Priming sugar burnt?

[Goocher]

So I bottled an IPA (OG 1.078) 4 weeks ago and there is little to no carbonation. I think my problem is from my priming sugar.

I boiled a couple cups of water, turned down the heat, slowly added priming sugar, turned the heat off and let it sit to cool while I sanitized my bottling bucket, etc. When I returned to the stove (30 min later) the solution had turned a golden color (not burnt, just looked carmelized). I didn't worry about it and bottled anyways.

Now after four weeks in the bottle sitting sitting right around 70 degrees, the beer has no carbonation. I know higher gravity beers can take a while to carbonate, but I'm worried because I expected at least a little carbonation.

Any thoughts?

 

[Revvy]

Burnt sugar is still sugar and fermentable. We burn sugar for flavor in beers and meads all the time, and the yeast manages to eat of it.

What's the gravity of the beer? The 3 weeks at 70 degrees, 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.

Temp and gravity are the two factors that contribute to the time it takes to carb beer. But if a beer's not ready yet, or seems low carbed, and you added the right amount of sugar to it, then it's not stalled, it's just not time yet.

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

Read the above blog, and come back to the beer in a couple more weeks.

If a beer isn't carbed by "x number of weeks" you just have to give them ore time. If you added your sugar, then the beer will carb up eventually, it's really a foolroof process. All beers will carb up eventually. A lot of new brewers think they have to "troubleshoot" a bottling issue, when there really is none, the beer knows how to carb itself. In fact if you run beersmiths carbing calculator, some lower grav beers don't even require additional sugar to reach their minimum level of carbonation. Just time.

All you'll get with "burning sugar" is a slightly caramel flavor when it is carbed, it won't inhibit carbonation.


Here's us making some INTENTIONALLY burnt honey for a mead.

This was regular old store bought honey

Now that's burnt and it fermented nicely.

Yours will too. Just make sure it is ABOVE 70 and give them a couple more weeks.

 

[frazier]

I would think you'd be fine. I've added caramelized sugar to the primary, and it all (or mostly all) seems to get fermented just fine.

From your description of the process, it's hard to see how you caramelized the sugar. But in any case, nothing you can do now but give it more time.

 

[Revvy]

I would think you'd be fine. I've added caramelized sugar to the primary, and it all (or mostly all) seems to get fermented just fine.

From your description of the process, it's hard to see how you caramelized the sugar. But in any case, nothing you can do now but give it more time.

Plus many folks prime with brown sugar, honey and even molasses, and it works too.

 

[Goocher]

Thanks for the quick reply Revvy. I guess that makes sense. I boil the hell out of my more important sugars and they still ferment. Now I feel like an idiot for even asking.

My problem now is that the beers I have brewed since that one have only gotten bigger. The last one I did had an OG of 1.10.

I'm going to be waiting for a while....

 

[Revvy]

Find warmth and give them a little shake to re-rouse the yeast.