Hello,
Well, I made an Imperial stout (around 8% abv). It was the first time I've made beer in a few years.
It's been in the bottle for about 3 weeks, and there's basically no carbonation. I guess it's not going to start either.
What could the problem have been?
I put the right amount of light DME in the wort and stirred it before bottling.
Thanks in advance for your tips.
Steve
Several thoughts:
1) Are you absolutely sure you used the proper amount of DME? Guideline is to use 3/4 cup per 5 gallons. If you only used, say, 1/2 cup, it will take a long time to carbonate, if at all. 2) And did you provide the right amount of headspace inside the bottles? I usually leave about an inch. 3) You might also need to check the gallonage. Maybe you thought you made 5 gallons but measured wrong and actually made 6 or 7 gallons. Count your bottles. You should have 10 or 11 bottles per gallon. 4) Otherwise, you might just need to be more patient. Give it another month, and it will probably carbonate fine.-- Dave "Just a drink, a little drink, and I'll be feeling GOOooOOooOOooD!" -- Genesis, 1973-ish
Oops, I was referring to corn sugar. 3/4 cup of corn sugar for 5 gallons. If you used DME, 3/4 cup would be a problem..... you need to use 1-1/4 cups of DME for every 5 gallons, and even then, the necessary amount is variable. Also, DME will take a longer time to carbonate than corn sugar.
Altair was right. Carbonation also depends on temperature, alcohol content, etc. etc. etc. There are so many factors, it might be difficult to pinpoint the exact nature of the problem. But if you think you did everything right, the best thing to do is to be patient. God willing, your beer will carbonate eventually. It just might not happen as quickly as you had hoped.
-- Dave "Just a drink, a little drink, and I'll be feeling GOOooOOooOOooD!" -- Genesis, 1973-ish
Temperature is the biggest variable in carbonation. You need to set the bottled beer around 72F for the quickest carbonation. Also if you fermented for a long time you might have yeast strength problems. The trick is to bottle just after the secondary stops, more than four or five days with no bubbles out the airlock and your yeast will have to struggle to carbonate the beer. If your wort sat done for more than this I suggest re pitching fresh yeast at the same time as priming. If you use a dry yeast you can tell when the secondary is over by taste, if its sweet its not done.
Thanks for your advice everyone!
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