No carbonation

[nsturchio]

Ok folks what the hell? its been almost 3 weeks now I tried one of my beers and still no carbonation I followed the chart for the adequate amount of table sugar and I assured that I filled every bottle with that amount. should I have filled it with more? can I fill it with more? Do I have a problem with my yeast? not sure what to do here 3 weeks in and flat beer

 

[Onkel_Udo]

What temp have the bottle been stored at?

 

[DrankGoodness]

you primed each bottle with sugar individually? I've never done that, but it seems like it would be difficult to get the right amount of sugar into each bottle. did you weigh the sugar or go by volume?

 

[Onkel_Udo]

you primed each bottle with sugar individually? I've never done that, but it seems like it would be difficult to get the right amount of sugar into each bottle. did you weigh the sugar or go by volume?

The old-school method was a level tsp of cane sugar per 12 oz bottle. This is naturally less precise than batch priming or even bottle priming by weight but not much different than using carb drops. I admit to doing something similar when I used to bottle the remaining 1/2 gal after I filled my kegs until I discovered carb drops.

 

[Psylocide]

What temp are they carbing at?

 

[nsturchio]

I'm kepping them at 68deg. I did individually prime each 12oz bottle with 2 tsp table sugar. I did not realize priming the whole batch was an option. I may look at that on the next one.

 

[Hello]

Warm them up to 72F. You have zero carb? What was the ABV of the beer and did you bottle from primary to secondary? How long was the beer fermenting?

 

[mdbrewer1]

2 tsp sounds like an awful lot. When I did the calculations, it came very close to 1/2 tsp. of table sugar to get to 2.5 vol CO2 in a 12 oz. bottle. I'm amazed that they have no carbonation. I thought it would be on the other end of the spectrum with gushers and potential bottle bombs.

What style of beer was it? How long had it been sitting before bottling? A high ABV brew that has been aging for a while might have tuckered out all of those original yeasties and might need some new ones to do the priming.

Edit: That's what I get for not finishing a post right away. Hello beat me to the punch.

 

[nsturchio]

Fermented 2 weeks primary one week secondary the ABV is only around 3.7 and its just a standard lager. It sounds like I really need to get this priming thing figured out with the sugar an amounts

 

[mdbrewer1]

I'm at a bit of a loss. 2 tsp per 12 oz bottle at 68 degrees for 3 weeks should have given you plenty of carbonation unless your yeast somehow petered out.

The only other thing I can think of is that you used salt instead of sugar. 😀

 

[Onkel_Udo]

Only two things I can think of at this point:

Defective capper
Sanitizer in the bottles

 

[nsturchio]

I'm at a bit of a loss. 2 tsp per 12 oz bottle at 68 degrees for 3 weeks should have given you plenty of carbonation unless your yeast somehow petered out.

The only other thing I can think of is that you used salt instead of sugar. 😀

😃 definitely sugar. If the yeast was to old maby? ???

 

[BlkWater_brewer]

Fermented 2 weeks primary one week secondary the ABV is only around 3.7 and its just a standard lager. It sounds like I really need to get this priming thing figured out with the sugar an amounts

If this is a lager, this would be not unheard of, some lagers take time to condition as the yeast is a slow worker, should condition at least 30 days.

NB sells a carb tablet that is yeast and sugar - if all else fails you could use these and recap. At this point I wouldn't add more sugar by itself.

 

[LazyD]

I'm in the same boat. :smack: Been 18 days since I bottled it.
I was concerned after transferring to the secondary it wasn't very active at all.
Everything I read said it was not a problem to leave it in the carboy longer.
Will another week or two start the carbonation?

 

[doug293cz]

I'm in the same boat. :smack: Been 18 days since I bottled it.
I was concerned after transferring to the secondary it wasn't very active at all.
Everything I read said it was not a problem to leave it in the carboy longer.
Will another week or two start the carbonation?

What temperature are you storing the primed bottles at? Usually takes about 3 weeks at 70°F to get reliable carbonation. Longer for big beers, or if for some reason you have less than the normal amount of yeast suspended in the bottled beer.

Brew on

 

[Aglam]

I had this carbonation problem on my first ever brew (2 months ago). It actually started carbonating 3 and a half weeks after bottling, and it was stored at about 65ºF and I used refined sugar for this. On my second brew I used cane sugar, and gave it a nice stir before bottling to let all combine properly. This batch carbonated in 2 weeks at the same room conditions.

I had this big concern about carbonation, but it ended up turning well, I just had to be patient.

 

[unionrdr]

It has a lot to do with the actual number of yeast cells left in suspension at bottling time & the temp stored at. I've had some hybrid lagers & dampfbier take 4 weeks plus to carbonate to the chosen level. My whiskely stout takes about ten weeks in the bottles to carb & condition.

 

[mfgann]

Does the beer taste sweet? I would think it would taste sweet if in never carbonated and taste like a plain flat beer if it carbonated, but your cap leaked.

Would it add any off flavor to a lager to take a dry pack of Safale 05 and drop a little in each bottle just for carbonation? If they're sweet you might try that, and recap them all, and let the ale yeast work at its happy temp to carb for you.

 

[LazyD]

What temperature are you storing the primed bottles at? Usually takes about 3 weeks at 70°F to get reliable carbonation. Longer for big beers, or if for some reason you have less than the normal amount of yeast suspended in the bottled beer.

Brew on

Mine are stored in a dark room at 70-72 degrees
Tried a second one and heard a slight "PSST" when I cracked it open.
Getting better. This first brew I did is a "Irish Stout Ale" Do Ales usually have less carbonation?

Thanks for the replies
D.

 

[Setesh]

It sounds like you might just have needed more time. Just in case though, make sure the caps are not "decorative" caps. Normal caps will have the sealing ring on the inside, the decorative caps are just metal on the inside.

 

[nsturchio]

Just an update. Thanks for all the comments. Couple more weeks and they carbed right up. Delicious too!!

 

[JLeuck64]

Ya I have noticed a trend with my bottle conditioning too...

I have been transferring to secondary since early in my home brewing experience and most all batches take a long time to carbonate.

Recently I have not been transferring to a secondary and I've noticed that my beer is carbed up much sooner!

Must be the extra yeast left in suspension at bottling I am thinking... which makes me wonder why the heck am I wasting time transferring to the secondary?! LOL guess I need to be lazy and just go from the primary straight to the bottling bucket ( ;