Flat Stout

[BitterPil]

Hi,

I brewed the St Peter's Stout and bottled last week, using 2*160g Munton's carb drops per 500ml bottle. Left for 5 days in the warm closet and moved to to the cold in the shed to store for a month or more. I tried one the other day after a 2 days in the shed and it was pretty flat but tasted great. A bit worried and I know the instructions are usually vague but they said to leave in a warm place for 2 days and then 2 weeks in a cold place. I have moved all the bottles back inside and hoping they will carb up. I also inverted them for a few days to re suspend the yeast. Any reason to be worried or do they just need more time in the warm? Again, really nice smooth taste but slight sweetness which I would guess might mean they need more time.
I know instructions are not to be followed to the letter and have read others say that it can take months for carbonationso would be interested to hear other users experiences of this kit.
Interestingly I am using all glass bottles except 1 PET 750ml one that seems to have carbed up judging by the "squeezeness" of the bottle as it's quite stiff. I am tempted to open it to try.

[Bubbles]

2 days is not long enough to bottle condition a beer, so you're right to disregard the dodgy instructions. It doesn't take months for carbonation, but 1-2 weeks will be enough to condition most beers. If they're monster beers, say >9%, then a couple of weeks longer is required in my experience, unless you're re-seeding with fresh yeast.

How long was the beer in the fermenter before you bottled?

Warming the bottles up to fermentation temperature and re-suspending the yeast will more than likely do the trick. Just leave them indoors for a couple of weeks to be sure.

[molc]

2 carb drops per bottle in a stout will be pretty highly carbed, so as said before, just get it warm for a few weeks and it should be fine. Those things are pretty reliable.

In future, try just 1 tab in a stout - it'll give you less carbonic bite, which will make the beer smoother.

[BitterPil]

Should have added that they were the Muntons 160g carb drops which are small so it recommends 2 per 500 mls.
Had in the FV for about a week. FG was stable for about 3 days.

[Bubbles]

Had in the FV for about a week.

Ok, that's fine. If you had left the beer a couple of months then maybe the yeast would have flocced out.

What do you mean by "warm closet"? You're not referring to a hot press, are you?

[BitterPil]

Yep, The hotpress. Would it be too warm? I'm guessing it gets into the high 20's.

[Bubbles]

 

I guess hot presses vary a lot.

Sorry to say, it's likely you've killed the yeast in the bottles, or at the very least, hampered their chances of restarting fermentation in the bottle. 

Hot presses have no place in home brewing, in primary fermentation or bottle conditioning.

[BitterPil]

Hotpress was about 28 degrees average which I hope was too low to do any yeast damage. I will report back after a few weeks to see if any improvement in the carb in the bottles.
I have moved them to another room.

[Bubbles]

Fingers crossed!

[BitterPil]

Tried a few of the bottles over the weekend and happy to say they have carbed up nicely.
Looks like I panicked too early.
Inverting the bottles for a few days in room with ambient temperature seemed to have done the trick.

[Bubbles]

Good stuff, that's a relief for you. Enjoy.

[Shanna]

Tried a few of the bottles over the weekend and happy to say they have carbed up nicely.
Looks like I panicked too early.
Inverting the bottles for a few days in room with ambient temperature seemed to have done the trick.

Consider batch priming with sugar to get a more consistent level of priming and then introduce one or two plastic Coopers or lucozade bottles in your batch of bottles. This will give you an idea of whether the bottles are carbing as the plastic bottles will expand and harden as the pressure from the co2 builds up.

Shanna

[BitterPil]

Good idea. I had 1 Coopers bottle so was able to tell as it had hardened.

[Shanna]

Good idea. I had 1 Coopers bottle so was able to tell as it had hardened.

Not mine by the way but still a handy tip nevertheless

Shanna