Can I save my bottled beer?

[Crspbrew]

Good morning!!!

Long story short... I bottled my beer and used these tablets to carbonate. I placed in the fridge for 1-2 weeks and no carbonation. I am sure I wasn't supposed to put in the fridge. I am wondering if I can save the beer and still carbonate in the bottle or if it is a lost cause? Thanks!! I was able to brew 3 solid batches because of you guys!

 

[Megary]

Yeah, you're supposed to put the beer in the fridge after they are carbonated.

Take them out, warm them up to room temp, turn them upside down a few times to redistribute whatever settled out, and let them sit for a few weeks. No guarantees, but what do you have to lose at this point?

Good luck.

 

[Hawkbox]

What Megary said, it's the simplest and lowest risk option.

For future reference, leave them in a warmish place for 2 weeks after adding the sugar before you chill them.

 

[Herm brews]

I think you’ll be alright, as stated above. After bottling my beer, I keep the bottles in my garage, enclosed in coolers just in case one explodes (no bottle bombs, yet). From the garage, I move a few bottles to the fridge when they are ready for drinking.

 

[Crspbrew]

Thank you everyone! I’m going to give it a shot and see if they carbonate!

 

[BarbarianBrewer]

Letting them condition in a warmish environment (roughly 70F/21C) isn't needed for them to carbonate; it just helps them carbonate faster. You could leave them in the fridge but, it might take a few months to carbonate. So to answer your question whether you ruined your beer, the answer is definitely not.

 

[Minbari]

Letting them condition in a warmish environment (roughly 70F/21C) isn't needed for them to carbonate; it just helps them carbonate faster. You could leave them in the fridge but, it might take a few months to carbonate. So to answer your question whether you ruined your beer, the answer is definitely not.

X2

I condition mine in the basement. 64°F right now. Takes a month, but it does do it

 

[J A]

If you want them to get going, warm the bottles up to 72 or so and give them all a good shake. They've sat in the cold and that not only made the yeast dormant so it needs to be reactivated with heat but it's made everything settle and cake up on the bottom so that yeast cells may not be distributed throughout the beer as much. Hold at 70+ degrees for a week or two and you should have some carbonation happening.

 

[Daniel Parshley]

I've had bottled beer be slow to carbonate for no reason I could determine (other than it was a cool time of the year). Time and warmth do wonders when wanting yeast to do their thing. If the yeast package says it likes 60 to 78 F, it is the sweet spot for carbonation conditioning after bottling, too. The upper part of the range can speed the process. One other factor - I like to bottle when it tastes right. If that is more than 5-6 weeks (some say 8 or more weeks), a bit of yeast with the priming sugar is good cheep insurance.

 

[naDinMN]

Yeah, you're supposed to put the beer in the fridge after they are carbonated.

Take them out, warm them up to room temp, turn them upside down a few times to redistribute whatever settled out, and let them sit for a few weeks. No guarantees, but what do you have to lose at this point?

Good luck.

I agree with Megary and will add whenever I bottle 8% or higher beers I always re-pitch fresh yeast to make sure the old isn't too drunk and tired.

 

[Crspbrew]

They are carbonating!!! Thanks everyone!!

I removed them from the fridge and let them warm up. I then gave then each a shake or two and let them sit and they are carbonating.

 

[Marz]

At least you were able to save time without having to uncap and add priming sugar and recap again. I did two batches simultaneously and forgot to stir/swirl the fermenter after adding the priming sugar and bottling so 2 1/2 weeks in and my beer isn't carbonating lol. I presume some bottles are going to overcarb and some won't carb at all because I didn't mix the mixture, I brainfarted and forgot to stir because I normally keg instead of bottle :sigh: oh well, will let them sit for a couple more weeks and if still nothing then I will have to uncap and add carb drops and recap again ugh so time consuming. Oh well

 

[Herm brews]

At least you were able to save time without having to uncap and add priming sugar and recap again. I did two batches simultaneously and forgot to stir/swirl the fermenter after adding the priming sugar and bottling so 2 1/2 weeks in and my beer isn't carbonating lol. I presume some bottles are going to overcarb and some won't carb at all because I didn't mix the mixture, I brainfarted and forgot to stir because I normally keg instead of bottle :sigh: oh well, will let them sit for a couple more weeks and if still nothing then I will have to uncap and add carb drops and recap again ugh so time consuming. Oh well

I find it best to use a bottling bucket. I add my priming solution (12 ounces of filtered water plus the sugar, boiled and cooled to room temp) to the bucket, then rack the finished beer into the bucket. That action is all the mixing needed to distribute the priming solution.

 

[Marz]

I find it best to use a bottling bucket. I add my priming solution (12 ounces of filtered water plus the sugar, boiled and cooled to room temp) to the bucket, then rack the finished beer into the bucket. That action is all the mixing needed to distribute the priming solution.

Yeah I normally use a bottling bucket and will that exactly and pour the beer from fermenter on top of the priming sugar mix but I decided to just attach an keg adapter to my fermenter this time and bottle directly from fermenter to minimize oxidation but forgot to swirl the mixture in the fermenter

 

[Hawkbox]

Bummer Mate, yeah that's annoying but it happens to all of us at times.