zarniwoop
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- 30/12/11
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- 264
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Hi All,
My first brew is an all Amarillo version of Neil's Centennial Ale (I know it makes the name a bit redundant ). All went well, I even steeped some crystal malt and crash chilled it for a week to reduce the sediment, it's now been in the bottle for 4 weeks (I tried one every week to see the change) it has a lovely taste, good body and is quite clear but almost every bottle I've tried has very little carbonation.
Initially I just thought I'd got too clever for my own good on my first brew as when I bulk primed it I used the correct amount of sugar for what I estimated the temperature would be after I transferred it from the crash chiller to the bottling bucket so I suspect I just had the wrong amount of sugar but yesterday I cracked open the four week trial bottle and it was lovely, with a good head and a nice level of carbonation. Handing it too my wife I proudly cracked open the second (and third) and both were like the previous few week's tastings: flat.
So question is what did I do wrong?
Is it just a case of too little sugar? If so why was one bottle ok? Did I need more sugar as I crash chilled it and dropped too much yeast out of suspensions? Any other problems that I might have caused?
And the biggest question of all.... can I save it? Is it possible to open them up and add some more sugar after 4 weeks in the bottle? If so any recommendations how much? If it helps they are just starting to carb, e.g. some small bubbles and a tiny bit of head on top which soon disappears but that's it.
Any help much appreciated!
Zarniwoop
My first brew is an all Amarillo version of Neil's Centennial Ale (I know it makes the name a bit redundant ). All went well, I even steeped some crystal malt and crash chilled it for a week to reduce the sediment, it's now been in the bottle for 4 weeks (I tried one every week to see the change) it has a lovely taste, good body and is quite clear but almost every bottle I've tried has very little carbonation.
Initially I just thought I'd got too clever for my own good on my first brew as when I bulk primed it I used the correct amount of sugar for what I estimated the temperature would be after I transferred it from the crash chiller to the bottling bucket so I suspect I just had the wrong amount of sugar but yesterday I cracked open the four week trial bottle and it was lovely, with a good head and a nice level of carbonation. Handing it too my wife I proudly cracked open the second (and third) and both were like the previous few week's tastings: flat.
So question is what did I do wrong?
Is it just a case of too little sugar? If so why was one bottle ok? Did I need more sugar as I crash chilled it and dropped too much yeast out of suspensions? Any other problems that I might have caused?
And the biggest question of all.... can I save it? Is it possible to open them up and add some more sugar after 4 weeks in the bottle? If so any recommendations how much? If it helps they are just starting to carb, e.g. some small bubbles and a tiny bit of head on top which soon disappears but that's it.
Any help much appreciated!
Zarniwoop