Beer still flat after a month

[dm1217]

Batch #1 is an IPA, it's been in bottle conditioning for 1 month. It showed decent head on the pour, but still tastes like wort.

My main concern is temperature... Should bottle conditioning basically be treated as another fermentation (with temp on low end for the yeasts ideal range) Temps in my basement this winter have been around 58-63F.

I might have screwed up the priming sugar process (it was my "trial and error" batch afterall) but figured I should make sure the bottles are in the correct temp, to narrow down the issue.

Also, is there a certain point when a batch should be considered a lost cause? (Such as 2 months in ideal range and still flat, etc.)

 

[HeadyKilowatt]

You say it still tasted like wort- you mean sweet? If so, you may not have had a full fermentation, which, if it's the case, should be more of a concern than carbonation. Did you hit your FG?

 

[Revvy]

You want it 70 or above, if you want an average gravity beer to be ready around three weeks. The closer you get to a yeasts dormancy temp the longer it is going to take. Bring them upstairs where it is warmer. Give them a shake and check them in another 2 weeks or so.

 

[Revvy]

Also, is there a certain point when a batch should be considered a lost cause? (Such as 2 months in ideal range and still flat, etc.)

Carbonation is FOOLPROOF, if you've done everything correctly, which if they're not in the ideal temp range, you haven't done it right. Like I said, bring it up to the warmth, the yeast will get more active, and finish the job.

 

[dm1217]

I mean it still tastes like it did in the fermenter. My biggest mistake was leaving too much headspace (only to the bottom of the neck). I've learned a lot since then and my techniques have already improved significantly. If there's any way to salvage these, your 2 cents is appreciated.

 

[dm1217]

Okay thanks, i'll bring them upstairs.

Batch #2 is conditioning, with Nottingham yeast (which is 57-70 ideal. Unless I'm mistaken, my current basement temp (60F) is the perfect range for these. Please correct me if I'm doing that wrong.

 

[GoCrew]

You should bottle condition as close to 70 degrees as possible. Don't worry about the yeast temp range.

 

[unionrdr]

Yeah,the lower temps are good for primary. But not bottle conditioning under pressure. You need 70F or a bit better for that to work properly in the usual 3-4 weeks.

 

[dm1217]

Yeasts thrive in higher temps when under pressure? I want to get a better understanding of why the same rules don't apply for fermentation and bottle conditioning temps. If there's any articles/literature to refer me to, or if someone can expand on why this is the case, I'm interested in learning more.

 

[Revvy]

Yeasts thrive in higher temps when under pressure? I want to get a better understanding of why the same rules don't apply for fermentation and bottle conditioning temps. If there's any articles/literature to refer me to, or if someone can expand on why this is the case, I'm interested in learning more.

It's really not all that complicated. The warmer the yeast, the more active it is...the cooler it is the more sluggish. When it hits the bottom end of the temp range it goes to sleep and falls out of suspension (we capitalize on this when we want to clear a beer quicker when fermentation is complete, we stick it in a fridge and cold crash it.) But the sluggish it is, the longer it takes to do it's job, which is to eat the surrounding sugar.

When we ferment we don't want to ferment too high since there is a risk in off flavor compound production, like esters....But we don't concern ourselves with that during bottle conditioning because 1) The beer itself is already fermented. and 2) We're only fermenting a tiny amount of sugar in the bottle, like a few grams or so, not enough to make a noticeable difference in the over all flavor of the finished product.

 

[GoCrew]

When you make wort, you add fermentable sugar into it. The yeast eat these sugars and make alcohol and CO2 more or less. After fermentation, the yeast have nothing to eat because they used all the fermentable sugars to make the beer. When bottling, you add a small amount of fermentable sugars to get the yeast to produce CO2 to create the fizz. The beer is then put into bottles and bottle conditioning happens which is essentially a mini fermentation. However, there is such a small amount of fermentable sugar and low yeast numbers that a higher temp makes the process faster. There isn't enough sugar to make the yeast produce off flavors in the bottle, so higher temp is ok. If you were to ferment your wort at 70, the yeast would produce off flavors in your beer. In the bottle, there isn't enough sugar for the yeast to do so.

At least that is how I think it works. If this is indeed true, I learned it from here and the book How to Brew.