Flat Beer, Please Help!!!

[MTOutlaw]

Been brewing for about three years now, always kegged but new to bottling. my first two batches I bottled turned out great. Im on my 7th batch of bottling now and no matter what I do I end up with flat beer. I have mixed the dextrose with a cup or two of water boiling cooling before mixing with the batch, making sure to stir every two or three bottles to keep a consistent mix, ive tried putting table sugar in every bottle, ive even tried the damn carb tablets. my ferment times have been really quick to as soon as i reach final gravity to letting it sit in the secondary for weeks and weeks. i sanitize religiously, not only hand scrubbing and rinsing each bottle but also running through a dishwasher before putting in storage, and when it comes time to bottle soaking my bottles and caps, hell even the capper to ensure no comtamination, yet i still end up with flat beer.

any suggestions yall have i would greatly appreciate!

 

[RLinNH]

Are you giving the bottled beer 2-4 weeks at 70ish degrees in order for them to carb up?

 

[homebrewdad]

Been brewing for about three years now, always kegged but new to bottling. my first two batches I bottled turned out great. Im on my 7th batch of bottling now and no matter what I do I end up with flat beer. I have mixed the dextrose with a cup or two of water boiling cooling before mixing with the batch, making sure to stir every two or three bottles to keep a consistent mix, ive tried putting table sugar in every bottle, ive even tried the damn carb tablets. my ferment times have been really quick to as soon as i reach final gravity to letting it sit in the secondary for weeks and weeks. i sanitize religiously, not only hand scrubbing and rinsing each bottle but also running through a dishwasher before putting in storage, and when it comes time to bottle soaking my bottles and caps, hell even the capper to ensure no comtamination, yet i still end up with flat beer.

any suggestions yall have i would greatly appreciate!

How much sugar are you adding? What temperature are you storing at?

Three weeks @ 70 degrees F is the baseline for normal beers. Higher gravity or lower temps can take longer.

 

[RM-MN]

No carbonation or no head? It's pretty hard to kill yeast and when you add sugar to the beer and put it in bottles the yeast will create Carbon Dioxide. Creating a head is a different situation. I suspect you have something like "Jet Dry" in the dishwasher and the residue from that is in your bottles. That is one sure way to destroy the head on your beer. Ask me how I know this.

 

[MTOutlaw]

Dont ask me how but i resisted for two weeks to crack the first bottle, stored at 72 degrees, that was about a month ago. Been cracking one about every week and still nothing. not even a slight hiss when popping the top. Would the residue problem from my dishwasher still come into effect even if i rinse in sanitizer before i bottle?

 

[RM-MN]

Dont ask me how but i resisted for two weeks to crack the first bottle, stored at 72 degrees, that was about a month ago. Been cracking one about every week and still nothing. not even a slight hiss when popping the top. Would the residue problem from my dishwasher still come into effect even if i rinse in sanitizer before i bottle?

I used Oxiclean to wash the bottles, rinsed them and then sanitized with Starsan before filling the bottles and I got no head on 100 bottles of beer. I quit washing the bottles, just a double rinse (I rinse the bottles when I empty them too) and then sanitize and I get a big, long lasting head with good lacing now.

If you have no hint of carbonation after that long, look at your capping. I think you have a leak because the yeast would have easily provided some carbonation within a couple days at that temp.

 

[MTOutlaw]

Thanks for the input y'all ill be bottling this weekend so wish me luck!

 

[pumpkinhead90]

That sucks. I think I didn't cap some of my summer ales correctly, this one tastes flat and had no head at all. Almost all the others had some head.

 

[progmac]

you said the first two batches you bottled turned out great.

what have you changed? what kind of bottles are you using?

i agree with the poster that suggested something is wrong with your capper. if you turn the bottles upside-down are they leaking at all?

the dishwasher /soap stuff that people are talking about is not your problem.

 

[DLR1987]

What are you soaking your caps in? I've read in the forums somewhere (sorry I don't have a link) that soaking your caps in starsan and other sanitizers can challenge the integrity of the seals, even to the point of breaking down the seal. I've never had this happen myself, but just a thought I guess. I hope you figure it out, that is not a fun problem to have

 

[loucurr]

Your problem is quite possibly in the caps. I bought some new caps cheap and now I am paying for it. About half the bottles are flat because of leaks.

 

[MTOutlaw]

I use 12 and 22oz brown bottles. It might be cheap caps. That's the only thing I've changed. I soak in sanitizer on bottling day until I use them.

 

[MTOutlaw]

Forgot to mention that the bottle don't leak when I turn them upside down.

 

[keelysnow]

I use 12 and 22oz brown bottles. It might be cheap caps. That's the only thing I've changed. I soak in sanitizer on bottling day until I use them.

Well with my opinion would lead me to believe that if your caps are in we'll condition then somewhere in your process you have killed your yeast, it could be chemicals on your bottle or it could be from the transfer. If you want to test how effective your caps/capper are. Then holding the bottle under water will give you an airlock effect, bringing bubbles to the surface. I hope this helps and happy brewing !

 

[progmac]

well, we've ruled out all the possible explanations, so it's time to think of the impossible

i think you have a ghost in your house that feeds on co2. he feeds really quickly, so quick you don't even here the hiss of your bottle. he steals all the co2 before the sound even reaches your ear.

 

[kh54s10]

Try filling a bottle with a commercial beer or even soda. Cap it then shake it. If your caps are not seating well you will know.

As someone else asked, what is different between the first two batches and the ones not carbonating? You are not capping twist off bottles are you?