Under carbed beer!
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harebearva
Well-Known Member
What temp did you carb at? Also, IMO 9 days isn't long enough. Some of my brews have taken 3-4 weeks to carb up. I'd wait longer before doing anything.
My basement holds steady at 66... All my others have been good to go within 10 days... I'll sit on them for a while longer but I'm doubtful.
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harebearva
Well-Known Member
Could be a yeast issue. If you have less yeast in suspension, carbing will definitely take longer. If you're confident that you added the correct amount of sugar when you bottled, then I wouldn't add more. You'll most likely have sweeter flat beer. I'd be more inclined to add a bit of yeast, but FIRST...
I'd move them to a warmer place, 70-75F and let them go at least 2 more weeks. IMO it would be very unusual to have no yeast left in suspension unless you did a LONG lagering period. Try setting them next to the water heater. mine radiates a constant 75F ambient.
I'd move them to a warmer place, 70-75F and let them go at least 2 more weeks. IMO it would be very unusual to have no yeast left in suspension unless you did a LONG lagering period. Try setting them next to the water heater. mine radiates a constant 75F ambient.
You watered down your beer after it was done, in order to hit a certain (low) FG? While that may not be responsible for the undercarbed issue, it's not a good practice. The beer probably would taste better without being watered down by 20%. A projected FG is a guestimate at best, and in an extract batch a beer will often have a FG of 1.020, no matter what the projection is and that's absolutely fine.
Anyway, did you add enough priming sugar for 6 gallons of beer? If you did, warming it a bit and keeping it at least 70 degrees for three weeks will definitely help the carbonation level, but not the watery mouthfeel.
hunter_le five
Sheriff Underscore
Agreed about 9 days not being long enough. Generally 2-3 weeks is best.
It's okay to add water before fermentation if your OG is too high in order to lower it, but adding water after fermentation to reach FG will just result in watery beer more likely than not. That's a poor way to address under attenuation.
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It's okay to add water before fermentation if your OG is too high in order to lower it, but adding water after fermentation to reach FG will just result in watery beer more likely than not. That's a poor way to address under attenuation.
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Ohhh... No I added the water after boil not after fermentation..
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I didn't adjust my final sugar to accommodate the extra volume from the higher then expected yield...and just used the pre measured 5 oz baggies at my lhbs, that is what I'm asking if. Can just pop the tops and and some sugar.
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So you bottled 6 gallons of beer, with 5 ounces of corn sugar?
That's fine.
Just get them someplace warmer, and wait 2-3 weeks, and they'll be fine.
nevertrustahipie
Active Member
I wouldn't add more sugar. the 5oz baggies would be sufficient for carbonating 6gals to a drinkable level.
9 days really isn't enough time to be fully carbonated, and there is no harm in letting you beer sit for another week or two before making an adjustment. Whereas, once you add more sugar there is no turning back. Over-carbonation is considerably worse than under-carbonation.
I had a beer that after ~1week i thought was flat, i let it sit. At ~2 weeks still flat, i let it sit. At ~3 weeks it was perfect and one of my favorite homebrews ever. After 4 weeks it became very overcarbonated and was the only homebrew i have ever poured down the drain, it was truly undrinkable.
9 days really isn't enough time to be fully carbonated, and there is no harm in letting you beer sit for another week or two before making an adjustment. Whereas, once you add more sugar there is no turning back. Over-carbonation is considerably worse than under-carbonation.
I had a beer that after ~1week i thought was flat, i let it sit. At ~2 weeks still flat, i let it sit. At ~3 weeks it was perfect and one of my favorite homebrews ever. After 4 weeks it became very overcarbonated and was the only homebrew i have ever poured down the drain, it was truly undrinkable.
Don't add sugar. With 5 ounces, you're at just over 2.2 volumes of CO2, which is fine (some people don't like going over 2.4 regardless of style).
Was there any carbonation at all?
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Was there any carbonation at all?
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mgortel
Well-Known Member
Give it more time.....I give my beers 2.5-3 weeks normally.....and 66F is a bit low on the temp.....can you get it to a warmer place in your house....70-72F is better
I'm getting 2.45 volumes if the fermentation was at 66F with the Northern Brewer calculator, which is perfect.
So there is the right amount of sugar in there to carbonate to the right level. You just need to get the yeast to eat the sugar. I agree with others that you should try to bring the temperature up into the 70s. 1.5 weeks at 66F is not enough time for carbonation.
Adding sugar is the worst thing you could do. It will absolutely result in overcarbonation and possible bottle bombs once the yeast start getting to work.
I assume he doesn't have temp control, which means his beer actually got up to 72* at least while fermenting. However, even with temp control, the Northern Brewer calculator seems to be quite conservative.compared to all of the other calculators I use.
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Oh right, good call on the temperature. So you find the northern brewer calc to be different than others? I use Brewer's Friend for almost all of the calculators but for some reason I've always used Northern Brewer for priming. I guess I've never compared it to others.
Oh yeah, I just compared it to the Brewer's Friend one and it's about 0.1 volume higher. Good to know!
mrdail87
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If you're worried your beers aren't carbing, the first thing I usually do is take bottles out, one by one, and give em a shake. This can help get some yeast resuspended.
The first time I did this I actually discovered some bottles that didn't get capped right (after you shake them, if you hear a hissing sound, you've got a problem). I've actually started making a regular habit of this. Usually after 2-5 days, and again at 5-7 days. I used a wide variety of bottles, and not all of them seal as reliably. This helps weed out which ones I need to recap.
The first time I did this I actually discovered some bottles that didn't get capped right (after you shake them, if you hear a hissing sound, you've got a problem). I've actually started making a regular habit of this. Usually after 2-5 days, and again at 5-7 days. I used a wide variety of bottles, and not all of them seal as reliably. This helps weed out which ones I need to recap.
Thanks and you hit it spot on... As always with the beer hobby of ours, time is of the essence... It was real good!
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