too little carbonation, what went wrong?

[buddyboy]

Opened my first two bottles of Torpedo recipe IPA. I must have primed and bottled the batch too late when too little live yeast was present. When I opened those first two bottles no suds formed on the head. But there was a minor amount of carbonation because some fizz did rise, only no suds formed. I must have bottled it too late.. Question: Is there a tip on how to know when the time is right for bottling?

 

[myelo]

I would be surprised if the lack of carbonation is because you bottled too late. How long are we talking about in the fermenter?

A much more common issue to not enough time in the bottles to develop adequate carbonation. How long ago did you bottle? Also, because temperature affects rate of fermentation, what temperature have the bottles been stored at? If it hasn't been at least 3 weeks at at least 70F, I wouldn't worry yet.

Other potential problems are inadequate sugar priming and caps not tight enough.

 

[Takuie]

When I bottle condition, I keep them at 70 F or above and don't even think about cracking one open until 2 weeks. You may have a priming problem, or leaking caps. Take a couple of them and shake them up to stir everything up real good then store those few bottles upside down. Spray a little star san around the cap, just enough to where if air does seep out, it would leave a bubble. Check them frequently, if you see beer or bubbles around cap, you have a capping issue. If not, more than likely you are not using enough sugar to prime with. I have aged batches for a couple of months, cold crashed, primed and bottled and they came out fine. Took them a little longer than normal to carb up but they did just fine.

 

[buddyboy]

When it is in the 90's here in South Carolina, its hardly possible to bring a room temperature down to 70. Air conditions can run 24/7 and room temps will not get down to 70 except perhaps early morning. I bottled 3 weeks ago and the room temps stayed around 78-80. Same is true when I fermented my first ever brew batch. Had to leave town for a week and when I returned the airlock was pushing out a bubble about one every two or three hours. I had to sit and wait long time to see the airlock bubble rise and release a bubble.

 

[KepowOb]

A week at 80, fermentation was finished. Ideally you want to keep the actual beer in the 60s, and when fermentation is active it can raise several degrees above ambient. My house is in the high 70s during the summer too, but they're are ways to keep fermentation in check. I use a tub of water with frozen I've bottles that I rotate 2-3 times a day, others use things like swamp coolers (a search on here will get you some pictures), and others still invest in building fermentation chambers.

As for the carbonation, how much priming sugar did you use? And how long did you put them in the fridge before trying them?

 

[flars]

When it is in the 90's here in South Carolina, its hardly possible to bring a room temperature down to 70. Air conditions can run 24/7 and room temps will not get down to 70 except perhaps early morning. I bottled 3 weeks ago and the room temps stayed around 78-80. Same is true when I fermented my first ever brew batch. Had to leave town for a week and when I returned the airlock was pushing out a bubble about one every two or three hours. I had to sit and wait long time to see the airlock bubble rise and release a bubble.

Give a couple of your beers four days in the refrigerator before opening. The cold will force the CO2 into solution. If no head forms when you pour into a glass for drinking then there is a problem. (Before you pour give your glass a salt scrub and good rinse to remove any soap residue or spot removers from washing. Soap and spot remover on glassware can kill head formation.)

If 70° is the coolest temperature in your house bottle conditioning temperatures are definitely warm enough. Three weeks of conditioning is usually sufficient time, except for high ABV brews, for carbonation.

Yeast in suspension for bottle carbonation may only be a problem with high ABV beers that have been bulk aged 6 months or longer.

How many gallons did you brew? How much priming sugar did you use and how was it mixed into the beer? What was used for the priming sugar?

 

[Hello]

Give a couple of your beers four days in the refrigerator before opening. The cold will force the CO2 into solution. If no head forms when you pour into a glass for drinking then there is a problem. (Before you pour give your glass a salt scrub and good rinse to remove any soap residue or spot removers from washing. Soap and spot remover on glassware can kill head formation.)

If 70° is the coolest temperature in your house bottle conditioning temperatures are definitely warm enough. Three weeks of conditioning is usually sufficient time, except for high ABV brews, for carbonation.

Yeast in suspension for bottle carbonation may only be a problem with high ABV beers that have been bulk aged 6 months or longer.

How many gallons did you brew? How much priming sugar did you use and how was it mixed into the beer? What was used for the priming sugar?

All this and OP, are you saying you fermented at around 80F as well?
If so, did you taste the beer before you bottled? That is way too hot for any yeast I'd use for a SN clone.

 

[buddyboy]

yes, fermentation was likely at 80 most of the time. The retailer at brewstore said it would work at that temp. IPA recipe called for about ABV 7% but I think it tested nearer 6%. The priming sugar was provided by the brew store and was about a cup. The recipe was for 5 gallons. I added hops at the differing stages into the wort during boil stage and again more hops during fermentation. The beer is cloudy brown, guessing becuase hops was added directly into the brew batch during boil and during fermentation. Next time will harden the water and use the finning agent hoping that will help clear the beer. And I will use a strainer when adding hops placing it into either a muslin bag or stainless steel straining ball.

 

[flars]

The priming sugar provided was most likely about 5 ounces of corn sugar. Okay amount for a five gallon batch. Was the sugar dissolved in boiled water and then added to the bottling bucket?

Most ale yeasts top out at about 72° fermentation temperature without throwing off tastes. Look up the yeast you used on the manufacturers site for its optimum temperature range.

A simple swamp cooler will help keep your fermentor cooler in the hot weather. A tub of water to absorb heat. T-shirt over the fermentor to cool by evaporation. If you are at home during fermentation bottles of ice can be placed in the tub to cool the water for the first few days of fermentation. A fan blowing on the wet t-shirt will accelerate evaporation for more cooling if you are away from home. This is my swamp cooler set up. Will get an 8° to 10° temperature drop of the wort when the ambient is about 68°.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/photo/swamp-cooler-61314.html

There are other pictures of coolers under the photos tab. A deeper tub filled with water will be more effective.

 

[buddyboy]

I put a lot of time and money into my first try at making beer. It turned out badly. It made me sick after drinking 2 bottles. Had Montezuma's revenge for a few days. Its passed now. The beer tasted like it had a slight vinegar taste which I know means it when too far past peak fermentation which I think is what happened. I am trying something new this time.
*
I put the 6 gallon fermentation pale in a shallow tub and wrapped the pale in a bath towel. Filled the tub with water which wicked up into the towel shrouding the pale in a wet blanket. Then I pointed a small box fan at it to induce a cooling evaporation. With air conditioner on, room temp is about 78 and my pale indicates contents temp is at 72. I started this last night. Hope this batch will not make me sick like the first one.

 

[flars]

I put a lot of time and money into my first try at making beer. It turned out badly. It made me sick after drinking 2 bottles. Had Montezuma's revenge for a few days. Its passed now. The beer tasted like it had a slight vinegar taste which I know means it when too far past peak fermentation which I think is what happened. I am trying something new this time.
*
I put the 6 gallon fermentation pale in a shallow tub and wrapped the pale in a bath towel. Filled the tub with water which wicked up into the towel shrouding the pale in a wet blanket. Then I pointed a small box fan at it to induce a cooling evaporation. With air conditioner on, room temp is about 78 and my pale indicates contents temp is at 72. I started this last night. Hope this batch will not make me sick like the first one.

Did you pour your beers into a glass, leaving the yeast in the bottle, or did you drink from the bottle?
If you drank from the bottle your problem is your bodies reaction to a very heavy dose of B vitamins.

You can also add some ice to your swamp cooler for the first two to three days of very active fermentation. Freezing soda bottles almost full of water makes it easier.