re carb question

[stevefromga2000]

I made some beer recently and after I left it in the bottles for more than enough time, it did not carb enough. At my local brew store the guy told me I can open the bottles and put a small amount of priming sugar into each bottle and reseal them. I have no clue how much to add though. Any suggestions or ideas? As usual the help is appreciated

 

[Barnzy02]

A. How long has it been bottled ?
B. What kind of beer is it ? OG/FG?
C. Don't do anything yet.

 

[Pezman1]

Did you prime them the first go around??? If you did, simply adding more sugar wont fix anything. Were the bottles stored at around 70 degrees F. for at LEAST three weeks?

Pez.

 

[Barnzy02]

If you primed the bottles originally, and add more sugar, you risk overcarbonating and bottle bombs.

Depending on the style and gravity of the beer, it can and will take longer to properly carbonate.

it's important to remember, that the 3 weeks at 70 degrees is a rough estimate for an AVERAGE beer.

 

[jkoegel]

I did that to my first batch of cider. The standard 3/4 cup corn sugar per 5gal at bottling did not give me a high enough level of carbonation. I used the coopers carb tabs. 1 per bottle.

 

[Revvy]

What's more than enough time to you????? Usually more than enough time for us, is not enough time for the yeast.

If a beer isn't carbed by "x number of weeks" you just have to give them more 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.

I've carbed hundreds of gallons of beer, and never had a beer that wasn't carbed, or under carbed or anything of the sort (Except for a batch where I accidently mixed up lactose or Maltodextrine for priming sugar). Some took awhile, (as I said up to six months) but they ALL eventually carbed.

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.

And just because a beer is carbed doesn't mean it still doesn't taste like a$$ and need more time for the off flavors to condition out. You have green beer.

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.

 

[stevefromga2000]

This is a style of beer that I have made before. The first time I made it, it was carbed fine with 3 or 4 weeks. This batch has been in bottles for about 12 weeks. I have not poured it out because I thought there might be a way to save it. It is an asahi extract kit. I do not know the fg/og on it though.

 

[stevefromga2000]

Sorry I forgot to mention it sat at a little over 70 degrees...maybe around 73 or so

 

[stevefromga2000]

I just got home and opened up a bottle to double check everything, and it was good to drink. when i said 12 weeks earlier, that was quite an understatement. i remember brewing this beer before christmas, and then bottling it on time without any problems. i opened it up after a 4 week period, and got very little carbonation. i remember that i let it sit for a while because i had to leave the country for a vacation for about 1 month. i came back from japan at the end of april, and i was trying to ask the questions to get some help to fix it without me actually opening a bottle to double check it.

lessons learned: 3 to 4 weeks might not be long enough for complete carbonation
i should keep a log of what i am doing so that i know dates

questions now: why would my beer take so long to be ready?

i put it in a swamp cooler while it is fermenting, but when i bottle it, i just put it in the coolest part of my house and leave it alone. should i bottle it in the fridge or something?

 

[Barnzy02]

It just takes time for the CO2 that's produced to actually be absorbed into solution.

You don't want to put them in the fridge, that'll make the yeast go dormant and the beer will not carbonate.

 

[Bamsdealer]

I'm considering doing the same with an IPA I recently brewed. Out of 10 or so bottles, 2 were really carbed, but it was hard to detect any co2 in the rest. I'm convinced maybe the first 20% got a lot of sugar while the others barely got any.

Its been over a month so I'll give them a couple more weeks. If that doesn't work, my plan is to have a bunch of sanitized caps ready to go, line the bottles up and pour a tiny bit from each into a sink to assess the co2 situation. I'll have some sugar water on hand with a sanitized turkey baster. If its not carbed, I'll put enough for a standard carb. If it's slightly carbed, I'll put half and if it is carbed, I'll pour it into a growler to be chilled and drank. Whatever won't fit in a growler will get re-capped.

Good luck.

 

[Revvy]

questions now: why would my beer take so long to be ready?

Because it's a living organic process. Carb temp and the gravity of the beer, and whether or not the yeast is tired contributes to how long a beer takes. Higher grav beers take longer, the cooler the beer is the longer it takes, since the yeast are less active. The size of the bottle also effect carb times.

The biggest thing to learn in brewing is that we're not in charge of this, the yeast are. And their timeframes are often different than ours.

 

[KeyWestBrewing]

How long were they in the fridge before you drank them? Ive seen it advised, by Revvy I believe on another thread, that a few days(a week being best) in the fridge before drinking will help the beer clear up and absorb the co2.