My beer didn't carbonate!

[idlehero]

So I bottled my stout almost a month ago. I crack one open today hoping to get a taste, and I hear a very faint *psst*. I pour it into a glass, and it looks like COFFEE. No head or carbonation at all.

When I was racking both times, I was very careful not to disturb the sediment layer on the bottom. Is it possible that all the yeast settled out after both transfers, and there was so little left in the beer when I bottled that it just didn't carbonate? I used WLP005, which has high flocculation, so I am thinking this might be the case. Do you normally transfer a small amount of sediment when racking?

Also, is there anything I can do with this beer? I thought about making another stout/porter and mixing my uncarbonated beer in with the new beer at bottling time. Ideas?

 

[idlehero]

gah, I posted in the wrong forum. Can a mod kindly move this thread for me? Thanks

 

[Beer Snob]

gah, I posted in the wrong forum. Can a mod kindly move this thread for me? Thanks

Well, till one does I have a responce

I had/have this same problem. I did a test on three bottles and it seems to work. I used these "carbonation drops". Opened the bottle and added one. Tested a bottle last Tuesday and it was nicely carbonated. Going to test another one tomorrow and if all is well do the rest of the bottles.

 

[disaffected]

I brewed my first stout almost two weeks ago, so I don't know that much about how they should carbonate. But a lot of the commerical stouts that I buy don't seem all that carbonated. They usually have a creamy head, but not a lot of carbonation. Maybe it's normal for the style?

I don't know. I've never really seen a fizzy stout.

 

[idlehero]

Unfortunately it doesn't have any head at all. Doesn't it need to be a little bit carbonated for head to appear when pouring? It looks a lot like flat soda.

 

[Beer Snob]

I brewed my first stout almost two weeks ago, so I don't know that much about how they should carbonate. But a lot of the commerical stouts that I buy don't seem all that carbonated. They usually have a creamy head, but not a lot of carbonation. Maybe it's normal for the style?

I don't know. I've never really seen a fizzy stout.

Yes the general rule of thumb is 1/2 cup of corn sugar for stouts as apposed to 3/4 cup. But remember, to each his/her own

 

[m3rkury]

I brewed an IPA this summer that took an extra month to carbonate. When I tasted it early on it was very sweet and flat, so I just kept all the bottles in a warm spot for 2weeks and moved them to cellaring temps for another 2. Now they are perfectly carbonated.

From the sound of it, the pssst when you opened the bottle lets you know carbonation is happening, just a bit slower than normal. Give 'em some time in a warm spot and let us know how it turns out.

 

[simzy]

Just a question. What temperature are your bottles sitting at??

 

[Brewsmith]

My question, not to sound like a jerk or anything, but did you add the priming sugar at all? It wouldn't be the first time someone around here did that.

If you did, move it to somewhere warmer.

 

[idlehero]

Just a question. What temperature are your bottles sitting at??

Room temperature. 60-70 degrees, depending on if I'm home with the heater on or not.

My question, not to sound like a jerk or anything, but did you add the priming sugar at all? It wouldn't be the first time someone around here did that.

If you did, move it to somewhere warmer.

I remember having a good amount of alcohol to drink while bottling, so it's possible I messed up the sugar measurement or something. I'm almost certain I added it though.

Anyone have any idea why this happened? Brewer error, or is it possible that I just didn't transfer enough yeast over while racking?

 

[Beer Snob]

Good question. I have been brewing on and off for a long time and I had never had this happened ouside of this last one that I brewed. From what I read in the books I have it kinda sounds like this just happens some times. Outside of not adding sugars I did not read any explicit explaination.

I had put this in another thread, but I did test a second bottle of the test I did with the carbonation drops. It works REAL GOOD. I would not normally do this as it was a PITA, but for emergencies it looks like a good solution.

 

[troybinso]

Really unlikely that ALL of the yeast settled out. There should be plenty of yeast in suspension, unless it was in the fermenter for months and months. I have had this uncarbonated problem and gave all of the bottles a shake to resuspend any yeast that settled in the bottles. It seemed to work the last time I did it. I need to try it again with my latest batch which has been in bottles for about a month and is completely flat.

 

[clevelandsteamer]

i had the same problem with the last batch of beer i made, a california common which i kept at 68 degrees throughout the whole process and properly primed. i usually boil my bottles to sanitize them but i was in a rush and used a sanitizing solution instead. my theory is that maybe there was still enough sanitizer residue in the bottles to kill off the yeast i needed to bottle condition. for my current brew i have gone back to the boil method and made sure to leave a little extra sediment in the carboy when racking. i like the boil because it gives you some time to sit around and enjoy your last brew and it feels more old school. the only down side is boiling fifty bottles can take up to two hours. make sure you wrap them in saran wrap or use a sturdy bottle tree to prevent contamination and fully cool before bottling

 

[1ratdog]

im having the same prob. 6 weeks in bottles little carb. guna wait it out. rdwhahb.

 

[brewguy82]

yeah i hate when that happens. I had some of my last batch were flat others were not..made a german hefeweizen.

 

[Shinglejohn]

If you want to know if you added priming sugar, just take a gravity reading, if its the same as your terminal gravity and there is no carbonation. oops.

If it is a couple of points higher, try turning each bottle upside down and rousing the yeast and then keep them ayt a higher temp for a week, if that doesnt work maybe just add a little dry yeast to each bottle and recap.

 

[Judge]

Same thing happened to me last time I did a stout. The advice given in the above posts is your solution. Gently shake each bottle to rouse the yeast then move to a warmer location. Wait two more weeks and resample. After doing this my beer was carbonated enough to enjoy. After a third week it was perfect. Patience is a *****.

 

[Wrightbrew52]

This must be more than shear coincidence, as I bottled my porter two weeks ago, and am experiencing identical symptoms: a slight "psst" when opened, great taste, but flat. Storing at 65-68 F presently. Thought maybe the caps are leaking, so I have turned the bottles on their sides. For fermentation, I did one week, then racked over for two weeks for aging prior to bottling. I do have sediment in the bottles. Here's to hoping that carbonation starts in the coming weeks. Worth noting that commercial stouts are low carbonates and often come with N2 widgets.