Flat beer

[ctfeet]

I brewed a batch of Sam Adams clone and bottled it with "Brewers Best Conditioning Tablets" that came with the kit. I used 4 tablets in each bottle which the package says will give medium carbonation. What I got is very low carbonation. I tried opening a bottle and adding tablets but there is enough carbonation that when I dropped the tablets in the bottle it fizzed up and spewed out of the bottle. I was able to get 4 into a bottle and cap it real quick and that seemed to work. The problem is that adding tablets seems to be a challenge. Would I be better off adding some dry extract to my bottles? If so, how much should I add? A teaspoon, half a teaspoon? Would that work at all?

Thanks for your help

 

[Captain Damage]

How long has it been since you bottled, and at what temperature have you been storing the bottles? We generally recommend three weeks at 70F (some say 3 weeks is the minimum). A lower temperature will take longer. Some beers may inexplicably just seem to take longer.

 

[ctfeet]

It's been in the bottles for just about 4 weeks now stored at air conditioned room temp of
70 - 72. When I open the bottles I get a little phht but it tastes pretty flat. The one that I added priming tabs to was pretty good.

 

[flars]

How long did you chill the bottles? Three to four days, sometimes more for bigger beers, of refrigeration is usual to force the carbonation into solution.

 

[Captain Damage]

Three to four days, sometimes more for bigger beers, of refrigeration is usual to force the carbonation into solution.

What??? Who told you that? I'm sorry, this is just incorrect. refrigeration is not necessary for carbonation.

The two most likely causes of low carbonation are usually mis-measured priming agent or poorly mixing the agent into the beer when batch priming, which would cause some bottles to be under carbed and some over carbed. But using the carb tabs should eliminate both those causes, so the cause of Ctfeet's problem is a mystery to me.

 

[Paradingbull]

Low carbonation is a problem I tend to also have. A tip I learned on here, and that Flars is stating, is that refrigerating the beer for 3-4 days or more before drinking does help improve the overall carbonation by forcing the CO2 gas you do have into the beer. I find much greater carb in beers that chill a week or more vs. those that just chill a day or so.

 

[-Jack-]

I just opened a few bottles of my Scottish Ale. This was the first time I have used these "conditioning tablets." I was hoping for a med-low carbonation, so I put 3 tablets(low according to the bag they came in) in half the bottles and 4 (medium carbonation) in the other half to see which I liked better. The beer sat in bottles for three weeks at 68F. I usually wait four weeks but I got a little anxious. The brew tastes amazing but I seem to have had the same issue you've experienced... low to no carbonation and zilch for head.

Im going to give the beer another week and try it again. Maybe those tablets just take forever to do the job, or maybe we should be using more than they suggest. I'll give them another try with my next brew, an Irish Stout, and see if I have similar issues.

This is a new problem for me. All of my other beers have had excellent carbonation, maybe even too much occasionally. The only change Ive made in brewing habits have been the tablets.

Anyone else have experience using these things?

 

[dozer5454]

I have not used the tablets. It appears that two people with the same issues relate back to one problem. The tablets used. I would suggest making the same beer except use priming sugar as recommended. If there is a difference then there is your problem.

 

[b-boy]

I've used the tablets with mixed results. I always assumed I was doing something wrong.