Carbonating AG versus Extract

[brewinski]

Having only had these two methods of experience ... I am starting to feel like my BAIB AG's are a lot harder to carbonate ??

I have done perhaps 5 Extracts to 7 AG's ... and so far every Extract has come out carbonated like a frickin champion ... I could cry over some of my AG's ... I am getting frightened to open any of them, for the further disappointment ... they all taste and smell awesome, I am so bummed there is no good gas in them.

They have been brewed mostly intermixed ... not, do all the Extracts first, and move on to AG ..

On average I have brewed things that are from an OG of 1044 to 1070 and FG of 1008 to 1018 .. which I assume is within tolerance

And they usually sit no less than 2 weeks, but I have some sitting for over 6 weeks now, and they are pretty weak on the carb.

So a couple of questions spring to mind

1. Can they be rescued, resuscitated in some manner ... drinking flat beer blows ... I just opened one I had made for my wife tonight, who said it was spot on to what she wanted, in fact it was expletive-ly marvellous, but she said she couldn't drink it without bubbles... Back to the man cave...
2. Before I go commit the other 2 (I have 3, but one will be fine, it's a bloody extract) I have fermenting at the moment, to death by bottle ... is there a diff, and why am I such a wally for not knowing that... or do I just man up and bung in more priming sugar.
3. should I just say buggar it, stop measuring sugar, and throw in a carb drop (or whatever proportion is needed) ? (I have tried bulk priming, same shoddy result)

I will obviously head out and read more on priming now, but gosh, what a shock that it's astoundingly all of them AG buggars, I thought I put so much more into the prep and making the suckers too

 

[manticle]

Should be no different. Something else is going on. What's your conditioning and priming process?

 

[brewinski]

Should be no different. Something else is going on. What's your conditioning and priming process?

it's been the same every time ..

Wash the bottles, then soak in either the granular sanitiser (one step) or in Star San ... then throw in 1.4g to 1.6g per 375ml bottle, and fill it up to roughly where I drained the commercial stuff out of it.

 

[manticle]

Also your conditioning process. Is the yeast healthy and warm enough to carbonate?

 

[brewinski]

Also your conditioning process. Is the yeast healthy and warm enough to carbonate?

I always store them in a room that keeps them between 20 and 25 at the peak, in the last week

 

[beercus]

Easy fix....

Keep giving the missus flat beer, when she says that they are no good explain to her that you must now get some kegs, a keezer or kegerator, CO2 and force carb the beers....

Problem solved.....

 

[brewinski]

unfortunately, that's exactly what I wanted to hear

 

[SnakeDoctor]

Same yeast on both?

 

[brewinski]

Same yeast on both?

to be honest, no ... just same types in each, but I have only been sharing yeast amongst the AG's

by types I mean dry, and wet ...

 

[superstock]

Are you sure your priming sugar is enough ? I usually use 2.5-3gms per 375ml.

 

[brewinski]

Are you sure your priming sugar is enough ? I usually use 2.5-3gms per 375ml.

I have just gone off what I used in a few kits that worked, combined with a bit of cross checking on the net ... but your numbers are twice mine ... so if you have been getting success from that, I need to step it up

 

[superstock]

If you go back to your kit instructions, you will find Coopers recommend 8 gms/litre.

 

[brewinski]

If you go back to your kit instructions, you will find Coopers recommend 8 gms/litre.

nay, for I did not use Coopers...

 

[superstock]

nay, for I did not use Coopers...

This may help. 1ounce is 28 gms ! us gallon is 3.78 litres

 

[yum beer]

not enough sugar in the botles AG.
I may be off here but I think that with your AG you are getting a clearer finish(less yeast) in the bottle.
I found the same thing when going from kits to AG, I use around 4.4 - 5.5 g/litre ( 1.65 - 2.06 ) g/375ml, by those numbers your about 15-25% under....and most of my brews are on the lower side of recommended carb leels.
Check out a carb calculator, I use the one in Brewmate and its pretty good.

 

[burrster]

it does seem like you are under priming. your 1.6g per 375ml bottle equates to 4.2g/L. I use about 5.5g/L at the moment(bulk priming method, in extract brews). Super stock is using up to 8g/L(3g per 375ml bottle) so I'd suggest increasing your prime sugar amount.

beaten by Yum......

 

[Weizguy]

No-one seems to have (explicitly) mentioned that the temp of the fermenting beer is a major factor in how much sugar to use for carbonation.

Even if the yeast is dropping clearer than your previous beers, if there's any carbonation, that indicates to me that the yeast is doing its job.

Beer fermented warmer or left to warm up after fermentation will contain less CO2 than beer kept cool during fermentation, and requires more sugar to carbonate to the same level.

Beer fermented warm may need 8g sugar per litre to carbonate to the right level, but cold-fermented beer dosed with 8g/litre may make very effective bottle bombs.

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/articles/article79.html
from 2005, as posted by Doc, here is a downloadable calculator

Beerz. Gonna be a hot one today

Edited for comments in parentheses above

 

[brewinski]

yep, that all makes sense .... currently where I am up to is that I bottled an AG IPA last week, and added more sugar than previous, probably 2.2g average per 375ml ... So My guess is that they will come out better, but likely not perfect either ... Luckily I have 2 AG's and 1 Extract that are due to bottle next week, so I will change it all for that.... These are all 5L batches, so while it's a loss, it's not the biggest....

Will the under carbed ones get any better over more time, or am I better off admitting defeat on about 3 batches ? ...

 

[brewinski]

No-one seems to have (explicitly) mentioned that the temp of the fermenting beer is a major factor in how much sugar to use for carbonation.

Even if the yeast is dropping clearer than your previous beers, if there's any carbonation, that indicates to me that the yeast is doing its job.

Beer fermented warmer or left to warm up after fermentation will contain less CO2 than beer kept cool during fermentation, and requires more sugar to carbonate to the same level.

Beer fermented warm may need 8g sugar per litre to carbonate to the right level, but cold-fermented beer dosed with 8g/litre may make very effective bottle bombs.

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/articles/article79.html
from 2005, as posted by Doc, here is a downloadable calculator

Beerz. Gonna be a hot one today

Edited for comments in parentheses above

so, are you saying' that I should condition them colder ... (Fridge 2 - 4 deg C, or just 15deg C or similar?)

 

[manticle]

No. Just take fermentation and conditioning temperature into account when calculating priming level. It's to do with the amount of carbon dioxide already in the beer.