We are new to brewing and have a question. We brewed the smashing pumpkins kit. two weeks after bottling we did not have any carbonation. We bought the carbonation tablets, when we were opening the bottles we heard a little carbonation, then we added on tablet to the bottle and it fizzed over. Not sure what to do. I also opened about 15 bottles. Can we recap? Should we add the tablets? If so how many?
I would recap them all. It sounds like there’s some carbonation. Put one in the fridge for a day. Next day, pour it into a glass and see if it has the carbonation you like. If not, pop a cap, add tabs recap relatively quickly (within a minute). If they’re the little tabs (like a small round pill) then 3 tabs gives normal carbonation, 5 gives really fizzy beer (for 12 ounce bottles). Estimate how much carbonation you have, and depending on how much carbonation you want, I’d add one or two tabs. Then give the bottles a couple of weeks to carb at 65 degrees or so. Realize that if they’ve only been in the bottles for two weeks, they may not have fully carbed yet anyway. I know it’s frustrating to wait, but even at 70F, it can take 3-4 weeks before bottle carbonation is done.
You cannot add the tabs to a bottle with any appreciable carbonation - the tab will cause it to foam over. You can add simple syrup, made with sugar and water, with an eye dropper. But, you should never add more sugar to the bottles unless you are absolutely sure that you did not add enough in the first place or you risk creating bottle bombs.
Move the bottles to somewhere in the 75-80F range and turn them upside down and swirl once or twice a day to get the yeast off the bottom and re-suspend it. Do this for two weeks. Then put one bottle in the fridge for 24+ hours so the CO2 can be fully absorbed and then open and check for proper carbonation.
personally i’ve never had a batch carbonate in the bottle after only two weeks. 3-4 minimum.
Adding a tablet to the bottle after it’s carbonated is a little like adding a scoop of ice cream to a glass of cola. FOAM!
[quote=“Shadetree”]You cannot add the tabs to a bottle with any appreciable carbonation - the tab will cause it to foam over. You can add simple syrup, made with sugar and water, with an eye dropper. But, you should never add more sugar to the bottles unless you are absolutely sure that you did not add enough in the first place or you risk creating bottle bombs.
Move the bottles to somewhere in the 75-80F range and turn them upside down and swirl once or twice a day to get the yeast off the bottom and re-suspend it. Do this for two weeks. Then put one bottle in the fridge for 24+ hours so the CO2 can be fully absorbed and then open and check for proper carbonation.[/quote]
Sound advice.
One more point to add to the other responses. If after a couple more weeks you find that you really do need to add more sugar, you should refrigerate the bottles prior to adding carb tablets. That will prevent the foam up. Process one bottle at a time. Uncap, add tablet, recap, repeat.
It doesn’t sound like you’re using Coopers carbonation droops, but if you are I recommend cutting the dose in half (or smaller) to prevent over-carbonation. A full dose is typically one drop.
Edit: clarified my comment regarding use of coopers drops.
