Carbonation Issues

[Mark Kessell]

hi guys,

i bottled my uber fantastic stout couple weeks ago, and i used about 1 teaspoon of dextrose to prime the bottles. i'm not getting any carbonation at all.

i've checked the caps, and they're all on tight to the point it's ripping my hand apart when i try to get them tighter. i cleaned the bottles using hot soapy water, rinsed in cold, sanitised with starsan, and then another quick cold rinse befor putting the beer in. i've not had any problems using dextrose in the past. so i feel it can't be that.

the malt i used in the recipe is as follows (can't remember the exact amounts, but in total, was 6kg malt bill):
Barley Flakes
Medium Peat Smoked Malt
Caramalt 30
Maris Otter Base

i wouldn't have thought it was anything in there that would cause it. but not sure.
i only had >1L trub in the fermenter, so not much yeast would have been bottled i feel.

any ideas? or just leave it longer?

[Mike Neilson]

Hmmmmmmmm? Dont have a clue!! What I would do if I was you would be to ditch the bottles and buy a kegging set up. that way no issues!! Or buy a hand pull and drink the stout through that.

[Alelover]

I use less dextrose than you have and have carbonation after only 1 week, is it possible that the temps could have got high at any point which may have affected the yeast?

[Reviled]

Definately seems wierd, there should definately be enough yeast to carbonate the beer, even if you only have a light dusting on the bottom of the bottle it will still carb!

Im thinking temp??

But also agree with Mike, shout yourself a kegging set up as you will NOT regret it ;o)

[Mark Kessell]

i dont have the spare $500 atm.
when you say tempoerature, do you mean during fermentation, or in the bottle while priming?

the fermentation was solid at 20 degrees right the way through. started at 1.054, and ended at 1.012.
so attentuation was good (for a stout).

the bottles are stored in the garage, at ambient temperatures. so about 18 - 20 degrees constantly.

[James P]

I used to bulk prime my beers, however 1 teaspoon is 5grams of dextrose which should be sufficient to prime a 750ml bottle.

There is nearly always yeast in the bottle/keg, (unless you have an uber cool filtration and pastuerisation plant) so if you have primed it correctly, kept it at 18C, then there should be signs of carbonation after a week or two.

Could just be one of those homebrew black hole situations, however I would hazard a guess at dishwash / detergent / soap residue, as rinsing with cold will not remove the detergent chemicals. (My garage is never a consistent temperature ranging from 5C to 30C). I'd leave it another week or two and try again! :)

[Michael]

Mark,

I have had the same thing happen a couple times, and so far I have it narrowed down to times that I did a secondary fermentation in my glass carboy for an extended time. (like 3 more weeks.) During those times I also had US-04 as the yeast.

Generally, you will have enough yeast in suspension to carbonate your beer. However, in those cases where it may be suspect, you can always make a starter and pitch it into the fermenter a day or so before bottling. Then you definitely know the suspension will be there. Whether or not this is a US-04 problem or not, I cannot say. Nevertheless, every time it happened to me, US-04 was involved.

At this point your best bet is to give each bottle a good shake, and move it to a relatively warm location in your house. (Not hot, but warm.) Try doing the batch another time, and change one component that you suspect.

[Reviled]

Hmmm, yeah as Michael says try inverting the bottles a few times to see if you can get some action going...

Even after 3 weeks in a carboy, and even if the beer is bright there will be enough yeast in the beer to carbonate, it just may be a little bit slower if theres no visible yeast.. The only way to fully remove the yeast is to filter it or pasteurise!

[Stu McKinlay]

true dat!

[JR]

I have had the exact same problem a couple of times - always with dark beer. You will be happy to know that in my experience it always does eventually carbonate, just slowly.

The first time I had it happen I just thought that I had put in the wrong amount of priming sugar. It carbonated a tiny bit but was way too flat and I just started drinking it thinking it would never come right. About 2/3rds of the way through drinking the batch (perhaps about 8 weeks after bottling) it was fully carbonated and one of my favourite batches of beer. The next time it happened I knew just to wait. I began to believe that dark beers just took longer to carbonate until I had a few that carbonated quickly like a normal beer. I have no idea why it happened.

I was most likely using an Irish Ale yeast from Wyeast and probibly gave it 1 week in primary and 2-4 weeks in secondary. (it was a fair while ago now i cant quite remember)

Someone told me to add some US05 to the beer a day or 2 before bottling to avoid the problem - I have never done this but I dont think its a good idea as US05 is fairly attenuative and would likely eat some of the sugars left by the Irish Ale yeast and over carb and over attenuate the beer.

In summary I guess what I am saying is just wait and it will come right - in my case about 2 months.

[Mark Kessell]

i used US-05 to ferment anyway.
the last dark beer i mate carbonated fine. but the difference was that was an extract beer, and not an AG.


hrrmmmmm...... i'll give it a couple more weeks, and hopefully it'll be carbonated enough for the WBC at the malthouse.

[Reviled]

How carbed is it?? Is it lightly carbed?? Cos if you give yourself a bit of time and keep drinking you may actually find you prefer the light carbonation like many of us do after a while!

Light carb and cellar temp = Ideal serving for 90% of beers IMO :o)

[Mark Kessell]

so light that the bubbles that DO form might as well be cosmetic.
but enough to cause some lacing on the glass as you drink it. :)