On 12-26-14, I brewed an IPA, using WLP001 as my yeast. On 1-18-15, the gravity was holding steady at 1.006 (OG was 1.059), so I kegged. I bottled a few using carbonation drops, and the rest went into the keg. The bottles were placed in my basement where other bottles have conditioned in the past (68-69 degrees) and after two weeks, I decided to crack one open. Nothing. There was a slight “hiss” when I popped the cap, but nothing when poured into a glass.
Should I be concerned? I moved the rest to a warmer side of the basement where it’s 72 degrees or so, and I’ll leave them there for a week before trying another.
I read somewhere that no-rinse sanitizers can cause a problem for yeast in situations like that. Is this true? Because I don’t always rinse my bottles out before filling them.
I certainly am willing to be patient, but I hope that they aren’t lost. I could always put them in the keg, now that there’s room, but I was hoping to give a few away.
The “hiss” is a good sign that at least something is happening. If your glass is not fully clean…dishwasher residue, etc., it can have an effect on the head of a poured beer. You might want to gently turn the bottles over to stir up any yeast. I guess you could also calculate how much sugar per bottle you need, add the sugar, re-cap, and wait another two weeks or so.
Give it time. I always sanitize my bottles with a solution of StarSan right before bottling and don’t rinse the bottles…just let them air dry. I’ve never had a problem with the bottles not carbing up eventually. I had one batch, a scotch ale, that had zero carbonation after 3 weeks. Not even a hiss. Gave it a few more weeks and it was finally starting to carb up. That batch actually ended up being overcarbed because I added too much priming sugar, it just took it a while to get there for whatever reason.
After almost a week of being in a warmer side of the basement, I chilled a bottle for a day and cracked it last evening.
Either more time was needed or the increased temps did the trick (or both) but there was a nice head on the beer when poured into my glass. Oddly enough, it almost seemed too carbonated now. Not quite, but close.
Also, I noticed that this beer from the bottle (again…an IPA) was more bitter than what I’m drinking from the keg. No off flavors, like an infected bottle, but the hopiness just wasn’t the same and the bitterness was more noticeable.
This is the first time that I’ve bottled any of my IPAs, so I’m not sure if this is something I should expect or not. Thoughts?
How are you pouring your bottles? Yeast settle out and can drag the bitterness compounds with it. In addition, while chilling other polyphenols settle out. These are bitter and if your pouring the entire beer its going into the glass. When kegged you’re not pulling the yeast/polyphenols.
