Undercarbed Beer Fix

[Krane]

So I brewed a Hefeweizen about 6 weeks ago. Unfortunately, I seriously undercarbed the beer. It tastes good but think it would be a lot better if it had more carbonation. What is the best course of action to take to remedy this?

Would it be a problem to uncap and drop in one of the Cooper's drops and recap? Seems like the best option but I could leave them alone and drink them as is if this is a bad idea.

 

[Ace_Club]

So I brewed a Hefeweizen about 6 weeks ago. Unfortunately, I seriously undercarbed the beer. It tastes good but think it would be a lot better if it had more carbonation. What is the best course of action to take to remedy this?

Would it be a problem to uncap and drop in one of the Cooper's drops and recap? Seems like the best option but I could leave them alone and drink them as is if this is a bad idea.

That would be fine if there was no carbonation. Unfortunately, since there is some carbonation present, you run the risk of overcarbonating the beer and potentially ending up with bottle bombs.

 

[BigB]

Yes you can do that. Been done lots of times by lots of people. EDIT: And yes, Ace Club has a valid point... it is a risk. I've done it by measuring out tiny bits of corn sugar, but that was a major PITA and made quite the mess. There is another carb tab out there that is like half strength of Coopers too... but I don't remember who makes it.

 

[unionrdr]

Just don't use the cooper's carb drops in those bottles for 7 weeks on. They tended to over-carbonate,ime. So give them a couple weeks to improve,then start drinking. That'd be ok.

 

[Brew_4iT]

In order for the yeast to produce co2 you would need to reintroduce oxygen while the yeast go into an aerobic state. The majority of Co2 comes from this state, Once most of the oxygen has been converted the yeast go into an anaerobic state which will produce some co2 but ethanol (alcohol) as well.

You may risk over oxygenating your beer at this point, but it may not contribute too much off flavors. Many people find the taste very undesireable though.

I would give the beer a week maybe two, if this is a higher abv beer it would take longer for the yeast to finish (because of the higher levels of ethanol and co2). Do you know for a fact that you undercarbed?

 

[Revvy]

You have been storing them above 70 right?

Before you add more sugar you have to make sure the yeast did consume all those fermentable before adding more.

I wouldn't worry about existing carbonation being a bottle bomb risk when you open the bottles you're going to loose a lot of the gas in the original bottle.

But you do need to make sure all the sugar is exhausted before adding more.

 

[Krane]

I do know for a fact I undercarbed. I left the spigot open at bottling when I started racking to the bucket on top of the sugar solution. I lost a little solution once it got above the spigot but I figured it wasn't enough to make a big difference. I didn't really think about how concentrated the sugar is with so little beer in the bucket at that moment.

I think I'm going to go the Cooper's route. I'm basically certain what sugar made it into the bottles is gone now, but how can I be sure? Should I rouse the yeast a little once the drop is in or just cap and be done with it?

 

[unionrdr]

Might be good to rouse it a little. But I was just thinking weren't those smaller carb tabs from Munton's??

 

[Krane]

After trying to do this, I found this isn't a good option or I am doing something wrong. As soon as I put the drop in, foam formed and about two inches of beer would be lost. Does anybody know if I am doing something wrong, or is this the norm?

 

[Revvy]

After trying to do this, I found this isn't a good option or I am doing something wrong. As soon as I put the drop in, foam formed and about two inches of beer would be lost. Does anybody know if I am doing something wrong, or is this the norm?

What is happening is cause by nucleation sites. What you are seeing is the Mentos/Diet coke effect.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjbJELjLgZg]MythBusters - Diet Coke & Mentos - YouTube[/ame]



You might want to try chilling the bottles as cold as you can get them (try one of two in the freezer for awhile) then add the drop.

 

[Krane]

You know, I thought about the coke/mentos thing when I did it but wouldn't have known it's the same principle. I chilled all of the beers already because I had resigned myself to drinking it near still, so that is pretty convenient. Thanks for the advice, you've given this beer a third life. I'll let everybody know how it goes.

 

[Krane]

You might want to try chilling the bottles as cold as you can get them (try one of two in the freezer for awhile) then add the drop.

This did the trick. Even chilled near freezing it still would foam up, but significantly more slowly, giving me time to quickly put on the cap before any beer could spill.

I put the drops in about 4 weeks ago and just popped one open tonight. Slightly higher carbonation levels than the majority of my beers, but I expected/hoped for that since it's a hefeweizen. It's a very solid beer now and my only regret is not doing this sooner. Thanks everybody.