Agtronic
Well-Known Member
Okay guys, this post has been a long time coming. This involves bottle conditioning and a persistent problem with (the lack of) carbonation. Those who hate reading, feel free to skip to the bullet points.
I rarely need to post anything on here because I typically find the answers I'm looking for by searching and researching. However, this one problem has plagued me for about a year now and has completely taken the fun out of homebrewing.
So a brief recap, I've been homebrewing on and off since about 2002. I've been brewing more frequently and more seriously the last 2-3 years. The quality of my beer has improved significantly over the years. I'm now experimenting with water chemistry and seeing great results, taste wise. I document everything for every batch, including priming sugar amounts.
Now, the last 10 batches of beer I have made have all suffered from the same problem. They just won't carbonate, at all. I will crack one open after 4 weeks and I barely get a sound, and there is not a bubble to be seen. They are DEAD flat.
At first, I figured I was probably being too sloppy with calculating the priming sugar. Up until maybe last year, carbing had never been a problem, so I didn't obsess about my sugar amounts. As this problem developed, I started to pay closer attention. And this last batch has confirmed that the amount of sugar is NOT the problem.
I'll break down my process in bullet point form. I hope I don't forget anything:
PROCESS:
Now, here is the troubleshooting I have done:
Troubleshooting:
This is really frustrating. After this last experiment with the added sugar I am truly baffled. I have been thinking about it for weeks now, and now I have a new theory, but thought I'd ask on here.
Question: Is it possible that being too anal about not aerating the finished beer could be causing a problem? It almost seems as if this problem started when I made a few changes to my bottling bucket.
A little while ago, it really bugged me that there was an inch of beer at the bottom of my bucket that wouldn't go up into the spigot. So I made a little pickup tube using an old racking cane and a heat gun. Then, I noticed that there was a lot of air in the spigot that would bubble while beer flowed. So I inverted it, removed the valve, and used the smaller end and a mini cork to purge the air before bottling. The result is an ultra smooth fill, with almost no swirling or movement at all in the bottle, and virtually zero micro bubbles. I wonder if this has anything to do with it. I'm tempted to try another batch and not worry about the air in the spigot and just be more rough with my process to see if that will help. I'm sooooooooooo sick of drinking flat beer. I should have saved my money from all these batches to buy some kegging equipment.
Sorry for the long post, I hope someone may have some ideas, and if not, well I'll keep experimenting and I'll be sure to update the thread with my findings for future readers.
Thanks for reading!
This is all that's left when I'm done bottling:
edit: Had a few too many flat beers and noticed I screwed up this post. Fixed it.
I rarely need to post anything on here because I typically find the answers I'm looking for by searching and researching. However, this one problem has plagued me for about a year now and has completely taken the fun out of homebrewing.
So a brief recap, I've been homebrewing on and off since about 2002. I've been brewing more frequently and more seriously the last 2-3 years. The quality of my beer has improved significantly over the years. I'm now experimenting with water chemistry and seeing great results, taste wise. I document everything for every batch, including priming sugar amounts.
Now, the last 10 batches of beer I have made have all suffered from the same problem. They just won't carbonate, at all. I will crack one open after 4 weeks and I barely get a sound, and there is not a bubble to be seen. They are DEAD flat.
At first, I figured I was probably being too sloppy with calculating the priming sugar. Up until maybe last year, carbing had never been a problem, so I didn't obsess about my sugar amounts. As this problem developed, I started to pay closer attention. And this last batch has confirmed that the amount of sugar is NOT the problem.
I'll break down my process in bullet point form. I hope I don't forget anything:
PROCESS:
- Treat water to remove chloramines.
- Mash, sparge.
- Boil, chill.
- Oxygenate with stone and O2.
- Ferment using a starter (usually) for usually 2-3 weeks.
- Calculate priming sugar (dextrose), boil in Erlenmeyer flask, cool.
- Pour simple syrup into bottling bucket.
- Rack beer into bottling bucket, fitted with a spigot, pickup tube, and bottle filling attachment.
- Pour beer into sanitized bottles using attachment.
- Cap bottles within ~2-3 minutes of filling.
- Place bottles in storage room, which is a consistent 74-78°F. (Hot water tank is there.)
- Wait 3-4 weeks, check carbonation, beer flat.
Now, here is the troubleshooting I have done:
Troubleshooting:
- Thought my sugar was maybe sinking to the bottom or similar -> Stirred next batch for several minutes, trying to avoid splashing. NO GO.
- Thought maybe my yeast was settling too quickly -> Tried inverting bottles after a week or so to re-suspend yeast. NO GO.
- Thought my capper was causing sealing issues -> Tried different capper. NO GO.
- Thought my high gravity beers (never more than 10% ABV) were causing issues with the yeast -> Added dry yeast to the bottling bucket. NO GO.
- In frustration, added way more sugar (5.5oz dextrose to 4.5gal on a 8.5% abv beer) to see if it would help, and checked bottles almost daily after ~1 week to make sure I wasn't creating bottle bombs. Still nothing, these show a LITTLE bit of carbonation, like maybe 1.5 volumes or so, but not enough to form a head.
This is really frustrating. After this last experiment with the added sugar I am truly baffled. I have been thinking about it for weeks now, and now I have a new theory, but thought I'd ask on here.
Question: Is it possible that being too anal about not aerating the finished beer could be causing a problem? It almost seems as if this problem started when I made a few changes to my bottling bucket.
A little while ago, it really bugged me that there was an inch of beer at the bottom of my bucket that wouldn't go up into the spigot. So I made a little pickup tube using an old racking cane and a heat gun. Then, I noticed that there was a lot of air in the spigot that would bubble while beer flowed. So I inverted it, removed the valve, and used the smaller end and a mini cork to purge the air before bottling. The result is an ultra smooth fill, with almost no swirling or movement at all in the bottle, and virtually zero micro bubbles. I wonder if this has anything to do with it. I'm tempted to try another batch and not worry about the air in the spigot and just be more rough with my process to see if that will help. I'm sooooooooooo sick of drinking flat beer. I should have saved my money from all these batches to buy some kegging equipment.
Sorry for the long post, I hope someone may have some ideas, and if not, well I'll keep experimenting and I'll be sure to update the thread with my findings for future readers.
Thanks for reading!
This is all that's left when I'm done bottling:
edit: Had a few too many flat beers and noticed I screwed up this post. Fixed it.
When you said it was one of your last bottles and the first of the batch, did you mean it was the first bottle from one of the batches you have bottled most recently? I remember you said you put more priming sugar into one batch to see if that was the problem. Was it this one? If that's the case, I would say invest in a scale and adjust your priming sugar amounts for the temperature of the beer. 
