Bottled beer is very flat...no carbonation occures

KKDawning

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Hi,
I have bottled my first batch and have added sugar for carbonating as requested in recipe. The beer came out very flat with no gas or carbonation. Nearly all of the bottles I opened were the same. I opened all of them again and added twice sugar as rrequested in the recipe. I am still waiting to see what will happen but I just opened one of tthe bottles just because of my curiosity. It was flat again. I need to mention that the bottle I opened stayed in room temp for 5 days only !
Any idea how I can fix this issue?

Ps.: I use flip top ceramic caps and also normal bottle caps.
 
5 days is not enough. Give it another 10 days and let us know how the bottles are.
 
I opened all of them again and added twice sugar as rrequested in the recipe.
That's going to over carb your beer. It sounds like you're using re-sealable bottles like twist tops or Grolsch-style bottles. If that's the case, it's very possible that carbonation occurred but the seal on the cap didn't hold pressure.
What sort of yeast did you use for your beer and how long did you let it sit after fermenation was complete? What temperature did you hold it at? It's unlikely that all the yeast is gone from the beer but it's a possibility.
What temperature are you holding your bottled beer at? If it's not at least in the high 60s and preferably in the 70s, carbonation will be very, very slow.
Depending on this information, I think it's the bottle seals.
 
I'll also add to make sure the beer is in the fridge a day or two once they ate carbed. The cold helps to put the co2 into solution a little better, and as a bonus it'll help to settle and compact any sediment in the bottle.
Good luck!

Also, maybe put those bottles somewhere safe in case they may explode
 
5 days is not enough. Give it another 10 days and let us know how the bottles are.
The first time I used sugar for carbonating, they were staying 4 days at room temp and at least 12 days in a dark cool storage. Still they were flat. What could be wrong then?
 
14 days at room temperature ( 20°c approx.) would be the minimum time needed for bottle carbonation. When you say you put them in a cool dark place, what is the temperature ?
 
14 days at room temperature ( 20°c approx.) would be the minimum time needed for bottle carbonation.
I disagree...I've done carb checks in 7 days and had adequate carbonation. It's not a bad rule of thumb to assume 2 weeks, but it wouldn't be minimum.
Though he's jumping the gun a little, I think the OP should have had at least some indication of carbonation at 5 days barring other issues.
 
I've had them flat at two weeks, too. Five days is pushing it, period.
 
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14 days at room temperature ( 20°c approx.) would be the minimum time needed for bottle carbonation. When you say you put them in a cool dark place, what is the temperature ?
With cool dark place I mean a storage room which has no daylight and it has only a small window and has a temp around 12 degree C. But first they stay 5 days at room temp around 20 - 22 degrees. Is that ok?
 
With cool dark place I mean a storage room which has no daylight and it has only a small window and has a temp around 12 degree C. But first they stay 5 days at room temp around 20 - 22 degrees. Is that ok?
Try a fortnight at the above 20c then store cool wish I had 12c conditioning room.
 
Just 4 days at "room" temp, assuming 20C, or so wouldn't likely get you very far and the 12C storage just plain stopped the process.
You'll likely have to get them to at least 22-24C for a bit to get them going again and then let it ride at 20C for a while.
The problem now is that you have potentially 3 times the sugar in the bottles and they'll almost certainly explode if they actually carb up.
 
Curious how this turned out. What was the ABV of the beer? You probably could've left it at room temp for another week. Maybe more if the ABV was high.
 
I disagree...I've done carb checks in 7 days and had adequate carbonation. It's not a bad rule of thumb to assume 2 weeks, but it wouldn't be minimum.
Though he's jumping the gun a little, I think the OP should have had at least some indication of carbonation at 5 days barring other issues.

Ditto this, as one who checks a bottle of every batch after 6-7 days, there should be some carbonation happening.

I would think since most problems have simple solutions , either as J A said , the bottle aren't sealing and holding the carbonation, or maybe the sugar solution you added didn't get mixed into the wort well enough.

Good luck and as others have said, put that beer somewhere easy to clean up, maybe inside a plastic tote until you are sure they aren't going to blow.
 
Hi,
I have bottled my first batch and have added sugar for carbonating as requested in recipe. The beer came out very flat with no gas or carbonation. Nearly all of the bottles I opened were the same. I opened all of them again and added twice sugar as rrequested in the recipe. I am still waiting to see what will happen but I just opened one of tthe bottles just because of my curiosity. It was flat again. I need to mention that the bottle I opened stayed in room temp for 5 days only !
Any idea how I can fix this issue?

Ps.: I use flip top ceramic caps and also normal bottle caps.
Could you provide your O.G. and F.G. please? If so, please reply with data.
 
My latest 9.5% Imperial Porter had adequate carbonation after 6 days in the bottle ( carbonation does not mean a beer is ready to drink or that it reached it full potential, especially with complex beers, like high ABV porters, stouts, BA, etc. ).

However, this is not a single occurance. All 56 batches I brewed in the past 15 months had carbonation within the first 3 to 6 days. It did not matter whether the ABV was 5 or 9%. After 56 batches I can honestly say that carbonation - provided your process is at least good - will be created within the first 5 days, but there are so many things and different factors that can interfere, so it's hard to say where it went wrong.

Carbonation ( refermentaton ) will happen faster at higher temperatures. Meaning 20-21-22 C will speed up the process. If you are not capping your bottles correctly, any carbonation will slowly escape the bottles. You did not mention what kind of beer you made, the recipe, yeast, yeast pitching rates? Maybe your beer's ABV is too high and you needed to add some more yeast in the beer, to help with the carbonation.
 

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