Hey All
I bottled a German alt about three weeks ago and it’s not really carbonating. Very low carbonation. This is my second total batch I’ve done and I didn’t really research the techniques to fermentation and didn’t lager it at all. fermentation temp was around 60-62. 10 days in primary and about 3 weeks in secondary.
Any advice at all would be greatly appreciated!
Are the bottles 75*F or higher?
First of all, give it more time. And warming it up a bit is a good suggestion, that helps the yeast work.
Second, you did good with the ferm temp but at the cooler end the yeast is going to take longer to work, so don’t rush to secondary. Hopefully it was about done fermenting? Did you use an alt yeast? It wouldn’t really need to be lagered as its an ale.
Probably around 68-70
I used 1007 I believe that is the German ale strain. It appeared as though fermentation was done and the hydrometer reading was stable.
A German alt with 1007 yeast is on of my go to beers. Sounds like your fermentation was fine.
As far as carbonation, I assume you are bottle conditioning? If so how much and what type of priming sugar did you use? What was the temperature of the beer when you bottled and at what temperature have you stored the beers since bottling?
I used table sugar and a little more then 5/8 a cup in a pint of water. bottled and conditioned in around 68-70 degrees
It’ll take off, sometimes carbonation is painfully slow. The fact that it has some carbonation means its working. I’d agree with the idea of putting it somewhere a little warmer.
Even after the gravity stabilizes and activity is no longer apparent, its good to let the beer sit on yeast for at least a few more days so the yeast in the cake can clean up fermentation by-products like acetaldehyde and diacetyl. This is especially the case when fermenting at lower temps like 60F for ales. I’ll even let a beer warm up and do a “diacetyl rest” for something like an alt that is kind of a cross between an ale and a lager.
