Second Priming

[Blaine]

Has any one ever primed twice? Can it be done ? I have again opened my latest brew only to find that it too is flat. I have gone back to square one and meticulously followed every step by the book and still have very low carbonation, there is some but very little. I have come to the conclusion that carbonation drops are not for me. I want to reprime with dextrose can this be done?

 

[Axegod]

It is possible...but can you provide some more details to help troubleshoot...

Recipie, time in primary/secondary...type of yeast...storage temps...and what and how they were originally primed.

Cheers.

 

[the_bird]

How long's it been priming? If often takes three weeks or so to get carbonation, although I'll tell you I've never used the drops. I don't really get WHY someone would use the drops, using a little corn sugar in the bottling bucket is easy and seems to cause far fewer problems.

As to the current batch, I wouldn't try to re-prime. If it's a little flat, that's not the end of the world. It'll be better next time. Personally, I think it would be a bad idea (not to mention a crapload of extra work) to uncap all the beers, exposure them to potential new contaminants, and re-bottle, all while avoiding oxidizing (can't just dump the beer in the bucket). Strikes me as likely making things worse.

 

[veggiess]

It's probably something other than the drops. I use them exclusively, and have always gotten a good carbonation in 2 weeks time. The only exception to this was the apple cider I made, after 3 weeks the carbonation is very weak, which leads me to believe it is something else other than the carb drops.

 

[Blaine]

It is possible...but can you provide some more details to help troubleshoot...

Recipie, time in primary/secondary...type of yeast...storage temps...and what and how they were originally primed.

Cheers.

Recipie : Morgans Golden Sheaf Pilszner
Time in primary : 17 Days
Type of yeast : Saflager s-23
Brew temp: 9 C
Storage temp: 19 C
Bottle primed with 2 carbonation drops 12 days ago.

 

[Seveneer]

What caps are you using for the bottles?

I recently bottled a few pints of a very nice bitter using plastic caps that I've had around for years (I haven't bottled in 15 years). I gave it a couple of weeks and had no carbonation to speak of. I figured the caps were leaking. Re-primed with a small amount of cane sugar in each bottle and crown capped them and they're good to go after about another two weeks.

/Phil.

 

[jcarson83]

I've bottled 3 batches so far and it always takes at least 3-4 weeks to get the carbonation to the level I want it.

On a side note, I left my IPA bottled for six months and it way too carbonated. When I poored it it was just foam, no beer.

 

[Blaine]

What caps are you using for the bottles?

I recently bottled a few pints of a very nice bitter using plastic caps that I've had around for years (I haven't bottled in 15 years). I gave it a couple of weeks and had no carbonation to speak of. I figured the caps were leaking. Re-primed with a small amount of cane sugar in each bottle and crown capped them and they're good to go after about another two weeks.

/Phil.

Yeah, It is only the third time I've used these lids and othe second time I've had flat beer. I asked around and everyone seems to get quite a few uses out of thier plastic screw tops so I disregarded this as a cause. However in an attempt to rule the lids out completely I screwed the lids on so tight I gave myself blisters. I think I might reprime using 5gms of dextrose and new lids. Failing that, I'll be drinking 25 litres of virtually flat beer and going back to glass bottles and crown seals never to experiment again.
(Kegging exepted)