Racking yeast to bottling bucket... question

[mrgoodcheese]

Hello, and thank you ahead of time for any info.

My question is concerning yeast and eventual carbonation, resulting from racking.

When you rack from the secondary carboy to the bottling bucket, do you try to leave all/most of the sediment behind? Or should the yeast in that sediment be stirred into the beer /suspended back in the beer prior to racking, so that carbonation in the bottle happens properly (with the addition of corn surgar of course)?

The reason I ask is because the last 2 batches I made (Scottish Wee Heavey 4 weeks ago, Carribou Slobber several months ago) had extremely weak carbonation, with little to no head. Both of those batches I was very careful to not rack the sediment from the secondary. I'm about to bottle my honey kolsch, and I really would like to have some proper carbonation this time.

 

[Cold Country Brewery]

I always leave the sediment behind. There is enough yeast in suspension (even though you can't see it) to carb up a beer.

With your other beers you made, what how much priming sugar did you use? How long was it before you figured it was "weak carbonation"? What kind of sugar did you use? How did you store them after bottling (temp etc)?

My guess would be your problem isn't in not enough yeast in each bottle, but maybe something else?

 

[beer_man_now]

don't stir it up cause that will make it taste bad. maybe your not measuring the sugar right? do you use a scale or a measuring cup?

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

I always leave the sediment behind. There is enough yeast in suspension (even though you can't see it) to carb up a beer.

With your other beers you made, what how much priming sugar did you use? How long was it before you figured it was "weak carbonation"? What kind of sugar did you use? How did you store them after bottling (temp etc)?

My guess would be your problem isn't in not enough yeast in each bottle, but maybe something else?

What he said. Unless you're filtering your beer, there's enough yeast to finish the job in most cases. It was most likely some other reason your beer wasn't properly carbonated.

 

[1Mainebrew]

TIME, TIME, TIME. After you bottle your beer, it needs a MINIMUM of 3 weeks to carb up. Revvy always talks about a beer he had that took 3 MONTHS to carb properly. Just give it time before putting it in the fridge. Its not a matter of the yeast on a timer and when a few weeks go by, "ding" they're done. They are done when they are done, there is very little to it once the beer is in the bottle providing, enough priming sugar has been added and you haven't filtered your beer. Just patience, which is the most often neglected ingredient in brewing. I just want to pass on a lesson that I learned the hard way and have benefited from learning it immensely. Hope it helps.

 

[mrgoodcheese]

I always leave the sediment behind. There is enough yeast in suspension (even though you can't see it) to carb up a beer.

Ok, that's how I assumed it worked.

With your other beers you made, what how much priming sugar did you use? How long was it before you figured it was "weak carbonation"? What kind of sugar did you use? How did you store them after bottling (temp etc)?

2/3 cup of corn sugar (that comes with the NB kit).
4 weeks for the Wee Heavey since bottling.
3 months for the Carribou Slobber.
After bottling, they were stored at room temp, about 68-72 F.

 

[ArcLight]

I have encountered the exact same thing using a MidWest kit , 3 weeks at 65-68, and no carbonation. My Mr. Beer always carbonated in 3 weeks.
The yeast: White Labs California Ale 001

So what I am trying is - I shook up teh bottles and put them in a warmer room, that is around 80F. Lets see in a couple of weeks how that works