some beers carbonated perfectly, others barely a fizz.....

[drummer4gc]

i brewed a belgian wit, bottled about 5 weeks ago. i've been trying bottles along the way ever since about 2 weeks...no carbonation. i began swirling the bottles a bit after 3 weeks to get the yeast back in suspension, and after 4 weeks, i had one bottle that was fantastic! so i cracked another....barely any carbonation. it has been 5 weeks and the last beer i cracked was a bit fizzy, but barely. temperature is around 71 degrees. what gives?

a little more information...i seem to bottle differently that some other people, but the method worked fine in my first batch of beer. I boil water and mix in 4.5oz of dextrose, then pour it into my secondary fermenter. let it sit for 30-45 min, give it a slow swirl, then use an auto-siphon to fill my bottles.

ok. i've seen similar questions asked before, and i know there will be people who want to tell me to just wait longer. that's fine, i will. but i will try to ask my question in a different way. what can cause a low-gravity beer to take over 5 weeks to carbonate? is there anything i could be missing other than a little more patience? my last batch (a porter) had the same problem, so i recapped flat beers and left them alone. after 6 or 7 weeks, they were still flat. someone help instill some more patience or hope into me!

 

[jiggs_casey]

Do you add your dextrose solution into your bottling bucket after your wort is there, or do you add it to your bucket before you add your wort.

There's a bit of a debate about it but, I add my dextrose solution to the bucket while it's empty, let it cool a bit and then add my wort. After that, I let them carbonate for a couple of weeks. It works for me and I don't think I have ever had a flat beer.

 

[Transamguy77]

I had the same problem with a Canadian Lager I did, I bottled them like 3 months ago and just now are they carbonated enough to drink........having one now as we speak.

I was also concerned but I just put them aside and drank my other brews. Patience is a virtue my friend.

 

[bad67z]

Do the beers taste sweet or do they taste true to style?

Are you buying prepackaged kits?

 

[drummer4gc]

i don't use a bottling bucket, see above.

i'm not buying prepackaged kits, the recipes are put together by the guy at my homebrew store.

and that's a good question about the sweetness level. i do find that the uncarbonated beers taste a little "different", but i can't quite put my finger on it. i also can't tell if its the flatness that is tricking my tastebuds into thinking that it tastes different.