I brewed a 5G batch of a double IPA on June 15th. The OG was 1.086 and I used WLP 250 from Rebel Brewer. Fermentation was at basement ambient temperature of about 74*. Sanitation was good and a few taste tests 6 weeks were awesome.
I always keg and force carb, but this time I brewed with a friend and since he was taking half the batch, I opted to bottle. Given the style and gravity of the beer, I gave it a long rest in the primary and opted not do do a secondary as I wanted a little yeast in the bottling bucket when I racked.
I bottled on August 3rd with 5oz corn sugar for priming in solution. I bottled in 12oz brownies with standard crowns at 76*. 2 weeks in, I sampled my first bottle and it tasted great - and has very little carbonation. Ugh. I don’t bottle very much, but I was expecting a decent level of carbonation after 2 weeks and didn’t expect it to be so still.
So, I am curious if I have an issue here. I can see some yeast sediment in the bottles and the 2 I have tried had no off-flavors. I could uncap them hand hit them with a few priming tabs, but I don’t want any bottle bombs.
I’d appreciate any advice you could offer. Thanks,
Chill one of your bottles for three days to see if there is any difference. Two weeks may be to short of time for some beers. Chill another in a week to check the progress. It could sometimes happen the priming sugar solution did not mix throughout the beer in the bottling bucket. Some bottles may be lower in carbonation than others if this ocurred. Some people gently stir the priming solution into the beer in the bottling bucket. I don’t because of the extra risk of oxidation and haven’t had carbonation problems. More time is most likely all that is needed.
Two weeks is too short for reliable carbonation when bottle conditioning and (as mentioned above) improperly mixed priming solution may be an issue as well.
If you can fit it into your budget (or add it to your b-day wish list), a Blichmann beer gun would make your life a lot easier for those times when you need to bottle for a friend or to take some homebrew on the road.
Higher gravity beers take longer than 2 weeks. I’m waiting on a 1.088 Belgian, been in the bottle a month and just starting to be fully carbed. 2 weeks ago it was almost flat
So it sounds like I need to be patient for a few more more weeks. I believe I mixed the priming solution up well in the bottling bucket, but I use siphon turbulence for this and don’t stir, so it is possible one bottle may be more carbonated than another when it is all done.
Saying this, the 2 bottles I sampled were from different points in the process and both were the same, so I’m hopeful that this isn’t an issue.
Sounds like this will be fully carbed after a total for 4 to 6 weeks.
I just tested my altbier tonight after two weeks in the bottle. Had it in the fridge for about 6 hours or so. Same issues as above, a little more carbonation than week one. My yeast was wy1007, I did stir the priming sugar in gently, though during transfer my beer ran against the side of the bucket for a bit. I had a little too much height and no way to adjust it. Transferred with auto siphon. Doesn’t taste oxidized or anything, and I plan on lagering it for several weeks after properly carbonated. Og 1.052 Fg 1.006. 6%. Should I give it another week and test another?
Warm it up to carbonate. 70s is good. It might take a month but it should carbonate eventually. If you don’t mind “wasting” them I would try one a week.
I carbonate at room temperature without any thought. If the room is 68F or 82F. The main thing when using a bottling bucket is get even distribution of the priming solution. I start with the empty bucket, add my cooled priming solution of sugar, rack so that I get a whirlpool going from the beer going through the syphon tube. This does a pretty good job of integration. I do a final stir with my sanitized bottling wand.
It’s also important to know that 6 hours in the fridge is going to give you a flat beer when compared to a full day or even better 2 days. It takes a lot of time for the CO2 in the headspace to be absorbed. So patience with this fridge time is important as well.
Ok right on. That’s how I add in my priming sugar, only use a sanitized spoon to give it a gentle stir at the end. I didn’t realize about the longer fridge time. My first four batches carbonated in 2 weeks no prob. Does the cold temp help the co2 in the headspace integrate into the beer? I guess I will just have to keep testing it out.
You can test this out. Every 12 hours put a bottle in the fridge until you have a complete 6 pack in there. Label each one. Invite 6 friends over for a beer and serve them all trying to pour the same way.
You should see the 72 hour beer have the biggest head and the longest lasting carbonation. Each bottle will be slightly less impressive the less time they were in refrigeration
Those Domino Dots work good. I’ve done that for bottling extra beer left after filling a keg. I think Flars was one of the folks that first mentioned that here…I think.
