No fizzy-ness in beer

[captaingoat]

I bottled my beer in those PET bottles with some sugar in them but there isn't really any bubbles and at the bottom of the bottle is a white layer of sediment. Whats up?

 

[BendBrewer]

More detailed information needed.

I assume you boiled the sugar?

How much time are you talking about?

What temp. did you store the bottles?

 

[captaingoat]

Um, I didn't boil the sugar, I put individual amounts of sugar in each bottle (I know I'm supposed to put it in my primary but my primary is a little, let's just say out of commission) and then I stored in an unplugged fridge at room temp for about a week so far. I'm going to plug the fridge in in a few days so it'll get cold like the instructions told me to.

 

[Revvy]

The word you are looking for is carbonation. And it's not carbed, because it is not ready yet.

The 3 weeks at 70 degrees, that 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.

Since you are bottling them in larger than 12 ounce, add at least another week to the minimum time. One trick with those plastic pete bottles is to squeeze them, if they are rock hard then they should be ready, if there is some give, then no. But even if they are fizzy, they may still taste like crap and need more time to bottle condition.

Everything you need to know about carbing and conditioning, can be found here Of Patience and Bottle Conditioning. With emphasis on the word, "patience."

There's even a video.

 

[strat_thru_marshall]

Are your bottles sealed well? A week might not be enough time for them to fully carb up. When you open a bottle is there any sound of carbonation being released, or is it totally still?

 

[captaingoat]

Ok, thanks, I guess I should ignore the instructions on the beer kit then? It's Canadian Red Beer and it says "7 days in a warm dark place and a further 12 to 14 days in a cool place." Does that seem right or should I just do like you said and leave it in an unplugged fridge for 3 weeks?

 

[mr_bell]

I don't think you will see bubbles of CO2 in closed / sealed bottles. How long has it been bottled? Open 1 up and pour? Is it carbonated? A week may or may not be enough time. I've had batches that took longer: 2-3 weeks or so.

I usually open 1 up after 2 weeks and gauge the carbonation and flavor. Also,
just because it's carbonated doesn't mean that it couldn't benefit with additional conditioning time at room temp. So, I open 1 up after 2 weeks and each week after that. I may stick a few in the fridge with each week, but I continue to keep them at room temp (68F) until the flavor seems right. Then I'll stick whatever's left in the fridge.

The sediment at the bottom is likely settled yeast and small amount of trub.

 

[BendBrewer]

I would be worried that your sugar didn't completely dissolve.

 

[Revvy]

Ok, thanks, I guess I should ignore the instructions on the beer kit then? It's Canadian Red Beer and it says "7 days in a warm dark place and a further 12 to 14 days in a cool place." Does that seem right or should I just do like you said and leave it in an unplugged fridge for 3 weeks?

Yeah that's typical bad beerkit instructions, I bet it even said to bottle it after a week.

The reason is pretty simple, generally speaking kit manufacturers, especially kit an kilo manufacturers, are concerned with selling more and more kits NOT with the brewer making the best beer possible. They know that if they say in the instructions to wait, they may loose some people to hobbies that have more instant gratification.

They also know that the time that a homebrewer will remain buying kits is relatively short...they know that after a few kits, the brewer will either give up, start brewing extract batches from recipes in books and places like this, formulate their own recipes, or go all grain...so they want to sell as many kits as possible to the new brewer before he moves on to bigger and better things.

SO they know that even their beer will taste better if you leave it longer...but they know that in the time you wait you will be reading and learning and be less likely to buy another kit...They can sell three or four kits to you if you follow their directions in the same time frame that listening to us and waiting a month and bottle conditioning for another 3-4 weeks.

You don't need an unplugged fridge, just put them in a box and stick them in a closet, under your bed, anywhere warm and away from the light.

 

[captaingoat]

Ok everyone, thanks again for helping a noob out.