12 days in the bottle...no carbonation

[BeerChef17]

So I bottled my Pumpkin Ale on 10/13 and opened one today (10/25) to see how things were coming along. So I pop my top and there is only the slightest sounds of carbonation, pour my beer into the glass and nothing. No head or anything. A few bubbles came up post pour, but I'm assuming that was just air-not CO2.

Usually I put my sugar solution into my bottling bucket first and rack on top, but when I bottled I just had some surgery done and didn't feel like going through the whole process that day but needed to get my beer off of my dry hop addition. So I racked to my bottle bucket and sealed it up lid and airlock for a few days till I was up to the task and then I gently poured in my sugar solution and gently stirred for ~4min.

When capping my bottles a few of them felt weird...I don't know why but they just did. Upon further visual inspection they all looked okay though.

So I am figuring on taking a few with me to my friends place this weekend to see if more bottles are like this or if I maybe had a fluke today. However, I have a gut feeling the rest of my batch is like this.

Soooo...what is my best route assuming all of my beer is flat? Should I carefully pour it into the bottling bucket and re-prime with 5oz corn sugar? carbonation tablets? small weighed out portions of corn sugar or sugar/water mix directly to the bottles?

 

[Warped04]

I'd get more of a sample, and open another bottle before we start getting crazy...Also, what was the temperature of the beer in the bottles as you primed? Also, did you take a hydrometer reading before hand?

 

[thughes]

Drink something else for another 2-3 weeks, then try one and get back to us.

 

[BeerChef17]

Yeah I am planning on taking a 6-pack with me this weekend so that should give me a large enough sampling to see for sure. When I primed and bottled the temperature was in the upper 60's since I do everything in my basement. Conditioning at the same temp - possibly a little colder now.

I usually wait 4 weeks to actually start drinking my beer besides my 1-2 sample to check carbonation and all. In most cases wouldn't the beer be mostly carbed after 7 days?

 

[thughes]

I'm not gonna go there......

 

[PIGMAN]

Be patient, especially with the cooler temps. It will carb up just fine.

 

[unionrdr]

Bring them upstairs to a warmer room,they'll carb up a little faster. 60's takes too long to be that good imo. Especially since you wanna take some for sampling to others this weekend.

 

[BeerChef17]

heh well just went down and took a temp reading in the back room...61*

Cant believe I didn't think to check that before I got all worried...guess i need to go RWAHB...maybe even one of my carbed ones this time lol

 

[BeerChef17]

Bring them upstairs to a warmer room,they'll carb up a little faster. 60's takes too long to be that good imo. Especially since you wanna take some for sampling to others this weekend.

good call...I'll bring a case up into my room...unfortunately I'm leaving tomorrow night so I dont think they will be ready by then but its worth a shot for a few bottles

 

[Tress]

How did it end up coming out? Did it carbonate in the warmer house? I have the same problem with a Robust Porter I bottled two weeks ago. SG pre-bottling was 1.012 but no carbonation after two weeks in my garage (~60 degrees F). I brought one case up into the house and hoping and praying it carbonates.

 

[boostsr20]

Depends on the yeast strain as well. I've had some belgian strains carb up in 2 days and I've had some american strains take more liek 2-3 weeks at 70 degrees.

 

[dunnright00]

How did it end up coming out? Did it carbonate in the warmer house? I have the same problem with a Robust Porter I bottled two weeks ago. SG pre-bottling was 1.012 but no carbonation after two weeks in my garage (~60 degrees F). I brought one case up into the house and hoping and praying it carbonates.

With most yeasts, anything less than 70-72 degrees is going to take a bit longer than 2 weeks. If you just brought it up to a warmer room, wait at least a week, maybe two.