Hmm.. not as carbonated as I'd hoped

[welly2]

My American Strong Ale has been in the bottle for about 2 weeks now but it hasn't carbonated as I'd hoped it to.

OG was 1.062, FG was 1.012, ABV = 6.5%.

I bottled in 330ml bottles and used Coopers carbonation drops, 1 in each. It has some carbonation but not a lot. It's fine because it's bloody tasty and it's boozy. I'm more than happy drinking it but it'd be nicer with a few more bubbles.

Any reason it didn't carb much? Does it need more time in the bottle?

 

[barls]

storage temp?
also in winter with the lower temps they can take longer to carb.

 

[welly2]

storage temp?
also in winter with the lower temps they can take longer to carb.

Not much in the way of winter up here. Room temperature is about 26-28c. I'll just leave them be and see how it evolves. In the mean time, I'll just have one more only slightly carbonated American Strong Ale. Yum.

 

[Danscraftbeer]

Also (something experts could explain with better words) more bodied beer just seems that way or, it wont carb up as high as lower gravity lighter bodied beers. Even by forse carbing in keg if you try all you get is extreme head. The beer still seems less carbonated than lighter body beers.
and yep more time in the bottle is awesome if you can wait 6 - 12 - 18 months? Thats the hard part.

 

[welly2]

Also (something experts could explain with better words) more bodied beer just seems that way or, it wont carb up as high as lower gravity lighter bodied beers. Even by forse carbing in keg if you try all you get is extreme head. The beer still seems less carbonated than lighter body beers.
and yep more time in the bottle is awesome if you can wait 6 - 12 - 18 months? Thats the hard part.

That's a fair point. Actually the carbonation probably suits it well. I'm actually chuffed to bits with this one. By far the best beer I've ever made and it came out really clear (for a darkish beer). It's ridiculously tasty and I'm going to have to make another batch but lots more of it. I should put a couple of bottles away in hiding and come back to it in 6-12 months.



The head looks livelier than it is - it settles down pretty quickly. But it's fine, just not fizzy like my last few.

 

[Rocker1986]

I had read somewhere recently that ABV content and the SG of the beer affect the CO2 solubility along with pressure and temperature. And now doing a Google search on it, I can't bloody find it for the life of me. Basically from what I can remember it was saying that the higher the ABV and SG of the beer, the harder it is for CO2 to dissolve into it. Apparently. I guess it makes sense, so maybe that's part of the reason.

 

[welly2]

I had read somewhere recently that ABV content and the SG of the beer affect the CO2 solubility along with pressure and temperature. And now doing a Google search on it, I can't bloody find it for the life of me. Basically from what I can remember it was saying that the higher the ABV and SG of the beer, the harder it is for CO2 to dissolve into it. Apparently. I guess it makes sense, so maybe that's part of the reason.

I wondered that myself. Most of the beers (actually all the beers) I've brewed up until this one have been around the 4.5-4.9% mark. This is the first one in the 6s.

 

[Danscraftbeer]

That photo looks perfect! I was imagining that you poured a glass and had no head at all. :drinks:

 

[welly2]

That photo looks perfect! I was imagining that you poured a glass and had no head at all. :drinks:

Well, it looks fine in the photo But it's the way I poured it into the glass - just dumped it out of the bottle! Anyway, it's not the end of the world and man it is tasty!