Went off with a sshh!

[Halfacrem]

I've had my second kit brew, Woodforde's Nelson's Revenge, in bottles for a month now. Two weeks indoors in a corner of the kitchen and two in the Garage.

This is my first bottling attempt. I batch primed with 80 grams of Brown sugar and bottled into a few glass flip top bottles, plus the rest in Coopers Ox Bar PET bottles.

I flipped a glass bottle on New Years eve to check how the carbonation was going and although it wasn't overly carbonated, the beer had a reasonable fizz to it, but seemed as if it had a way to go. I've just opened a PET bottle and there was only a very small sshh sound on opening. The Beer poured with a small head that pretty quickly disappeared.

The Beer tastes good: Still very young and needs to clear down quite a bit, but the flavour is starting to come through. I'm in no hurry to drink it, so would appreciate some advice on the carbonation front. Should I bring the bottles back into the warm for a bit longer to help boost the carbonation, or leave them out in the garage and wait?

As a comparison, I primed my first kit (Wherry) with exactly the same weight of exactly the same sugar, and after 6 weeks in the Keg, it's still as lively as anything. PET bottles have definitely been sealed well ( I broke the tamper seal before bottling and wound up the cap nice and tight, so definitely not a capping issue).

Thanks

Martin

 

[mmaguy41]

Less sugar is needed for the keg than bottles. 80-100g is good for a keg but i would use 4-6 grams a litre for an ale in bottles, so you have underprimed slightly, i would have used around 120g for my tastes. Try leaving the bottles in the fridge for at least a day before you drink to help them absorb as much of the co2 as possible

 

[Halfacrem]

Thanks, that's one to store away in the memory bank for next time :thumb:

I don't think it's going to be a huge problem as despite being a little less lively than I'd want, I've had bought beers that with a similar level of carbonation.

I don't think I'll bother doing it, but for future learning, is it possible to open the bottles and add a little more sugar to each bottle?

 

[mmaguy41]

yeh that is possible but i also wouldnt bother unless it was flat as a pancake, you can find useful carbonation calculators on google that tell you how much of whatever sugar you are using you will need.

 

[Halfacrem]

Cheers,

There is certainly enough spritz in them to keep me happy, but I'll know for next time.

: