Why no Carbonation?

[JonBtz20]

I just finished brewing an Irish stout, I added a pound of priming sugar at bottling but my product has no head and is flat. Any ideas why? The beer tastes good but the lack of carbonation is frustrating. The primary fermentation was very active the first 4 days and it stopped completely then i racked into a secondary for a week and it had little to no activity. Did my yeast die off?

 

[fartinmartin]

I guess that's a 20 gallon batch then ?

 

[JonBtz20]

No it was a 5 gallon batch. i conditioned it for almost 2 weeks.

 

[fartinmartin]

So where did the pound of priming sugar come from ?
Just how, can it taste good, after the addition of a pound of unfermented sugar ?
You say you conditioned for almost two weeks, so it was actually less, it hasn't had long enough in the first instance. It has to be at fermenting temperature to start to carbonate.
Post some SG details.
These bottles have the potential to be dangerous.
Most brews carbonate quickly but some heavier brews can take months to get there, but a pound of priming sugar puts you in a place that not many have been !

 

[ChelisHubby]

At what temp did you store it? It should be dangerously over carb if I understand it right. Did you freeze it or pasteurize it?

 

[Hello]

Oh dear. You fermented for no more than 11 days and added an entire pound of sugar when you bottled? What was your SG and FG?

A pound of sugar is worrying. How my beer did you rack? Even if it was 5 gallons of actual beer, you would have only needed about 4-5 ounces of dextrose and less for that style.

What temp are the bottles at? Did you refrigerate one for at least a day before opening?

You're in serious bottle bomb territory. Whoever had the idea of 16 ounces of sugar at bottling should never be allowed to give advice to you again until they learn to brew. Sorry but the fact that one isn't carbonated is interesting but I believe you, some of them are likely to explode.

 

[JonBtz20]

Sorry for the confusion it was only 5 oz of priming sugar that i put in. Idk what i was thinking.
OG: 1.05
FG: 1.012

The temp through the whole process has been about 70 degrees.

 

[fartinmartin]

In that case just leave them alone for two or three weeks.

 

[JonBtz20]

ok thanks for the help!

 

[Hello]

That's quite the typo.
You can leave them be and maybe get them a little warmer.

 

[Kahless]

The hardest thing in homebrew; waiting for the beer to be ready
Leave it three weeks at room temperature+, and then 2 weeks at a cooler temperature to allow the Co2 to dissolve well into the beer and your beer will be ready to drink

 

[mrdail87]

If you're really worried about the beer not carbonating, you can always take your bottles and give em a little shake to circulate your yeast a little. Irish Ale Yeast strains tend to be pretty flocculant, and clump up and fall out of suspension quickly. They're still doing their work, just a little more slowly.

Shaking the bottles a little also helps test for leaks. Shake the bottle enough to get some bubbles going, if you hear a hissing sound, that could be why your beer is flat. I recently found some of my bottles don't seal as easily as others and have started making a habit of doing this a couple times during bottle conditioning to make sure I don't need to recap any of them.

 

[fartinmartin]

No , don't shake the bottles !

 

[Heavywalker]

No , don't shake the bottles !

Why, it does nothing but get the yeast back into suspension, and helps the Co2 dissolve into the beer. If beer is taking a long time to carb up, like more than 3-4 weeks, then it is a common practice to swirl the bottle.

 

[fartinmartin]

The yeast is in suspension, forget about what is sitting at the bottom of the bottles.
For me air is air, I want it in the head space not in the beer.

 

[Hello]

Don't shake the bottles and after 3 weeks at room temp, you don't need 2+ weeks to chill. 48 hours is usually recommended, 24 if you're dying of impatience. 3 weeks at room temp is best and minimum amount of time you should give for carbonation. Bigger beers and bombers may take longer.

 

[mrdail87]

Well I must admit I usually shake within the first week, usually at 2 days, and then again at 4 days to test for leaks (I've had recurring problems with this). I've never had anything bad come of it, but maybe the yeast are consuming the oxygen since it's relatively early in the process.

Never considered oxygenation until I started researching now. I really can't find any definitive answers on the subject. We usually finish off a 5-gallon batch in about 2 months as well, so maybe there just isn't enough time for it to really stale.

 

[rigatron]

Don't shake the bottles and after 3 weeks at room temp, you don't need 2+ weeks to chill. 48 hours is usually recommended, 24 if you're dying of impatience. 3 weeks at room temp is best and minimum amount of time you should give for carbonation. Bigger beers and bombers may take longer.

I think in "How to Brew" he recommends giving a beer 2 weeks to carb up.

 

[KepowOb]

Don't shake the bottles and after 3 weeks at room temp, you don't need 2+ weeks to chill. 48 hours is usually recommended, 24 if you're dying of impatience. 3 weeks at room temp is best and minimum amount of time you should give for carbonation. Bigger beers and bombers may take longer.

I think in "How to Brew" he recommends giving a beer 2 weeks to carb up.

I guess it depends on the temperatures... but generally mine are always properly carbed up after 2 weeks, including bombers. Though the couple of bigger beers I've made did benefit from an extra week. When I started brewing and was impatient, I would put one into the fridge after 1 week to try it out, and they were far from flat. I normally bottle condition at about 75-78.

I tend to put about 12-24 in my fridge at a time, once they're ready, and I haven't noticed any carbonation difference from the beers I put in after 2 weeks or 6 weeks.

24-48 hours of fridge time is also fine in my experience, but longer is needed to clear the chill haze.