Improving carbonation in a bottled brew

Greyjoy

I recently cracked open a bottle from an extract kit I brewed of a mexican cerveza. It's been chilling in the garden shed for about 2 weeks now but the beer just doesn't feel carbonated enough when I taste it. It's nice & fizzy when i pour it but when I drink a mouthful it feels almost flat.

After bottling I had kept it for about a week in our (warm) attic then moved it into the garden shed for cold conditioning (it's a stone shed that's in the shade of the house so it's nice & chilly).

Is there anything I can do to help the carbonation process along or is it just a matter of patience and giving it more time?

BeerNut

Yeah, you probably need two to three weeks of bottle fermentation to get it fully carbed. But after that, the fizziness is just a matter of how much sugar you put in and what the temperature was when you did it.

wotswattage

And to hijack:D

So you are saying bottle on a warm day/have it warmer when bottling?
Or simply store in a warmer place?

I'm currently fermenting a dark ale so carbonation is less of an issue for me, but i'm already looking forward to the next batch! I have found home brews to be bit flat..

BeerNut

wotswattage wrote: »

So you are saying bottle on a warm day/have it warmer when bottling?
Or simply store in a warmer place?

When you go to bottle there will be a certain amount of CO2 still dissolved in the beer. The amount depends on the temperature: the cooler it is, the more CO2 there'll be.

But it's not really all that significant, compared to the effect of the priming sugar. Work it all out properly and you'll get the results you want.

TheBrewMeister

wotswattage wrote: »

And to hijack:D

So you are saying bottle on a warm day/have it warmer when bottling?
Or simply store in a warmer place?

I'm currently fermenting a dark ale so carbonation is less of an issue for me, but i'm already looking forward to the next batch! I have found home brews to be bit flat..

Bottle conditioning, or a more appropriate term - bottle carbonating, is merely the act of having a secondary fermentation take place, under pressure, in the bottle.

You'd likely be adding some corn sugar, and possibly more yeast - depending on the time the beer spent in secondary - then putting the mixture into bottles and allowing it to ferment the new sugar.

So, if you want a decent amount of carbonation, you need to add the appropriate amount of priming sugar and leave the bottles in an area at the same temps you fermented at.

It is not recommended that you store the bottles in a hot area - room temp is perfect. Allow the bottles to ferment for at least 2 weeks, and then, for the best results, allow the bottles to condition in the refrigerator for AT LEAST 1 week. 2 weeks is better.

The time spent in the cold allows the carbonation to better dissolve into the beer.

I should also add that having good caps and making sure they seal well is very important. If your bottle caps leak, you'll end up with under carbonated or completely flat beer.