So I bottled my Dead Ringer 15 days ago and it still is flat…no carbonation whatsoever. This is the first batch I’ve used sucrose as opposed to dextrose, and I followed the recommendation on the recipe sheet provided in the kit. The bottles definitely have sediment, but the first one I cracked this weekend was flat. Does it usually take longer to carb with sucrose? o did everything else identical, stored them at around 68, etc.
TUNA
Should be identical. Is it in a batch using high flocculating yeast? It’s possible that at 68* it could take longer than 2 weeks to carb up. Caps tight? How much sugar and what size batch? How many bottles have you tested?
Did you mix in the sugar well?
Might try warming them up a little more and rousing the yeast every couple of days. Maybe its a little drafty where the beer is sitting, and the cool temps combined with the slightly high gravity of the beer is making things take longer. It is a little odd that they haven’t at least started carbing up though. I use table sugar for this all the time and it works fine.
I say 68 because that’s the coolest that they have been, but anywhere from 68-71 is probably more accurate. I’ve been turning the bottles upside down every few days to keep the yeast suspended, and will continue to wait I guess.
So temp isn’t really an issue then. Sometimes if a yeast is a little “tired” from having chewed up a fairly strong wort (DR is something like 1.065 right?, not that high), it can take a little longer to carbonate. Rousing like you’re doing is about all you can do, it should eventually take off. If the yeast turns out to be dead for some odd reason, you can uncap and add a few grains or rehydrate it in some water and add a ml or two with a dropper. You could try this on a bottle or two if you have some yeast laying around.
