Must have screwed up the primimg sugar
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Do not be dismayed. It is simply too soon my friend.
Give those bottles another 2 weeks at room temp, put a few in the fridge for 3 days. Bet you'll see a noticeable improvement.
+1 on waiting.
I've had beers that I tried one day and were barely carbonated and a couple of days later were almost fully carbonated. Could be attributed to mixing the priming sugar poorly or could be that a watched bottle never carbonates. Have patience and give it more time.
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You think we tell you three weeks at 70 to pull your leg? Have you ever carbed beer before, then how do you KNOW that 1 more week wont be "but I don't see it making much difference? 
Why don't you look at the 12 million threads about waiting and SEE time DOES MATTER.
The three weeks is usually the MINIMUM for more beers, some take longer. You don't didn't "mess up your priming sugar" the ONLY thing you did is think you know more than the folks on here who tell you to wait.
99.999% of the time the brewer doesn't have a carbonation problem on here, they have a PATIENCE one. Just like you
The 3 weeks at 70 degrees, that we recommend is the minimum time it takes for average gravity beers to carbonate and condition. Higher grav beers take longer.
Stouts and porters have taken me between 6 and 8 weeks to carb up..I have a 1.090 Belgian strong that took three months to carb up.
Temp and gravity are the two factors that contribute to the time it takes to carb beer. But if a beer's not ready yet, or seems low carbed, and you added the right amount of sugar to it, then it's not stalled, it's just not time yet.
Everything you need to know about carbing and conditioning, can be found here Of Patience and Bottle Conditioning. With emphasis on the word, "patience."
If a beer isn't carbed by "x number of weeks" you just have to give them more time. If you added your sugar, then the beer will carb up eventually, it's really a foolroof process. All beers will carb up eventually. A lot of new brewers think they have to "troubleshoot" a bottling issue, when there really is none, the beer knows how to carb itself. In fact if you run beersmiths carbing calculator, some lower grav beers don't even require additional sugar to reach their minimum level of carbonation. Just time.
You may not believe it....but why don't you walk away for another week or two and prove us wrong?
Why don't you look at the 12 million threads about waiting and SEE time DOES MATTER.
The three weeks is usually the MINIMUM for more beers, some take longer. You don't didn't "mess up your priming sugar" the ONLY thing you did is think you know more than the folks on here who tell you to wait.
99.999% of the time the brewer doesn't have a carbonation problem on here, they have a PATIENCE one. Just like you
The 3 weeks at 70 degrees, that we recommend is the minimum time it takes for average gravity beers to carbonate and condition. Higher grav beers take longer.
Stouts and porters have taken me between 6 and 8 weeks to carb up..I have a 1.090 Belgian strong that took three months to carb up.
Temp and gravity are the two factors that contribute to the time it takes to carb beer. But if a beer's not ready yet, or seems low carbed, and you added the right amount of sugar to it, then it's not stalled, it's just not time yet.
Everything you need to know about carbing and conditioning, can be found here Of Patience and Bottle Conditioning. With emphasis on the word, "patience."
If a beer isn't carbed by "x number of weeks" you just have to give them more time. If you added your sugar, then the beer will carb up eventually, it's really a foolroof process. All beers will carb up eventually. A lot of new brewers think they have to "troubleshoot" a bottling issue, when there really is none, the beer knows how to carb itself. In fact if you run beersmiths carbing calculator, some lower grav beers don't even require additional sugar to reach their minimum level of carbonation. Just time.
You may not believe it....but why don't you walk away for another week or two and prove us wrong?
homebrewdad
Well-Known Member
This isn't rocket science. It's priming sugar.
Yeast eat the sugar and expel alcohol and CO2. Barring a very few possible errrors, namely:
You killed off your yeast (extremely unlikely).
You didn't cap your bottles properly (possible).
You didn't add priming sugar properly (you dumped solid sugar into the bucket instead of boiling it, and thus, didn't mix it well)
Your beer WILL carb. Give it time. Baseline for most normal gravity beers is 3 weeks at 70 degrees. Some take less time. Some take more. But it WILL happen.
Yeast eat the sugar and expel alcohol and CO2. Barring a very few possible errrors, namely:
You killed off your yeast (extremely unlikely).
You didn't cap your bottles properly (possible).
You didn't add priming sugar properly (you dumped solid sugar into the bucket instead of boiling it, and thus, didn't mix it well)
Your beer WILL carb. Give it time. Baseline for most normal gravity beers is 3 weeks at 70 degrees. Some take less time. Some take more. But it WILL happen.
Revvy FTW!!
That simple, at least 3 weeks, longer for higher gravity.
This chart here explains it very very well;
That simple, at least 3 weeks, longer for higher gravity.
This chart here explains it very very well;
12 million threads, huh?
Otherwise, I'm with you, Revvy.
To the OP. If you want your beer quicker, you can look into kegging and force-carbonate your beer. Alas, it may not be ready, conditioning wise, tasting a little rough and off here and there, but you can still enjoy it for what it is. Patience is not just a virtue, it's an acquired taste.
On the other hand, I've made 1.060 OG "kit" beers, bottled after 10 days, and they were lightly carbonated after a week. 2 weeks was better and after 3 weeks they were fully pressured up. Most likely the early bottling left more active yeast in suspension to start carbonating right away. So I was happy at that time. Taste-wise, I had no clue how much better it could get until I started to condition longer, and longer.
Although I have trouble communicating with the yeast directly, my reasoning is that the longer you condition, the more yeast drops out and goes dormant, and the longer it takes to carbonate.
Otherwise, I'm with you, Revvy.
To the OP. If you want your beer quicker, you can look into kegging and force-carbonate your beer. Alas, it may not be ready, conditioning wise, tasting a little rough and off here and there, but you can still enjoy it for what it is. Patience is not just a virtue, it's an acquired taste.
On the other hand, I've made 1.060 OG "kit" beers, bottled after 10 days, and they were lightly carbonated after a week. 2 weeks was better and after 3 weeks they were fully pressured up. Most likely the early bottling left more active yeast in suspension to start carbonating right away. So I was happy at that time. Taste-wise, I had no clue how much better it could get until I started to condition longer, and longer.
Although I have trouble communicating with the yeast directly, my reasoning is that the longer you condition, the more yeast drops out and goes dormant, and the longer it takes to carbonate.
12 million threads, huh?
Probably a bit overstated, more like 12,000, but the point's the same. This and airlock bubble questions are a daily occurrence in these parts.
OG was 1.049 and FG was 1.005
Primary for 2 weeks, had to go out of town so secondary for 2. SG was stable before racking to secondary. Boiled 2 cups of water and 3/4 cup corn sugar. Cooled and put in bottom of bottling bucket. Racked into bucket allowing the liquid to swirl while filling.
Seems standard to me based off of what I've read. I rechecked the sugar I needed and it appears correct, though it was volume measured, not weight.
There was some co2 in the bottle as I heard a slight hiss as I popped the top, and saw a tiny bit of bubbles rising up in the glass. So now my question is about the yeast. Do yeast reproduce while they're active? Meaning, if I didn't rack that much yeast into secondary, will what was there reproduce during bottle carbing with the addition of something for them to eat? Either way there is yeast in the bottles so they'll eventually carb.
The reason I said 1 more week won't make much difference is because they've sat for 2 weeks now. I am assuming 1 more week would only give 50% more carb. 50% more of not much is still not much.
Primary for 2 weeks, had to go out of town so secondary for 2. SG was stable before racking to secondary. Boiled 2 cups of water and 3/4 cup corn sugar. Cooled and put in bottom of bottling bucket. Racked into bucket allowing the liquid to swirl while filling.
Seems standard to me based off of what I've read. I rechecked the sugar I needed and it appears correct, though it was volume measured, not weight.
There was some co2 in the bottle as I heard a slight hiss as I popped the top, and saw a tiny bit of bubbles rising up in the glass. So now my question is about the yeast. Do yeast reproduce while they're active? Meaning, if I didn't rack that much yeast into secondary, will what was there reproduce during bottle carbing with the addition of something for them to eat? Either way there is yeast in the bottles so they'll eventually carb.
The reason I said 1 more week won't make much difference is because they've sat for 2 weeks now. I am assuming 1 more week would only give 50% more carb. 50% more of not much is still not much.
OG was 1.049 and FG was 1.005
Primary for 2 weeks, had to go out of town so secondary for 2. SG was stable before racking to secondary. Boiled 2 cups of water and 3/4 cup corn sugar. Cooled and put in bottom of bottling bucket. Racked into bucket allowing the liquid to swirl while filling.
Seems standard to me based off of what I've read. I rechecked the sugar I needed and it appears correct, though it was volume measured, not weight.
There was some co2 in the bottle as I heard a slight hiss as I popped the top, and saw a tiny bit of bubbles rising up in the glass. So now my question is about the yeast. Do yeast reproduce while they're active? Meaning, if I didn't rack that much yeast into secondary, will what was there reproduce during bottle carbing with the addition of something for them to eat? Either way there is yeast in the bottles so they'll eventually carb.
The reason I said 1 more week won't make much difference is because they've sat for 2 weeks now. I am assuming 1 more week would only give 50% more carb. 50% more of not much is still not much.
Nothing in here matters, or affects carbonation, like we've said, the ONLY reason your beer isn't carbed, is, it isn't time yet. It's that simple. You don't need to over think this, you just did like all the other new brewers who start threads like this, opened the beer before it's time to.
The reason I said 1 more week won't make much difference is because they've sat for 2 weeks now. I am assuming 1 more week would only give 50% more carb. 50% more of not much is still not much.
You know what they say about assuming, right?
One week, or even one day, can make a huge difference. Give 'em more time, and also, make sure you're chilling the bottles at least overnight, that really helps too.
...The reason I said 1 more week won't make much difference is because they've sat for 2 weeks now. I am assuming 1 more week would only give 50% more carb. 50% more of not much is still not much.
Growth is typically non-linear. Ever heard of the exponential function?
One thing I recommend every time I read these. Get at least one pet plastic bottle for bottling, or use a 12 or 16 oz soda plastic bottle that has been cleaned and sanitized. Fill that up while you are bottling along with all of your other bottles. After a week, you can squeeze it every few days, and see if it's hard yet. If it is still soft, then you know it's not ready, when it gets to the point where you can't squeeze it hardly, then you know there is carbonation.
But like others have said. I've had beers that are fully carbonated after a week or so. But then I made an Irish Stout, and that took 3 - 4 weeks. After 1 - 2 weeks, it was still very flat. Then after 3 weeks, I tried one, and it had a nice head on it, and was great.
But like others have said. I've had beers that are fully carbonated after a week or so. But then I made an Irish Stout, and that took 3 - 4 weeks. After 1 - 2 weeks, it was still very flat. Then after 3 weeks, I tried one, and it had a nice head on it, and was great.
Not really. When the plastic bottle is hard to the squeeze, it means that there's sufficient pressure inside to make it feel that way. I've seen it happen in less than a week, but that beer was still a long way from being ready for prime time.
You must give it time for the CO2 to be re-absorbed back into solution and an equilibrium established. That will take a while. If you open one of those too soon, you may get a bunch of gas escaping and flat beer.
Yes, we've gotten quite a few people posting that "their plastic bottle is hard," yet their beer is not hard. It's another one of those silly false flags that folks seem to like, but the use is questionable.
It's simple, just wait a MINIMUM 3 weeks, take a couple bottles from separate cases and chill them, and try them.
But just understand that this stuff takes time, so don't waste beer by trying before 3 weeks.
Really, to be safe, just wait 4 weeks (unless it's high grav, then wait 6-8). Throw a couple in the fridge for a few days and check. There's nothing difficult about it, it just takes time, you're talking about a tiny amount of tired yeast working through sugar in a pressurized environment, they'll get the job done when they get it done.
That's what I do....Just wait longer than you want, and usually it turns out fine.
That's why we suggest getting a pipeline going. So you have beers at various levels or readiness, and have give beer the time it needs. Contrary to what many new brewers thing, we're not in charge, the yeast are.
homebrewdad
Well-Known Member
OP, I can't tell you how many times I've read people trying the mostly flat beer at week two, then finding it perfectly carbed at week three. I've read of people that have nicely carbed beer at seven to ten days, and those that take six weeks or longer.
It may not make sense to you, but you have to realize that this isn't a situation with a perfectly reproduceable formula - you are dealing with organic beings that are subject to many variables, and who basically do their jobs on their own schedule.
Relax, wait another week, then try again.
It may not make sense to you, but you have to realize that this isn't a situation with a perfectly reproduceable formula - you are dealing with organic beings that are subject to many variables, and who basically do their jobs on their own schedule.
Relax, wait another week, then try again.
And in my opinion, if you want to try one after a week or 2, go ahead and put it in the fridge. If it's flat, it's flat, I still drink it
But you don't start a thread thinking something's wrong, do you?
But me, I'd much rather drink 2 entire cases of perfectly carbed and conditioned beer, than some beer that's great and some that is so-so because I'm just impatient. I don't consider 2 cases a ton of beer myself.
*shrug*
homebrewdad
Well-Known Member
I drink 3-4 beers on a given week, so 2 cases *is* a ton for me... but I'd still rather wait until I'm SURE that the beer is carbed nicely. I've already put in so much time and effort to making good beer; what's another week or so?
michael_mus
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Wise words, fitting username!
You never know after 3 - 4 it may STILL NOT be ready, and you are drinking a flat beer
I'm just saying, "if you want to", go for it after after a week or two, just know it may be flat. I'm always excited to see how it tastes. Now the second time I make that type of beer, then I will wait longer. When I make a beer for the first time, is when I try it after a week or so.
I'm just saying, "if you want to", go for it after after a week or two, just know it may be flat. I'm always excited to see how it tastes. Now the second time I make that type of beer, then I will wait longer. When I make a beer for the first time, is when I try it after a week or so.
sidepart
Well-Known Member
I've had carbonation in my beer after 2 weeks typically so I can see how it's nerve wracking to have flat beer after 2 weeks. In fact I've only had 1 beer that hasn't produced an abundance of CO2 after 2 weeks, but that was because my basement hit 50 degrees (without my knowing)...so I had to move my bottles upstairs and swirl them a bit.
That said, I'm sure there are a ton of factors that play into that. Maybe WLP007 (the strain I use) acts faster? Maybe it's the water I use. Maybe I brew beer when the moon is in a certain phase. What am I getting at here? Sure 2 weeks may work for some but that doesn't mean you'll always see bubbles after 2 weeks or even 3 weeks. It also doesn't change the fact that my beer tastes 100% better after 4-6 weeks of conditioning.
Long story short. Just set your beer aside and wait. If you wanted your beer yesterday, you're just going to have to buy it. If you want it tomorrow, invest in a kegging system.
That said, I'm sure there are a ton of factors that play into that. Maybe WLP007 (the strain I use) acts faster? Maybe it's the water I use. Maybe I brew beer when the moon is in a certain phase. What am I getting at here? Sure 2 weeks may work for some but that doesn't mean you'll always see bubbles after 2 weeks or even 3 weeks. It also doesn't change the fact that my beer tastes 100% better after 4-6 weeks of conditioning.
Long story short. Just set your beer aside and wait. If you wanted your beer yesterday, you're just going to have to buy it. If you want it tomorrow, invest in a kegging system
.
Just to add; I'm listening to the Sunday Sessions podcast with Jester King. JK bottle conditions everything they package, under temp control (safe to assume low 70s) for a minimum of 4 weeks for small beers and 8+ weeks for larger beers. I also know from speaking with a brewer at Grand Teton, that they bottle condition in a "warm room" (she hinted at high 70's-low 80's) for "several" weeks depending on the brew. Not saying the pros know what they're doing..... wait, yes I am saying that. Just a thought for the day.
*Disclaimer: I do tend to taste a new recipe young, before it's ready, out of excitement. Always feel like I've wasted a beer, but I also like to see how a new recipe or new tweak is coming along.
*Disclaimer: I do tend to taste a new recipe young, before it's ready, out of excitement. Always feel like I've wasted a beer, but I also like to see how a new recipe or new tweak is coming along.
Update, I can't help myself so I sampled another beer after 4 more days. While its no where near done I can definitely tell a difference. It tastes better and there is slightly more carb in the bottles. I've learned my lesson...patience, patience, patience
I'll be buying more craft beer over the next month or so while I wait for this to finish. Plus I have a second batch that will probably be ready to bottle in 1 more week. I'll eventually have a pipeline.
I'll be buying more craft beer over the next month or so while I wait for this to finish. Plus I have a second batch that will probably be ready to bottle in 1 more week. I'll eventually have a pipeline.
