Poor Carbonation

Yeast & Fermentation
1

Hi All,
I brewed a wheat -apple- rye beer not long ago and I have rather poor carbonation. I,m pretty sure it was due to the yeast being about wore out from fermentation.My question is would it be wise in future brews just to add a packet of dry yeast along with the priming sugar when bottling? Thanks in advance…Tank

2

You’ll get many different opinions on this, but when I bottle, regardless of the age of the beer I always add a little fresh, rehydrated dry yeast to the bottles. For anything under 1.060 OG, 1-2g is plenty, above that I scale it with 5g for ~1.090. Above that, I don’t bother bottle-conditioning since even with fresh yeast the results can be disappointing with the higher ABV impacting the yeast.

3

Thanks, My next question would then be if I,m using so little yeast, is there a certain way or any way I can save the rest for future bottling or is it a sacrifice of yeast?

4

Thanks, My next question would then be if I,m using so little yeast, is there a certain way or any way I can save the rest for future bottling or is it a sacrifice of yeast?[/quote]
Roll up the package and refrigerate for use later at bottling. When cutting the first time, nick off a corner with sanitized scissors. The next time, cut a bit more off with sanitized scissors.

Do you have a layer of yeast at the bottom of your bottles? I’ve found that a lot of carbonation issues are usually from not keeping bottles warm enough for long enough.

5

[quote=“tankie”]Hi All,
I brewed a wheat -apple- rye beer not long ago and I have rather poor carbonation. I,m pretty sure it was due to the yeast being about wore out from fermentation.My question is would it be wise in future brews just to add a packet of dry yeast along with the priming sugar when bottling? Thanks in advance…Tank[/quote]

How long ago is “not long ago”? I’ve had higher gravity brews take upwards of 5 weeks at 70+ degrees to fully bottle carb. Are you sure it couldn’t be an issue with your capper or caps?

FWIW I am on the other end of that wide range of opinions. Unless you are filtering, it is an extreme rarity that there is not enough yeast in suspension to digest some simple sugar in the beer and make CO2…I’ve had 10-week cold-conditioned (prior to priming) lagers that didn’t need an additional hit of yeast.

I would save the money you will spend on additional ‘priming yeast’ packets and get yourself a digital scale, and use a priming sugar calculator. You will have nearly exact carb every time.

finally, shake your bottles, and find a spot in the house that stays north of 70*. Leave them there for 2-3 more weeks, and if there is STILL no carbonation, I will dine on my words :slight_smile: