Adding carbonation drop to flat beer

[Blinky]

Hi - after some advice..... My 80 shilling I bottled with too little sugar and although its carbed up, I hear a hiss when opening, its pretty lifeless and flat. Im going to add a carbonation drop to each bottle and recap (These are the carbonation drops that suggest 2 per 500ml bottle, so I figure 1 should be enough to give it that little boost). I've ordered a bag from amazon and was about to bring the bottles in from the garage to the house to warm up but then I thought am I best to add the drop to cold bottles? So the plan will be keep 'em cold till Thursday, crack them open 1 at a time, add a drop then recap. Then the next morning once they are warmed back up, invert the bottle to rouse the yeast. Is this the best way to do this, or should i get them out the fridge ASAP to warm up the yeast so its not sat dormant for too long?

 

[foxy]

Hi - after some advice..... My 80 shilling I bottled with too little sugar and although its carbed up, I hear a hiss when opening, its pretty lifeless and flat. Im going to add a carbonation drop to each bottle and recap (These are the carbonation drops that suggest 2 per 500ml bottle, so I figure 1 should be enough to give it that little boost). I've ordered a bag from amazon and was about to bring the bottles in from the garage to the house to warm up but then I thought am I best to add the drop to cold bottles? So the plan will be keep 'em cold till Thursday, crack them open 1 at a time, add a drop then recap. Then the next morning once they are warmed back up, invert the bottle to rouse the yeast. Is this the best way to do this, or should i get them out the fridge ASAP to warm up the yeast so its not sat dormant for too long?

One is better conditioning the beer at fermentation temperature, if you have under primed your beer, you are getting the hiss and not so many bubbles then just get your self a syringe from the chemist, pour a beer put a blast of air from the syringe into the beer, start with a small blast as you are not sure of the carbonation level. It won't carb your beer but it will improve the beer, as air is mostly nitrogen you will be drinking a cask conditioned beer just as if it had been drawn through a beer engine.

 

[Blinky]

I would really rather add more carbonation to them, im hoping to serve it at Christmas and it doesnt look good squiring a syringe full of air into it!

 

[foxy]

I would really rather add more carbonation to them, im hoping to serve it at Christmas and it doesnt look good squiring a syringe full of air into it!

Better than ruining the bottles you have. Open the top and you will let oxygen in. tipping the bottle upside down will dissolve the oxygen into the beer.
Just try adding the drops and recapping without shaking them about. How cold have you been storing them? How long since bottling?

 

[Blinky]

I bottled on the 24th nov but I did remember thinking the amount was a little low, figured it was due to me usually brewing lagers or pale ales! So its been in the warm for 2 weeks and in the fridge since Saturday. That's usually enough for me so I'm sure its the lack of sugar at bottling time.

 

[Donegal john]

24 Oct or nov ?
Forget about adding sugar as they will just gush when you add. Stick them back in a warm spot for another 2 weeks then try again. Some beers take longer to carb just.

 

[foxy]

I bottled on the 24th nov but I did remember thinking the amount was a little low, figured it was due to me usually brewing lagers or pale ales! So its been in the warm for 2 weeks and in the fridge since Saturday. That's usually enough for me so I'm sure its the lack of sugar at bottling time.

Temperature dependant on the day of bottling, (the lower the temperature the less sugar needed) I would say you are on track, not even a week since you have bottled them.

 

[Blinky]

Ah no sorry bottled on 14th, so 2 weeks in the warm and a few days in the fridge, put it in the fridge on Saturday

 

[foxy]

Ah no sorry bottled on 14th, so 2 weeks in the warm and a few days in the fridge, put it in the fridge on Saturday

Just give it more time then. Yeast will work at low temperatures but more slowly, if you fermented at 18-19 C just leave it at that.

 

[Ale House Rock]

You have a variety of suggestions here but you could try adding one carbonation drop to one bottle and see what happens rather than risk spoiling the entire batch. If you are using PET bottles, give them a squeeze to remove as much of the air in the headspace before capping. Keep your test bottle somewhere warm and you should see it expanding and firming up over the next few days. You haven't said how much sugar you used to carbonate initially so its impossible to tell if there is still sugar to be used up. If you batch primed you could sacrifice one bottle and check the gravity but I have to say I'm not sure just how much of a change to your final gravity the priming sugar would make. Anyone else have thoughts on this?

 

[Clint]

I use beer style for my priming amount regardless of temperature on bottling as I sometimes bottle cold crashed beer then leave in a warm place to get back to a temp where the priming sugar will kick in.
Problems I have experienced over the years include a batch where the solution wasn't mixed into the beer properly and I had a few over/under carbed bottles,which wasn't that much of an issue. I have had some beers take a while to carb up but that was due to fluctuating temps.
I think it can sometimes seem worse than it is if you're planning on giving beers to others as you'll be extra critical of yourself.

 

[Blinky]

thanks folks - I used about 80g of sugar for 20l of beer - I will try a couple of beers with a carb drop first and see how that goes before attempting to do it on the rest, suppose that makes sense

 

[labrewski]

I've had a few kits take 3 weeks to fully carb

 

[Ale House Rock]

thanks folks - I used about 80g of sugar for 20l of beer - I will try a couple of beers with a carb drop first and see how that goes before attempting to do it on the rest, suppose that makes sense

80g for 20L seems a bit low to me. I usually allow 125g for 21L but we all have different tastes.

 

[UKSkydiver]

This may sound like a daft question but (assuming crown caps) do you have a lever capper or a bench capper?