Can I bottle carb at 60?

[bbriscoe]

I know that isn't the ideal temp, but will it totally stop the carbing process? I've had my bottles on the floor of the pantry (where I always carb them) since before Christmas and opened one last night and there was still no head.

Checked the temp on the floor and the air temp was 60, however, the strip thermo on my fermentor (also on the floor) says the beer in there is 62-64.

So my question is - can beer carb up at those temps at all? Is the low temp definately my problem, or is there possibly something else going on - like dead yeast or underpriming?

BTW, I'm dealing with an oatmeal stout around 6.5% ABV.

 

[Revvy]

Nope, it won't stop the carbing process it will just make it take a long long long long long long time.

 

[bbriscoe]

But after a month of 60-64, I should have some head, right? So my problem is maybe something else?

 

[DubBrew]

It should still carb just alot slower than normal. Although after a month I'd expect some carbonation. What kind of yeast?

 

[Revvy]

But after a month of 60-64, I should have some head, right? So my problem is maybe something else?

Not necessarily. If a beer at 70 takes 4-8 weeks to carb up, then yours could take twice that long.

The 3 weeks at 70 degrees, that we recommend is the minimum time it takes for average gravity beers to carbonate and condition. Higher grav beers take longer.

Stouts and porters have taken me between 6 and 8 weeks to carb up..I have a 1.090 Belgian strong that took three months to carb up.

At 70 degrees....

Temp and gravity are the two factors that contribute to the time it takes to carb beer.

I have that issue in my loft every winter where the ambient is in the low 60's. It can take a couple weeks to a couple months longer than normal. Just try to find the warmest place. I live in a loft, but my GF has a house, and her furnace is in a little alcove in the basement. I prop the cases up off the basement slab and put them as close to the furnace as I can get, and cover them with an insulated blanket. And it seems to work just fine. You can try to rig simething up, maybe and insulated box of something. Maybe even covering it with a sleeping bag will help.

So, no, there would not necessarily been any pffffting at 3-4 weeks at 70 if there wasn't going to be even at 80.

Everything you need to know about carbing and conditioning, can be found here Of Patience and Bottle Conditioning. With emphasis on the word, "patience."

Read the above blog, and come back to the beer in a couple more weeks.

If a beer isn't carbed by "x number of weeks" you just have to give them ore time. If you added your sugar, then the beer will carb up eventually, it's really a foolroof process. All beers will carb up eventually. A lot of new brewers think they have to "troubleshoot" a bottling issue, when there really is none, the beer knows how to carb itself. In fact if you run beersmiths carbing calculator, some lower grav beers don't even require additional sugar to reach their minimum level of carbonation. Just time.

 

[Toga]

bbrisco revvy is giving you solid advice. If you want to carb them up a tad faster place them some place warmer.

 

[bbriscoe]

thanks - though after talking to my LHBS expert he thinks I may have underprimed - I probably used only 1/2 cup or a little more of DME, can't remember exactly. So we might add Carb drops AND put them in a warm spot.