Under Carbed... Can It Be Fixed?

[Camo1234]

Gents, I just cracked the first bottle of my second brew and it is very flat... But tastes great!

I did a fairly standard kit and bits brew with some dex, malt and hops.... My issue is I was stressed about bottle bombs as my brew only got down to 1.015 and I had been reading up on bottle bombs!

To alleviate my stress I only added around 120g of dex to my batch when I bulk primed.

Needless to say I have avoided the bottle bombs but my brew is very flat.

I am stoked as it tastes OK and drinkable (after my cat piss 29c Fermented first batch!).. But it is very flat.


My question is can I ressurect this???

I am thinking that I may be able to uncap them all and add a little amount of dex to each bottle, recap and then give it a shake.... Will this fix it????

Any advice will be greatly appreciated... I am very happy as I have just finished my first glass of beer that I brewed! (first batch I couldnt bring myself to finishing a glass!)

 

[QldKev]

Gents, I just cracked the first bottle of my second brew and it is very flat... But tastes great!

I did a fairly standard kit and bits brew with some dex, malt and hops.... My issue is I was stressed about bottle bombs as my brew only got down to 1.015 and I had been reading up on bottle bombs!

To alleviate my stress I only added around 120g of dex to my batch when I bulk primed.

Needless to say I have avoided the bottle bombs but my brew is very flat.

I am stoked as it tastes OK and drinkable (after my cat piss 29c Fermented first batch!).. But it is very flat.


My question is can I ressurect this???

I am thinking that I may be able to uncap them all and add a little amount of dex to each bottle, recap and then give it a shake.... Will this fix it????

Any advice will be greatly appreciated... I am very happy as I have just finished my first glass of beer that I brewed! (first batch I couldnt bring myself to finishing a glass!)

You have got it in 1: I would open it, add sugar add at half rate and quickly recap, then move onto the next one.

 

[yum beer]

if it tastes good, who give a s..t.
so you dont burp quite as much.
i drink for taste, im sure you do to.
If it worries ya that much, drink with your eyes shut, you wont even know.

 

[b_thomas]

You're opening yourself up to infection by spoon feeding dextrose directly into bottles.

I'd be measuring 10ml x Number of Bottles of water and then boiling your dextrose with that for a short period and then using a 10ml syringe to "inject" your bottles. It's a little more process driven but you'll find it causes a lot less mess and will result in less chance of infection.

 

[Camo1234]

if it tastes good, who give a s..t.
so you dont burp quite as much.
i drink for taste, im sure you do to.
If it worries ya that much, drink with your eyes shut, you wont even know.

I drink for taste for sure but while it tastes good it is very flat and I don't enjoy a flat beer.


I will give the syringe method a go.... I am thinking about 40g of dex to 150ml water and boil it up and then inject, cap, give a little shake and let it be for another few weeks :icon_cheers:

Cheers!

 

[Trusty1]

why not just give each bottle a little shake and put away for another couple of weeks at 20-22C? if no good after that, then go through the hassle of uncapping etc?

What was your recipe? If you used a brew enhancer with Maltodextrin (corn syrup) in it (Coopers BE1 or equivalent) 1015 is ball park figures, but 2 readings the same over a few days tells you fermentation has finished.

 

[Strange Brew]

If you used a brew enhancer with Maltodextrin (corn syrup) in it (Coopers BE1 or equivalent) 1015 is ball park figures, but 2 readings the same over a few days tells you fermentation has finished.

I'm interested to know your source that maltodextrin is corn syrup.

 

[felten]

It's not high fructose corn syrup, where the starch has been broken down into fructose. But it is made from corn and you see it called corn syrup in some places, not sure why as it's usually sold in dried form.

 

[michael_aussie]

Gents, I just cracked the first bottle of my second brew and it is very flat... But tastes great!
......
My question is can I ressurect this???

I am thinking that I may be able to uncap them all and add a little amount of dex to each bottle, recap and then give it a shake.... Will this fix it????

Any advice will be greatly appreciated... I am very happy as I have just finished my first glass of beer that I brewed! (first batch I couldnt bring myself to finishing a glass!)

Yes, you can, ... I have before when I've has a few "flatties" but I would just use white sugar.

You're opening yourself up to infection by spoon feeding dextrose directly into bottles.

Yes, he may be increasing the risk of infection, but if the beer is flat.. and he ends up with carb'ed beer, then he has won.

I wouldn't be putting this beer away to age for 12 months.
I'd open the bottles, add some sugar, store at around 20degrees, and drink in about 2-3 weeks time.
If the beer tastes nice now, you will recover them doing this.

 

[fawnroux]

G'day Camo,

After reading your post, I had an idea of what might be the problem. See, 120g of dex should give you pretty decent carbonation, especially if it's an ale you have primed. It's possible that as you bulk primed, the dissolved sugar did not mix through the beer all that well. If so, then you would have some bottles under carbed, some perfect and other that will be gushing like crazy when open. I had a similar experience when I started bulk priming.

If you can remember where you put the first bottles you bottled, maybe try one of them. If it is a case of the sugar not being distributed well, then the first bottles should be way more carbed.

I may be wrong, just an idea.

Also, how long ago did you bottle and what temp are they stored at?

Dave

 

[Strange Brew]

It's not high fructose corn syrup, where the starch has been broken down into fructose. But it is made from corn and you see it called corn syrup in some places, not sure why as it's usually sold in dried form.

Probably passed through a marketing department at some point :icon_cheers:

 

[manticle]

Yes, you can, ... I have before when I've has a few "flatties" but I would just use white sugar.


Yes, he may be increasing the risk of infection, but if the beer is flat.. and he ends up with carb'ed beer, then he has won.

I wouldn't be putting this beer away to age for 12 months.
I'd open the bottles, add some sugar, store at around 20degrees, and drink in about 2-3 weeks time.
If the beer tastes nice now, you will recover them doing this.

If you add undissolved sugar into the brews, they will gush in response. I agree with the idea of making a solution, both for sanitation and for ease of introducing the sugar into the beer.

Before doing this however - How long since you primed?
What temperature have the bottles been at during this time?
How did you bulk prime (did you dissolve sugar first or add straight in, did you rack or did you do it from primary, etc, etc)?
Is there any carbonation at all?

If you do end up making a sugar solution to add in, you will need to be careful with calculation - you can still run the risk of bottle bombs.

 

[RobboMC]

I've actually done this, I under carbed a batch and recovered it by uncapping and adding extra dex.

I used the 'inject dex solution with a syringe' method. I can assure you that even with chilled bottles the intruduction of fresh sugar into an already slightly carbed solution of beer produces INSTANT gushing of CO2.

You need to allow for about 25% loss of your extra sugars from the overflows. Also, chill the bottles down as cold as you can beforehand. Have your capper at the ready, fresh caps in the slot, uncap, then.....

inject and CAP instantly. You need to cap with 3 seconds, 1 second if you can. Get someone to help you if possible, 4 hands are twice as good as two. You need to get the cap sealed first hit with the capper, no second chances.

I did this successfully once a few years back, I've been brewing for 5 years now and have had a small success at a brewing comp. I feel that I know what I'm doing. It isn't easy, but it is possible.

I'd be dissolving about 80g of dex into exactly 150ml if boiling water, let it cool, than add exactly 5ml into each bottle, 10ml or 20ml plastic syringes can be bought from any chemist for about $2.