Carbinating

[Alsellers18]

Hey so I'm new to homebrewing and I made a front porch rocker from a Midwest supply kit... I did everything to the "t" with the instructions and on bottling day I took the proper amount of water for priming solution, added the package that was given to me from the kit of priming sugar, and THEN brought it to a boil and boiled it for 8 min like the directions said... the directions weren't clear as to WHEN to add the sugar to the water... right away? When already brought to a boil? But I bottled the beer with the priming solution for almost 4 weeks now and 3 weeks of it the bottles were in my basement which hasn't gone below 60 and averages around 63 degrees and now the last week I brought it upstairs thinking it was too cold down there and yet it still is not carbonated one bit! Did I do something wrong? Any suggestions??? I have since brewed a hefeweizen brew and has been fermenting so far for about 1 week up stairs in 65-68 degree temperature... is it better to use the tablets when bottling or with a hefeweizen beer would the tablets create bottle bombs? Any suggestions would help. I did put the priming solution in the bottling bucket first and then racked the beer to get a consistent solution through the beer.

 

[Grizzly299]

You need to keep it a little warmer, ale yeast will start slowing down at 17 degrees. Move it to somewhere that's around 20-22 degrees C.

Hefe needs between 2.5 and 3 volumes of C02. I use https://www.brewersfriend.com/beer-priming-calculator/ for bottle conditioned ales.

 

[Alsellers18]

Awesome thanks for the advice and that calculator is great!!!!

 

[MickDundee]

Awesome thanks for the advice and that calculator is great!!!!

I love the calculator. I had a couple of overprimed batches and a bottle bomb incident before I knew about carbonating properly (I assumed 1. That all beers needed a teaspoon of sugar, and 2. All the "teaspoons" in my house were "proper" 5g teaspoons).

Proper carbonation has helped my beers immensely!

 

[Grizzly299]

It's amazing how much difference the correct carbonation level can make. Too much can make the beer taste sharper, watery or light, too little and your beer can be flat/ aromaless and boring. Ultimately you need to make sure your carbonation levels are style appropriate, as I've mentioned here and on my blog.

One of the major parts of achieving proper carbonation is making sure that your beer has reached final gravity. If it hasn't finished fermenting then you're going to be over-carbed, no matter how accurate your priming process was. That, of course, feeds into knowing your yeast attenuation rate, and quantity of unfermentable's from your mash and other adjuncts and so on.