Not enough carbonation - will it improve?

[cyarnell]

I sampled the first bottle of the first beer I made yesterday. The taste was pretty good, but it did not have enough carbonation.

The beer was made with the ingredients that came with a Cooper's microbrew kit. It was a hopped liquid extract and dry yeast. I left it in the primary for nearly two weeks and then bottled it using the priming tablets that came with the kit. It has been three weeks since I bottled it in 22oz PET bottles.

When I opened the bottle there was a small hiss. It produced a very small head and some bubbles, but not nearly enough.

My original plan was to sample another bottle at 4th of July. Will the carbonation likely improve by then? If not, is there another way to help it?

 

[jcarson83]

Give it a little more time, July 4th is good. And make sure that you chill before opening, I would recommend at least overnight.

 

[Revvy]

Yeah..it needs more time since it's a larger volume of beer than a standard 12 ouncer.

 

[BrianP]

Another factor could be the temperature the bottles were kept during conditioning. They should be held at room temp for at least a week. If you kept them in a basement or someplace under 70, it will take longer.