Carbonation & Fizz?

[muthead]

Hi All,

Forgive the naivety of this question.

2 weeks ago I bottled Neil's Centerillo, and tonight I thought I'd try one, see how she's progressing.

When I opened I got a real good fizz sound, I poured and got some good head yet the beer tastes flat. It tastes beautiful, just flat.

With more time in the bottle will this improve or is it a case of me not priming well enough when bulk priming?

I assumed, wrongly clearly, that a good fizz when the top comes off means the beer wiill be well carbonated.

Long story short - should I panic or just wait for a few weeks and try another?

Cheers,

Mut

 

[Maheel]

panic !!!!!

then wait two weeks
but be happy it tastes good now

 

[bum]

But does he wait two weeks from now or from when he stops panicking? QUICK! THIS IS A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH!

Fizzy beer is **** anyway.

 

[muthead]

Appreciate the constructive, helpful responses.

I don't want it to be fizzy like Coke, but I don't want it as flat as water either.

Anyone with any real suggestions?

Cheers,

 

[bum]

Yeah. Wait.

 

[muthead]

Yeah. Wait.

Thankyou.

 

[pcmfisher]

Is it actually flat or just looks that way in a glass?

 

[twizt1d]

did you use a headmaster type glass?
when i had my last keg carbed fairly low if i poured into a headmaster it would just make it go flat pretty well straight away

 

[Ian Gommers]

Was the bottle chilled?

 

[muthead]

Is it actually flat or just looks that way in a glass?

It was actually flat, not that many bubbles rising when poured. I'm thinking I may have under primed?

did you use a headmaster type glass?
when i had my last keg carbed fairly low if i poured into a headmaster it would just make it go flat pretty well straight away

No Wasn't a headmaster was just a normal glass. Never had issues before with same glass.

Was the bottle chilled?

It was yes, for about 3 hours.

 

[MarkBastard]

The reason people are giving you a bit of crap is that this is a question that is asked all the time "I didn't wait for my bottles to carbonate before opening one, and it wasn't carbonated!"

Two weeks isn't always enough. So wait longer before even considering this a problem.

Did you keep records of how much you primed? Is that why you think it's that?

 

[Truman42]

Mate I've done exactly the same as you .. And asked about it on here and got razzed for it.. It's all part of being an AHB member.
I've had beers that were nicely carbonated After only 5 days,then others like a steam beer I have now that's been bottled for over four weeks and still only showing some signs of life. (despite my processes being equal for all brews)

And as I was told on here. Just wait. I check one every couple of weeks now just to see how it's going.

 

[muthead]

Did you keep records of how much you primed? Is that why you think it's that?

Yes I did - I always just follow Ian's spreadsheet and before that a bulk priming calc, never had any problems. Only thing different this time I moved to secondary to CC for a week before racking to prime. Am thinking maybe it didnt mix as well as it could have?

Cheers,

 

[MarkBastard]

Yes I did - I always just follow Ian's spreadsheet and before that a bulk priming calc, never had any problems. Only thing different this time I moved to secondary to CC for a week before racking to prime. Am thinking maybe it didnt mix as well as it could have?

Cheers,

Could just mean that this time you've cold conditioned and there'll be less yeast in each bottle. Still enough to carbonate, but it may take longer (say 4 weeks instead of 2).

Another thing is to chill a bottle for longer. Just a hunch of mine but I reckon at warmer temps a beer bottle has a higher pressure head space and as a beer cools this gas needs to be absorbed back into the beer. I'm not sure of the science behind it but there'd be a change that a beer could cool quicker than the co2 can be absorbed back into that chilled beer and create the right balance. So when you open the beer and the gas escapes it is lost and the beer itself is slightly lower in carbonation. I'm just basing this on what I know about kegs and I could be completely wrong.

Either way it's 99% going to be that they haven't conditioned long enough.

 

[muthead]

Could just mean that this time you've cold conditioned and there'll be less yeast in each bottle. Still enough to carbonate, but it may take longer (say 4 weeks instead of 2).

Another thing is to chill a bottle for longer. Just a hunch of mine but I reckon at warmer temps a beer bottle has a higher pressure head space and as a beer cools this gas needs to be absorbed back into the beer. I'm not sure of the science behind it but there'd be a change that a beer could cool quicker than the co2 can be absorbed back into that chilled beer and create the right balance. So when you open the beer and the gas escapes it is lost and the beer itself is slightly lower in carbonation. I'm just basing this on what I know about kegs and I could be completely wrong.

Either way it's 99% going to be that they haven't conditioned long enough.

Thanks very much, you've pretty much allayed my fears. I'll leave another couple of weeks then have another dip.

Appreciated.

 

[wombil]

When I bottle I find that they are best at 5 weeks.If they live that long.

 

[jakethedog]

Co2 absorbtion is related to pressure and temperature. The higher the pressure in the head space the greater the absoption. This is a linear relationship. The lower the temperature the greater the absorption also (providing the beer is not frozen). Time is also a factor. Greater time = greater absorption. This will plateau off. The amount of residual yeast will play a role also. pH is a factor for co2 absorption also but probably has a very minor part here. So in essence keep it warm for as long as you can to get as much co2 pressure, then keep it at as close to zero degrees celcius for as long as possible and you will have fizzy beer.

 

[tunza60]

I had a similar problem a while back. I put my bottles in my beer fridge with my heating pad in there (fridge turned off obviously), and a week later they were good to go.

 

[tunza60]

wombil...5 weeks...i wish!!!!..lol