No Carb

[AZBeer]

Not sure what is going on. But I seemed to be plagued by a lack of carbonation lately. Am I just rushing things? I typically go 3-4 weeks in primary, then bottle, then wait 3-6 weeks depending on the style. I do a lot of pales and IPAs, so those I tend to give closer to 3 weeks. I usually use sugar cubes to carb, and I usually do 1.5g to 3g batches. I was using domino cubes b/c they are smaller and fit in the bottles, but after my last couple of batches didn't carb, I went with the C&H cubes I can get locally, b/c they are a little bigger. Same result. 0 carbonation on my current Galaxy Smash. Brewed 2/25, 3 weeks in primary, 3 weeks in bottles.

I typically do a cold crash/ gelatin fining. This batch I just cold crashed, no gelatin to see if that made a difference. I also cold crashed, but then let the fermenter sit out over night to warm up overnight.

My proc is BIAB mash for 60-70 minutes, 60-90 mins boil (depending on the beer), 3-4 week ferment (with or without dry hop), then 3-ish week bottle condition @ room temp (typically mid 70's).

Any and all feedback appreciated, b/c this is frustrating. My beer tastes great, but the lack of carb is killing it.

 

[Yooper]

Have you weighed the sugar cubes, to determine how much you are adding to a 12 ounce bottle (or whatever size bottle you use)?

 

[kh54s10]

I don't know what size any of those cubes are. You might try batch priming and see if that works. Also check that your caps are seating properly.

 

[RM-MN]

Your caps aren't sealing well and are letting the CO2 escape. If using a hand held capper, check that the "bell" inside is screwed on tight. They may not be as tight as they should be when shipped and tend to loosen over time. I've had to tighten mine once.

 

[balrog]

I agree with possible loose caps. One thing you can try is clean out a small PET soda bottle, bottle and prime that, screw the top on really well, see if that container carbs in a couple weeks. But you should definitely weight the sugar you are adding, and calculate what you should expect to get for carb. A friend of mine has successfully used per-bottle-cube method, but I have never tried, preferring to stick with priming the entire bottling bucket.

 

[AZBeer]

I will check out my capper, didn't think about that. The caps feel snug, but that could be it.

As far as the weighing out the sugar cubes, I never have b/c I have never had this problem until recently. The smaller domino cube give me a little less, the bigger C&H cubes give me a little more...almost on the verge of too much carb. At least in the past that's been the case. With smaller batches, the cubes are super easy. But I may switch it up given the issues I've been having.