Very little fizz and no head on Red Irish Ale?!

[Newbie123]

So as the title suggests I've just opened on of my RI ale to check how it was going.

It has been in the bottle for two weeks now (500ml Coopers PET bottles - 1 Coopers carbonation drop/ bottle).

So I was very disappointed when upon opening there was only a tiny hiss from the bottle and when in the glass there were some bubbled which didn't last long and absolutely no head!!!

What do you think is going on?

 

[phuff7129]

I have never used carbonation drops. Usually carbonation takes about 2-3 weeks stored around 70 degrees. If you have it stored in a cooler area you may try moving it to a warmer area. If not just give it time. It will carb.
Also not being familiar with the carb drops did you use the correct amount?

 

[ThaBrewFather06]

Someone else posted on using conditioning tablets and he said he used 3 per bottle and it was still flat I use priming sugar for carbonation so I'm not sure what the solution could be.

 

[RM-MN]

Someone else posted on using conditioning tablets and he said he used 3 per bottle and it was still flat I use priming sugar for carbonation so I'm not sure what the solution could be.

There are different carbonation tabs that contain different amounts of sugars so while one may need 3 tabs per bottle, the other brand needs only 1 to get the same level of carbonation. Read your labels carefully.:rockin:

 

[stevehardt]

So as the title suggests I've just opened on of my RI ale to check how it was going.

It has been in the bottle for two weeks now (500ml Coopers PET bottles - 1 Coopers carbonation drop/ bottle).

So I was very disappointed when upon opening there was only a tiny hiss from the bottle and when in the glass there were some bubbled which didn't last long and absolutely no head!!!

What do you think is going on?

I suspect you didn't give it enought time to fully carb up. As others have stated, 3 weeks at 70 degrees is the minimum time you should allow for a beer to carb up.

Give it at leastr another week, and check your storage temp

 

[Newbie123]

So after a bit of searching I have found out Coopers Carbonation drops are equivalent to about 3.5g/tablet.

I thought it might be related to a post I put up last week about the PET bottle needing to be tightened. Only problem with this theory being the reason for my current issue is that the bottle I just opened was one of the few that didn't need tightening!!

I definitely leave it another week and try to bring the temp up a bit.

 

[Cyclman]

The longer in bottle, the more it will carb.

 

[Revvy]

It's only been two weeks, and since you have it in larger Pet bottle I doubt it will be ready for at least another 3 weeks. The 3 weeks at 70 we talk about is the minimum for average grav, 12 ounce beers. A bigger bottle takes longer. At only 2 weeks it's doubtful a 12 ounce bottle would be fully carbed and conditioned.

 

[Newbie123]

Thanks for all the replies. Guess I'm just a bit impatient!

 

[Revvy]

Thanks for all the replies. Guess I'm just a bit impatient!

As I say repeatedly there are no bottling problems (or few if any) just patience ones.

It really is foolproof, if you added the right amount of sugar, and are storing it at or above 70 degrees your beer will carb eventually. Beyond that, it just depends on the gravity of the beer, and the size of the bottle.....But it's all about the wait.

 

[h22lude]

Definitely let it sit a little longer. That will let it carb more.

Another thing you might want to look into is your glasses. Dirty glasses kill head retention. Even clean glasses with left over soap residue will kill head retention. If you use soap, make sure it doesn't have any scent to it and rinse it really well. If you use a dishwater, don't use that jet dry stuff and you might want to give them another rinse when they are done especially if you have an older dishwasher that doesn't rinse well. I just recently read an article that said the best way to clean beer glasses is with really hot water and don't use soap.

Dirty glasses aren't the reason for not having no carbonation though. That happens with time in the bottle.

 

[Newbie123]

I'm going to start my English Bitter batch to try and keep myself busy...

Don't think it'll work but worth a try!

 

[Newbie123]

Oh well; 4 weeks in the bottle and I succumbed and opened another bottle of this beer.

Sadly I was still quite disappointed! There was a little bit of an improvement in the hiss on opening a few bubbles in the glass which died down quickly and absolutely no head at all.

On the plus side it doesn't have the yeasty smell it had two weeks ago.

Here goes "trying to leave it alone" for another couple of weeks!

 

[tlayton92]

Good luck man hope for the best.

 

[BigFloyd]

Oh well; 4 weeks in the bottle and I succumbed and opened another bottle of this beer.

Sadly I was still quite disappointed! There was a little bit of an improvement in the hiss on opening a few bubbles in the glass which died down quickly and absolutely no head at all.

On the plus side it doesn't have the yeasty smell it had two weeks ago.

Here goes "trying to leave it alone" for another couple of weeks!

At what temperature did you store your bottles when carbing?

If your temp was lower than 70*F, it will take even longer than 4 weeks. The lower your temp, the longer it will take.

 

[Newbie123]

The first couple of weeks the temp was between 68-70. The last two its been at 71-73.

 

[wjjcfuwh]

Usually carbonation takes about 2-3 weeks stored around 70 degrees.