one month and beer hasn't carbonated

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Jon112

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Its been a month since bottling my beer and there is no carbonation. I had it it the secondary for over a month. Im starting to wonder if i should added yeast when bottling. Ive never had this problem.

Im thinking of tossing it unless anyone can give me ideas of how to save it
 
What type of beer is it? I have a witbier that is 5 weeks in and some bottles aren't carbed up yet. I'm thinking in my case that the priming sugar didn't mix in well enough, because some are carbed and some aren't.. Let it sit another couple of weeks in a warmer place if possible.
 
A month in secondary isn't really long enough to need to have added more yeast.

What temp are you storing them at?

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.


Temp and gravity are the two factors that contribute to the time it takes to carb beer. But if a beer's not ready yet, or seems low carbed, and you added the right amount of sugar to it, then it's not stalled, it's just not time yet.

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

If a beer isn't carbed by "x number of weeks" you just have to give them more 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.

I've carbed hundreds of gallons of beer, and never had a beer that wasn't carbed, or under carbed or anything of the sort (Except for a batch where I accidently mixed up lactose or Maltodextrine for priming sugar). Some took awhile, (as I said up to six months) but they ALL eventually carbed.

There would be no need to toss the beer even if it didn't carb up (which it will), you could always add more yeast. rehydrate said yeast in water (or use liquid) in a sanitized container, get a children's medicine dropper with ML gradients like this,

medicine-dropper-310.jpg


Sanitize it, open beer bottle, suck up slurry into sanitized eyedropper, squirt 1 ml of yeast into bottle, then re-cap. Give the bottles a shake, and then walk away for another 2-3 weeks to give that yeast a chance to do the job.

I wouldn't do it for at least another month though.

But I doubt you'll need to.

No go rinse your mind out with soap for even THINKING about tossing a batch of beer.
 
I've been wondering about this, at least the yeast issue. When would a brew call for additional yeast at bottling?
 
I've been wondering about this, at least the yeast issue. When would a brew call for additional yeast at bottling?

A high grav beer like a barleywine where the yeast are tired, or one that has sat in a secondary for 6 months or longer. Though many folks have done up to a year in secondary and not added fresh yeast and still had their beers carb. But under 6 months, it's not needed.
 
I dont want to toss it thats for sure. I think i will either add more years and/or sugar. I dont want to make bombs tho.

I havent heard of big beers taking longer. This might be the case, its just frustrating. Any other batch i have done usually carbs to some degree after a few weeka
 
Also i assume i shouldnt add more sugar. If it matters im keeping my beer in a old fridge with the power off. It keeps it just above room temp
 
Also i assume i shouldnt add more sugar. If it matters im keeping my beer in a old fridge with the power off. It keeps it just above room temp

You won't need to add more sugar if you used the proper amount of priming sugar. How much did you use? When you say "room temp" what is your room temp? 70f to 75f would be ideal for bottle conditioning. If it's 65f or lower in that fridge it could take a long time. If you warm it up to 70F, and you added enough priming sugar it should carb up. If it doesn't, you can experiment with one bottle and add a tiny bit of yeast with a dropper like Revvy said and see if carbs up. There is also the chance that your caps aren't on properly. I had a problem with some cheap caps once that weren't sealing the bottles and the CO was escaping....
 
Im not sure what the exact temp would be to be honest but its not hot or cold... So room temp.

I think i will ad yeast this weekend with a eye dropper as suggested. The caps are on tight, if they were the problem i would think a few would be carbed up which doeant seem the case.

I wont ad sugar, i didnt think i needed to i just wanted to make sure. I used 3/4 a cup of sugar
 
Good call not adding sugar. Overcarbed beers are no fun. I have a 1.111 og that has been bottled for a month and my PET "carb test" bottle hasn't even thought of firming up. The more I brew the more I realize patience plays as much of a role as water barley hops and yeast.
 
I ended up adding rehydrated yeast with some sugar on the weekend. I have been meaning to do this for a while. Will update
 
I ended up adding rehydrated yeast with some sugar on the weekend. I have been meaning to do this for a while. Will update

I'm going to have to do something with my wit as well. It's been 9 or 10 weeks now, and they are flat as can be. They seem to have yeast on the bottom of the bottle, so I'm just going to try sugar in one bottle first before adding more yeast. I'm starting to wonder if I forgot to add priming sugar when I bottled. I wouldn't normally forget, but maybe I had a brain-fart that day or something...
 
Couldnt hurt to try one. I figured i would do the whole batch. I could be wrong but i think the bottles are more firm already. No bombs yet. Lol
 
Originally 3/4 cup dextrose w no result. On the weekend yeast, water, and a spoon full of sugar to help rehydrate yeast then a small amount added to bottles
 

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