newb bottling mistake!!!

[lpdb185]

i bottled my DIPA about 4 weeks ago. i've been sampling a bottle each week to check carbonation and at week 4 there is absolutely zero!! i decided to check the gravity last night and it's at 1.018, which is exactly what it was right before i bottled it!! i specifically remember heating/mixing the priming sugar to add to the bottling bucket, but not 100% sure i actually added it.

so, my question is how much would adding the pre-measured priming package raise the gravity? i am guessing that since the gravity is basically unchanged from before bottling, i must not have added the priming solution. am i right about this? do i just need to order some muntons tabs and some more bottle caps?

 

[wildwest450]

What temps have the bottles been kept at?

 

[lpdb185]

i keep it all stashed in the back of my spare closet, which is pretty steady 68F.

 

[BioBeing]

There was a thread a few months ago where someone figured 5 oz of priming sugar in 5 gallons would increase the gravity about 0.2%, IIRC. It's not very much: unless you had a super hydrometer, you probably wouldn't be able to tell that way.

Maybe take a couple, uncap them and drop a carb tab in one, and a grain or two of dry yeast in the other. Re cap. If the first one carbs up in a few more weeks, you'll know you forgot the sugar. If only the one with the extra yeast carbs, you killed the yeast somehow. If they explode, you'll know the others have probably carbed too.

 

[Gremlyn]

Actually, adding priming sugar to a 5 gal batch will increase 0.001-0.002, depending on the amount of sugar used so you should be able to detect ti with a hydrometer.

To the PO, you can try a carb tab in each bottle.

 

[lpdb185]

well, i ended up cold crashing at 34F for a week with gelatin. so i was thinking that maybe it would just take this batch a while to carb up since it also ended up at 11%. i didn't want to get too worked up too quick, but i would think that there should be some signs of at least minimal carbonation after 4 weeks. while the tastes have mellowed out and improved, it is still as flat as it was in the bottling bucket.

i've heard that it can take upwards of 2 months for a strong beer to properly carb, so should i wait or is it a safe bet that i didn't add the priming solution since there's absolutely zero carbonation at week 4?

 

[Gremlyn]

Using gelatin then bottling takes nearly all the yeast out, so there is nothing to eat the sugars to carb the beer.

 

[lpdb185]

Using gelatin then bottling takes nearly all the yeast out, so there is nothing to eat the sugars to carb the beer.

well hell, everything i read prior said that there would still be enough yeast left over (although not much) to properly carb the beer.

f@*k it! i just ordered some muntons tabs. i'll drop some in 1 or 2 bottles and see what happens. i guess if they carb up, then i forgot the priming solution. of not, then i guess i need some more yeast. if they explode, then i guess it was all for nothing.

 

[BioBeing]

Actually, adding priming sugar to a 5 gal batch will increase 0.001-0.002, depending on the amount of sugar used so you should be able to detect ti with a hydrometer.

To the PO, you can try a carb tab in each bottle.

Yes, sorry, I was thinking 0.2 % ABV.

Using gelatin then bottling takes nearly all the yeast out, so there is nothing to eat the sugars to carb the beer.

I don't think this is correct though. I have used gelatin and had beer carb up fine, and other people do too. The only way to remove all the yeast is to filter it.

 

[passedpawn]

I gelatin all the time and I have carbed bottles in days.

 

[passedpawn]

well, i ended up cold crashing at 34F for a week with gelatin. so i was thinking that maybe it would just take this batch a while to carb up since it also ended up at 11%. i didn't want to get too worked up too quick, but i would think that there should be some signs of at least minimal carbonation after 4 weeks. while the tastes have mellowed out and improved, it is still as flat as it was in the bottling bucket.

i've heard that it can take upwards of 2 months for a strong beer to properly carb, so should i wait or is it a safe bet that i didn't add the priming solution since there's absolutely zero carbonation at week 4?

I had a similar situation with a barleywine. After 5 months, still no carb. I emptied the bottles into a bottling bucket, pitched a half pkt of dry yeast, and put the mixed-up beer right back into the same bottles. I checked one 2 weeks later and it was perfectly carbed. I did not add any more sugar.

[I also added a bit of boiled and strained hops... converted from english to american barleywine!)

 

[bja]

i specifically remember heating/mixing the priming sugar to add to the bottling bucket, but not 100% sure i actually added it.

Don't you think you would've noticed the priming sugar sitting on the counter afterwards when you finished and was cleaning up?

I've brewed and bottled drunk before, but I still would've noticed this.

 

[lpdb185]

i always put the pot with priming solution in the kitchen sink to cool in the water. there's a possibility that i wouldn't have noticed it.

 

[Hardleft]

I once dumped out the priming solution twice thinking it was sanitizer.