My beer is flat

[James85]

So I got home from work today and tried my pale ale that has been bottled between 2&3 weeks and it's flat. Very tiny head when I poured it into my jug, tastes beautiful but flat. Only thing I did different was I used raw sugar to prime my bottles not white table sugar. Bottled into screw top tallies and used a bench top capper to put the caps on. Does anyone have any ideas why this happened or did I just open two dud bottles?

 

[lukiferj]

This is not a lot of time to carbonate in cooler weather. Another few weeks should do it.

 

[wide eyed and legless]

You should not find any difference between raw and refined sugar I generally use both ( which ever I have available at the time) you must have them some where cool to store them as the spell of warm weather we have experienced should have sent them on their way, better not enough at this stage than to much. ( Don't know what the weather has been like in Toowoomba )

 

[James85]

I store them in the shed in the old cartons, and the weather has been in the low teen's at night and the low to mid 20's during the day. Just a bit concerned that's all, 2nd time using screw top bottles. When I bottled them I inverted the bottle to check for leaks and the caps sealed well.

 

[lukiferj]

I wouldn't be too concerned at this stage. Another few weeks should see them carbonate nicely.

 

[ash2]

Give them a bit of a shake up then leave for a few days & taste again ,plus the weather is warming up they may have been just a little colder than you thought. :icon_cheers:

 

[James85]

I'll give them a shake tomorrow. Doesn't matter that the brew is crystal clear now?

 

[thedragon]

Wait a few more weeks and you'll be fine.

When naturally carbonating in winter I generally wait a minimum of a month for good carbonation.

Use this as an excuse to put another batch down this weekend. It'll be bottled in another two weeks. By the time you get around to drinking, it should be perfectly carbonated.

 

[s_t_r_o_b_e]

At the risk of potentially asking the same thing in a different way, how long do bottles need to carbonate using dextrose and sitting at an almost constant 16 degrees? 2 weeks enough?

 

[dammag]

Some brews seem to carb up under a week, some take many weeks. There are a lot of variables so it may be worth keeping a track of what you do each brew until you know how each scenario is going to react.

 

[James85]

Thank's for the advice guys. I'll give the brews a few more weeks then give them another try.

 

[James85]

And I put a double batch of 20 litter honey blonde on yesterday arvo (40 litres in total)and it's going great gun's now

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

Toowoomba is a bit like NW Tassie in winter (having lived in both) I factor in 4 weeks minimum in my HWS cupboard.

Got an English bitter that's coming on good, gone from @OP original description to perfect carbonation in a week.

 

[yum beer]

I would think 2 weeks plus should be plenty of time with the temps you are getting, Im not hitting those temps and well carbed in 9-10 days.
Alas, leave them a bit longer and see.
I put my money on the twist top bottles and 2 duds. $1.70 on sprortsbet...with the 5% bonus.

 

[philmud]

A few questions:

How much sugar did you use, how large was the batch and what was the fermentation temperature? I think you just need more time (and give them a shake to rouse the yeast), but if you carbed on the low side, that won't have helped either.

 

[HBHB]

Chances are, the yeast cell count in the beer transferred into the bottles was a little low due to the flocculent nature of some yeasts. Nothing to worry about. They'll carb up in time, when they're ready and not before.

Best thing to do is put them aside and revisit in another few weeks.

As an example, some of the beers in the Mangrove Jacks british series and now the craft series ranges use highly flocculent yeasts and if not bottled within a few days of reaching their FG, will take up to 6 weeks to carbonate fully.

It's all good.

Martin

 

[pyrosx]

Did you weight your sugar, or measure it by volume?

Raw sugar has much bigger granules than white, which would make it less dense - so a measured tablespoon would end up a bit lighter than the same measure of white sugar.


Probably not a huge difference, but combine it with the cold weather and/or less yeast in your bottles, it could easily account for the slowness you're seeing.

 

[James85]

I prime each bottle as I cap it using the sugar measure you can get from big w. Tallie on one side stubble on the other. Used screw cap bottles last time with white sugar and had great results. I'm thinking PYROSX is right and I didnt get as much raw sugar in my measure as I do white.
Also used the coopers kit yeast and fermented at 20 then let it sit for 4-5 days after it finished to clear up after it's self.

 

[James85]

Opened two about an hour ago, put them in the fridge at 2:30 beautiful pssshhhtttt when I cracked them, long lasting head and a trail of rings all the way down the glass as I drank them. I guess they just needed time, won't be using raw sugar again though.

 

[HBHB]

Opened two about an hour ago, put them in the fridge at 2:30 beautiful pssshhhtttt when I cracked them, long lasting head and a trail of rings all the way down the glass as I drank them. I guess they just needed time, won't be using raw sugar again though.

And they'll do even better if left cold for 3-4 days before consumption.