Fixing under-carbination

[brewmeister13]

I had a beer that I under primed and needs fixing. My problem is that after fermenting at about 70F I cold crashed the beer to clarify. When I went to bottle the wort had come up to 51F and that is the temperature that I used in the priming calculator. Well, as most of you probably know I should have used 70F and so my beer is badly under-carbed. I plan on opening each and re-priming individual bottles (don't worry, I have a highly precise scale I plan on using to measure out the minuscule amounts of sugars needed for a single bottle). My question is, do I prime it as if it were never primed in the first place, figure the amount of carbonation absorbed in the liquid at the current temperature and find the amount needed to make up the difference or find the difference that I should have used in the original priming and add that?

I am leaning toward finding the amount the liquid can absorb at the current temp and finding the difference, but want to be sure (I don't feel like doing this 2 more times, plus it's a really good beer if carbed right).

 

[duboman]

I had a beer that I under primed and needs fixing. My problem is that after fermenting at about 70F I cold crashed the beer to clarify. When I went to bottle the wort had come up to 51F and that is the temperature that I used in the priming calculator. Well, as most of you probably know I should have used 70F and so my beer is badly under-carbed. I plan on opening each and re-priming individual bottles (don't worry, I have a highly precise scale I plan on using to measure out the minuscule amounts of sugars needed for a single bottle). My question is, do I prime it as if it were never primed in the first place, figure the amount of carbonation absorbed in the liquid at the current temperature and find the amount needed to make up the difference or find the difference that I should have used in the original priming and add that?

I am leaning toward finding the amount the liquid can absorb at the current temp and finding the difference, but want to be sure (I don't feel like doing this 2 more times, plus it's a really good beer if carbed right).

How long have these bottles been carbonating for and how much sugar did you initially use? How much finished beer did you bottle and to what CO2 vol did you calculate for?

 

[brewmeister13]

I was aiming for 2.4 volume. The bottles have been conditioning for about five weeks now, However I know they are under carbed and it's not just a time thing. I used 1.87 ounces priming sugar for 2.75 gallons of beer, Which would be the correct amount if the beer had never gotten above 51°F post fermentation. However, it got up to 74° after fermentation was completed, but I didn't know you were supposed to use the highest temperature after fermentation and not the current temperature of bottling when calculating priming sugar. I didn't learn that bottling temp rule until after I had already bottled this bunch.

 

[CharlosCarlies]

The bottles have been conditioning for about five weeks now, However I know they are under carbed and it's not just a time thing

What was the OG? Higher gravity beers often take significantly longer.

 

[brewmeister13]

I am 100% sure it is under carbed and that time will do nothing for it. I guess I will try the different methods and see which one works best.

 

[meltroha]

That is plenty of priming sugar, I have used 3.2 of corn sugar in a 5 gallon batch with excellent results. Your ratio is a little higher than that, unless it didn't mix in well, you should be fine

 

[el_caro]

I had a beer that I under primed and needs fixing. My problem is that after fermenting at about 70F I cold crashed the beer to clarify. When I went to bottle the wort had come up to 51F and that is the temperature that I used in the priming calculator. Well, as most of you probably know I should have used 70F and so my beer is badly under-carbed. I plan on opening each and re-priming individual bottles (don't worry, I have a highly precise scale I plan on using to measure out the minuscule amounts of sugars needed for a single bottle). My question is, do I prime it as if it were never primed in the first place, figure the amount of carbonation absorbed in the liquid at the current temperature and find the amount needed to make up the difference or find the difference that I should have used in the original priming and add that?

I am leaning toward finding the amount the liquid can absorb at the current temp and finding the difference, but want to be sure (I don't feel like doing this 2 more times, plus it's a really good beer if carbed right).

If you do not have a plane to catch on this one then my recommendation is take 1 bottle and add some more prime to it and give it 2 weeks to carb.

Use your lowest calculation and you can use a different amount next time if still on the undercarb side.

Get a sterile syringe and inject the priming solution into the bottles as this will not cause foaming at the mouth.

 

[biestie]

Unless I'm completely out to lunch, you DON'T use the max temp attained to calculate how much sugar you need. You use the current temp of the beer. I wouldn't feel a need to do anything with it other than give it more time.

 

[kanzimonson]

Unless I'm completely out to lunch, you DON'T use the max temp attained to calculate how much sugar you need. You use the current temp of the beer. I wouldn't feel a need to do anything with it other than give it more time.

The whole point of the temp thing is that a liquid can hold a X amount of gas in it at Y temp. It can hold more gas the colder it is. So if you have a beer that has reached 70 degrees, it has lost more gas than a beer that has stayed at 50 degrees. So you should use the higher temp.

 

[biestie]

The whole point of the temp thing is that a liquid can hold a X amount of gas in it at Y temp. It can hold more gas the colder it is. So if you have a beer that has reached 70 degrees, it has lost more gas than a beer that has stayed at 50 degrees. So you should use the higher temp.

Right, you have the concept correct, but I'm thinking the amount of gas you lose is negligible isn't it? I mean when we keg our beer we don't take that into account, and online calculators such as northern brewers, ask what the CURRENT temp is, not the highest, attained.

 

[kanzimonson]

When we hook our kegs up it doesn't matter how much CO2 is in solution - it's going to achieve equilibrium with the temp and PSI you've set the system to.

I think the reason these online calculators don't specify is because it's confusing. I mean, I use a heat pad to wrap up my fermentations, and this can put the beer at 72-75 sometimes. But if I were bottling and had no ability to crash cool, I would probably let the beer sit at room temp for 10 days. Whatever highest temp it achieved during this conditioning period would be what I plug in.

It was stuff like this that convinced me to get into kegging - I can deal with the cleaning and the work, but the inconsistency drove me insane.

 

[brewmeister13]

If you do not have a plane to catch on this one then my recommendation is take 1 bottle and add some more prime to it and give it 2 weeks to carb.

Use your lowest calculation and you can use a different amount next time if still on the undercarb side.

Get a sterile syringe and inject the priming solution into the bottles as this will not cause foaming at the mouth.

I don't have a plane to catch, but was hoping to waste as little of this beer as possible. That and it was a highly hopped beer that I was playing with to compare hopping techniques (I dry hopped a gallon, brewed a hop tea for a gallon and bottled about 2 gallons plain [I also oaked a gallon, but that was just for fun]).

Thanks for the good advice about the syringe too. Do you pick them up at drugstores?

Right, you have the concept correct, but I'm thinking the amount of gas you lose is negligible isn't it?

Definitely not negligible. At least not when you are talking about a 20+ degree difference. The gallon I correctly calculated is great, the rest is has next to no carbonation and is undrinkable.