German Pilsner - Flat

[mossyrocks]

Hi All,

I recently bottled a German Pilsner after 3 weeks in primary at 10 - 13 degrees.

After 2 weeks I opened 2 bottles to taste their progress and have found the brew to be flat (I bulked primed the fermenter with 120grams of dextrose prior to bottling).

Should I open several bottles and added more priming sugar or tip the lot out.

Thanks

 

[tim_mortensen]

2 weeks is pretty short for a lager. I find 4 weeks is better to get a good idea.

Are you conditioning at room temperature or colder? If cold then they my take a long time to carb up (add a few weeks).

If you add more sugar you may end up with bottle bombs.

Don't tip them out though!!! Patience is a virtue in brewing

Cheers,
Tim

 

[braufrau]

if you opt for repriming, dissolve the sugar in water and syringe it in. A handy hint I got from POL when I reprimed with undissolved sugar and ended up with beer all over the floor.
Pretty dumb!

It would be a good idea to figure out why its flat though.
In my case it turned out I'm not strong enough to get the seals on properly. Now I get HWMBO to seal them and they are fine.

120g isn't much in 23l but if the beer was cold it would be right I guess.
Did you stir it in properly? I've never tried to bulk prime in the fermenter, I always use a separate bucket. If you have a spare fermenter you could use that. Or get a mayonaisse bucket and put a tap on it.


-s

 

[mossyrocks]

2 weeks is pretty short for a lager. I find 4 weeks is better to get a good idea.

Are you conditioning at room temperature or colder? If cold then they my take a long time to carb up (add a few weeks).

If you add more sugar you may end up with bottle bombs.

Don't tip them out though!!! Patience is a virtue in brewing

Cheers,
Tim

Mortz,

I'm conditioning at the same temperature- 10 13 dregrees.

 

[mossyrocks]

if you opt for repriming, dissolve the sugar in water and syringe it in. A handy hint I got from POL when I reprimed with undissolved sugar and ended up with beer all over the floor.
Pretty dumb!

It would be a good idea to figure out why its flat though.
In my case it turned out I'm not strong enough to get the seals on properly. Now I get HWMBO to seal them and they are fine.

120g isn't much in 23l but if the beer was cold it would be right I guess.
Did you stir it in properly? I've never tried to bulk prime in the fermenter, I always use a separate bucket. If you have a spare fermenter you could use that. Or get a mayonaisse bucket and put a tap on it.


-s

Braufrau,

I stir the priming sugar in and let sit for approx 15 - 20 mins prior to bottling.

 

[drsmurto]

120g for 23L is the level i use for stouts!

at least 180g for 23L of pilsner.

 

[Steve]

120g for 23L is the level i use for stouts!

at least 180g for 23L of pilsner.

ditto (thats if i bulk primed when the wort was brought back to room temp)
Cheers
Steve

 

[tim_mortensen]

Mortz,

I'm conditioning at the same temperature- 10 13 dregrees.

Then it will take a few more weeks. It is ok to carbonate at room temperature, then condition / lager at cooler temps once the beer is carbonated. Speeds things up a bit, and won't affect the beer.

 

[barry2]

I always prime with 180g sugar for 23 litres.

 

[mossyrocks]

So does this mean I should add more primimg sugar or just wait and see?

I based my calculations on a document entitled :-

Essential Guide to Bulk Priming

which stated to use 90 - 140 grame per 23l as per the following statement from this document :-

Use Medium to replace standard priming practices (approximately equal to the standard 1 tspn/750 mL bottle instructions that we all started our brewing with). Good for most lagers, regular ales, stouts and so on.

Thanks to all who have offered advice.

 

[Steve]

When I used to bottle and bulk prime (with plain sugar and wort at room temp) I had a rough guide (and I mean rough):

90-130 for dark ales
140-160 for pale ales
160-180 for lagers, wheats

It worked fine for me

Cheers
Steve

Edit...Mossy - bring the bottles to room temp and test one in a couple of weeks. If its still flat you may need to re-carb them

 

[tim_mortensen]

So does this mean I should add more primimg sugar or just wait and see?

I based my calculations on a document entitled :-

Essential Guide to Bulk Priming

which stated to use 90 - 140 grame per 23l as per the following statement from this document :-

Use Medium to replace standard priming practices (approximately equal to the standard 1 tspn/750 mL bottle instructions that we all started our brewing with). Good for most lagers, regular ales, stouts and so on.

Thanks to all who have offered advice.

It's up to you. If it was brewed it for a competition then the carbonation level is a bit low. However will be perfectly drinkable as it is, just a bit less carbonated than what the style guidelines say. Not that it is worth that many points anyway.

If you really want then you can add a bit more to a few bottles to see the difference. Personally I wouldn't bother, not worth stressing over. I'd just let them finish carbonating and enjoy!

If you think the carbonation level is too low, then add a bit more next time you brew.

 

[phonos]

Mortz,

I'm conditioning at the same temperature- 10 13 dregrees.

At that temperature it will take a fair amount of time to finish fermenting all the priming sugar. I think its worhtwhile letting a bottle come up to ~20C for a couple of weeks try that one and make a decision from there.