Flat As A Tack

[vchead]

I have been looking forward to my recent brews as I have just discovered hops and the initial results indicate that my latest batches are going to be good. I have been upset to discover however that almost every one is flat and sweet, ie, undrinkable. This is especially upsetting because not only does it mean pooring beer down the sink but these were the first brews I was proud enough of to share with my mate, with rather embarrasing results.

Except for the addition of hops, my routine is the same as it has been for all my brews. Yeast is either the 04 or 56 ale yeasts from HBS.

The only thing I can think of is that the temperature in the garage has dropped significantly with the start of winter and the secondary fermentation in the bottle is not happening because its too cold. This, I deduct, would mean the yeast isn't active and not eating sugar priming drops and not producing CO2.

Can anyone assist with advice about what the hell has gone wrong with what should be my best brews so far? If I am right in thinking temperature is the cause, can I heat up the bottles and get the yeast back on the job?

Any other causes for this disaster?

Thanks gents

 

[bconnery]

Give us some more details. Recipes, method, priming levels of sugar, time in the bottle etc.

They will take more time to ferment and carbonate in winter so a little more patience is required but anything else you can gve to help work out the cause would be good...

 

[Adamt]

That would be exactly correct I would think. Keep the bottles in a warmer place, 20Cish, and rouse the bottles a little to get more yeast back into suspension. It will take a week or two.

 

[capretta]

yeah, dont pour them out!! just leave them inside and it should be warm enough to start the yeasties up again. do you have your hot water system inside cause thats where i leave my bottles to carbonate.

 

[brettprevans]

Rodders

Dont stress too much. As it has already been said, the temperature plays havoc with carbonation. I tried a few of my beers last week, which had been bottled for 2 weeks - dead flat and sweet. very dissappointing. so I moved them to a warmer place and gently tipped each botlle over to mix the yeast up a bit. A week later.... nicely carbonated.
Lazy yeasties!

 

[PostModern]

Yeah, like us humans, Ale yeast like to sleep in during Winter.
If you bulk prime and are careful choosing strains with the same apparent attenuation, you can pitch some lager yeast into the bottling bucket during winter to let them carb up even in the cold. The danger is picking a yeast that might not only eat your carb drops, but some of the unfermented sugars from the original ale > BANG! I have found SO4 to be a lazy yeast that leaves lots of residual sugars but mixing something like W34/70 into a beer fermented with US-05 (56) would probably work.

Another reason I love my kegs.

 

[vchead]

Thanks everyone.

Details of brew are:

Coopers PA
HBS Megobooster mix
200g Dex
Ale yeast (56 I think)
15 grms hops
Temp at around 18 degrees

I then primed bottles with carb drops and stored in the open in garage.

Will try flipping bottles and storing inside to warm them up. Any suggestions how storing inside can be successfully explained to the bread knife?

Cheers,

Rodders

 

[Fatgodzilla]

Thanks everyone.

Details of brew are:

Coopers PA
HBS Megobooster mix
200g Dex
Ale yeast (56 I think)
15 grms hops
Temp at around 18 degrees

I then primed bottles with carb drops and stored in the open in garage.

Will try flipping bottles and storing inside to warm them up. Any suggestions how storing inside can be successfully explained to the bread knife?

Cheers,

Rodders

She probably want believe you if you need it was a medical emergency ???

 

[brettprevans]

try the 'if I dont do it, it wont work and it will be a waste of money' angle.
Or just dont tell her, and do it anyway. just hid it.

I have beer and equipment in the laundry, kitchen, study, outside on the decking. So use that as an example and tell her that at least your not as that.

 

[Numgutz]

Will try flipping bottles and storing inside to warm them up. Any suggestions how storing inside can be successfully explained to the bread knife?

Cheers,

Rodders

Get her involved. I do the brewing and my husband drinks it - I can't stand the stuff. He says is beautiful! Clear and lively.
Although I am concerned at this latest batch, doesn't smell right. Have moved it to a warmer clime, and will have to bottle, and wait.

 

[Doogiechap]

I put all of my stubbies in those cheap plastic boxes and stored them in our then spare room out of sight. It can be a hard thing to pull of if you are short of space. Perhaps toss a 'throw rug' over your collection and say "it's just for a couple of weeks" (and then say the same for the next batch) You'll have a shed in no time .

 

[MSR]

I have been looking forward to my recent brews as I have just discovered hops and the initial results indicate that my latest batches are going to be good. I have been upset to discover however that almost every one is flat and sweet, ie, undrinkable. This is especially upsetting because not only does it mean pooring beer down the sink but these were the first brews I was proud enough of to share with my mate, with rather embarrasing results.

Except for the addition of hops, my routine is the same as it has been for all my brews. Yeast is either the 04 or 56 ale yeasts from HBS.

The only thing I can think of is that the temperature in the garage has dropped significantly with the start of winter and the secondary fermentation in the bottle is not happening because its too cold. This, I deduct, would mean the yeast isn't active and not eating sugar priming drops and not producing CO2.

Can anyone assist with advice about what the hell has gone wrong with what should be my best brews so far? If I am right in thinking temperature is the cause, can I heat up the bottles and get the yeast back on the job?

Any other causes for this disaster?

Thanks gents

Move your beers inside for a week or two, they'll be fine.

 

[hoppyhead]

You need more bottles so you can let the beer sit for 6 months before you drink it. It will improve out of site with extra time in the bottle.

 

[reveler]

this happened to me when I was living in Canberra.

I just let them sit a bit longer in a warmer area and it was all good.

 

[vchead]

Thanks everyone.

Beers now sitting in corner of internal laundry for next couple of weeks.

This is going down very well with the yeast but not you know who.

Rodders

 

[petesbrew]

Thanks everyone.

Beers now sitting in corner of internal laundry for next couple of weeks.

This is going down very well with the yeast but not you know who.

Rodders

Tell here you'll brew her up a framboise as thanks

 

[xknifepointx]

I got a Pale Ale that is flat, bottled about 10 days ago when I opened a few cold ones it's flat, but has large bubbles sitting on top, then tried another one last night and it had a little carbonation. Guess it just needs more time.

 

[vchead]

Thanks to all that assisted me with this one. After a couple weeks in the warm laundry (and several enquiries about how much longer crates of beer will be in the laundry) the beer is carnonated and tasting good. Should be even better after a couple of months.

Thanks guys and girls,

Rodders

 

[braufrau]

This is such a common problem in winter ... the answer should be airlocked or added to a FAQ or something!

 

[Disco_tezz]

try the 'if I dont do it, it wont work and it will be a waste of money' angle.
Or just dont tell her, and do it anyway. just hid it.

I have beer and equipment in the laundry, kitchen, study, outside on the decking. So use that as an example and tell her that at least your not as that.

Well that sounds familiar, it is amazing how quickly this stuff takes over many rooms in the house and outside.

Get her involved. I do the brewing and my husband drinks it - I can't stand the stuff. He says is beautiful! Clear and lively.
Although I am concerned at this latest batch, doesn't smell right. Have moved it to a warmer clime, and will have to bottle, and wait.

Getting her invloved and drinking it, is the only way i was able to get it to take over some many rooms, I now have our 3rd bedroom to use to store all my bottles, so they can stay warm enough to carbinate,


Cheers

Tezz