

Putting the sugar directly in the bottle is Not the Problem, Period !, I do that all the time ! it works great ! I use 1/2 semi heaping teaspoon, so very close to 3/4 teaspoon.

The yeast don't know how the sugar got there, they just eat it !

Just give it time !

Hope this helps !

Cheers

Please let me know how this works for you, I'll bet you will be pleasantly surprised if you do this !
.
.

 

[petersusaf]

WileECoyote thanks for the help! I will do what you suggest and get back to you in around 3 months. Thanks again!

 

[ericbw]

And stout can/should be less carbed. It's low carb beer.

 

[WileECoyote]

WileECoyote thanks for the help! I will do what you suggest and get back to you in around 3 months. Thanks again!

You are quite welcome, I got lots of help from people here when I started, still do !

Ask away, thats what this forum is for.

I can't wait to hear how it comes out !

Cheers

 

[zachattack]

Stouts take longer to carb up !

[citation needed]

Unless it's an imperial stout there's no reason a stout would take any longer to carb up than any other beer. Maybe it would need a little time to condition, but that's a separate issue.

 

[day_trippr]

Well, I'm certain that final gravity does somehow play a role in how fast things seem to happen to beer - especially things like how long it takes to carbonate. I have dozens of examples of how much longer a big stout takes to fully carb versus more pedestrian FG brews using the exact same procedures (and always so-called "set and forget" carbing methods) and for sure it's no mirage...

Cheers!

 

[zachattack]

Oh I have no doubt that bigger stouts, like any bigger beers, can take longer to carb up. A blanket statement like "stouts take longer to carb up" is what I have a problem with, and I don't see OP's beer as particularly huge. I've always felt that the limiting factor with bottle conditioning is the yeast, not the CO2 absorption. So conditioning time was more a factor of OG/ABV than FG.

I don't miss my bottling days at all. Even when you'd do everything right with priming sugar, ambient temperature, fresh yeast, etc. sometimes a beer has a mind of its own and seems to take forever to carb up. Now it's just set it and forget it

 

[WileECoyote]

[citation needed]

Unless it's an imperial stout there's no reason a stout would take any longer to carb up than any other beer. Maybe it would need a little time to condition, but that's a separate issue.

Zachattack, you can think whatever you want, but most stouts I have made ( huge or not ) have taken longer to carb up (set it and forget it method) than my yellow beers and even a bit longer that my ambers.

So you saying citation needed is uncalled for, its insulting to say the least, I could reply with, were you born a a$$ or did you work at it your entire life, but I won't !

And just incase you want to question how often I get the chance to compare, I brew every 2 weeks for almost 2 years now, so in my experience, with the way I brew, using my equipment, stouts take longer to carb up.

Cheers

 

[WileECoyote]

Oh I have no doubt that bigger stouts, like any bigger beers, can take longer to carb up. A blanket statement like "stouts take longer to carb up" is what I have a problem with, and I don't see OP's beer as particularly huge. I've always felt that the limiting factor with bottle conditioning is the yeast, not the CO2 absorption. So conditioning time was more a factor of OG/ABV than FG.

I don't miss my bottling days at all. Even when you'd do everything right with priming sugar, ambient temperature, fresh yeast, etc. sometimes a beer has a mind of its own and seems to take forever to carb up. Now it's just set it and forget it

You can have a problem with whatever you want, thats no reason to go around insulting people on this forum who are trying to help a new brewer out.

Cheers

 

[zachattack]

Woah... I didn't mean it as an insult, and I didn't mean to come off as rude. You contributed your experience, and I'm contributing mine. While I believe you that you have experienced longer than average bottle carbing times for your stouts, I don't think that is enough evidence to declare as a rule that stouts take longer to carbonate. The stouts and other dark beers I've had carbonate in a normal time frame means that clearly there are some other variables at play here.

There's no reason that I can think of as to why a normal gravity/ABV stout would take longer to carbonate in a bottle compared to any other ale. The ABV on this one isn't out of control, and neither is the FG. Like any other beer, it's mainly going to be dependent on the condition/quantity/strain of yeast, the conditioning temperature, and the type/quantity of priming sugar used. I'd welcome anything I'm overlooking here. Maybe the pH plays some role, and darker beers would be a little more acidic? I don't know.

Like day_trippr said, higher FG beers can take longer to force carbonate, and I acknowledge that.

Clearly we've had different experiences here. Why don't we just discuss it instead of picking on each other? Really, I meant no offense. I'm sorry if I came off that way.

 

[petersusaf]

Hey everyone! Been letting the stout sit for the past month or so. Finally put one in the fridge 3 days ago and opened it today. It was amazing! The carbonation was perfect and the flavor was even better! Thank you all for your help. I guess the main thing to learn from all this is patience.

Here's a picture of it

Thanks again.

 

[WileECoyote]

Hey everyone! Been letting the stout sit for the past month or so. Finally put one in the fridge 3 days ago and opened it today. It was amazing! The carbonation was perfect and the flavor was even better! Thank you all for your help. I guess the main thing to learn from all this is patience.

Here's a picture of it

Thanks again.

Congrats !

Cheers