Flat Beer

gothictwilight · 16-10-2014 8:32am #1

Brewed a batch of Better Brew Czech Pilsner and bottled them about 2 weeks ago using the Coopers Carb drops.
I put one drop per brown 500ml PET bottle.
Cracked one open last night and found it was almost totally flat.

Going to give them a shake and stick them into a warmer room to see if that helps.
Any of you guys have any advice or words of wisdom???

adamski8 · 16-10-2014 8:37am

Any yeast the bottom? Were they in a cold room? Did they taste really sweet?

BeerNut · 16-10-2014 8:40am

Are the bottles properly sealed?

gothictwilight · 16-10-2014 8:41am

There was bit of yeast on the bottom.
Less than usual but I had this in secondary for almost two weeks.
I never drank this beer before but it didn't taste overly sweet.

macnug · 16-10-2014 8:45am

One drop isn't enough for pilsner style beers as far as I remember, one and a half is better for it. Look up batch priming, easy to do, more control over carbonation levels and more consistent.

gothictwilight · 16-10-2014 8:49am

BeerNut wrote: »

Are the bottles properly sealed?

The bottles seem to be properly sealed. I nearly broke my wrist trying to screw of the cap from the bottle last night.

gothictwilight · 16-10-2014 8:51am

macnug wrote: »

One drop isn't enough for pilsner style beers as far as I remember, one and a half is better for it. Look up batch priming, easy to do, more control over carbonation levels and more consistent.

I have a feeling this is the problem. I did some research after I bottled the Pilsner and a lot of guys were also saying this.
Is there any way of rescuing the Pilsner or will I have to put up with drinking it flat. (don't mind that too much, it tasted quite good.)

macnug · 16-10-2014 9:00am

gothictwilight wrote: »

I have a feeling this is the problem. I did some research after I bottled the Pilsner and a lot of guys were also saying this.
Is there any way of rescuing the Pilsner or will I have to put up with drinking it flat. (don't mind that too much, it tasted quite good.)

I've never tried adding more to it but I cant see why it wouldn't work.

adamski8 · 16-10-2014 9:40am

2 weeks in secondary though probably meant not much yeast got into the bottles. Id say slightly warmer room for another two weeks or so might do the job. 1 drop should always be enough to carb the beer good enough. OP is saying the beer is flat which it shouldn't be with 1 drop.

gothictwilight · 16-10-2014 9:51am

adamski8 wrote: »

2 weeks in secondary though probably meant not much yeast got into the bottles. Id say slightly warmer room for another two weeks or so might do the job. 1 drop should always be enough to carb the beer good enough. OP is saying the beer is flat which it shouldn't be with 1 drop.

From the bit of research I did in the last few days it says that with Lager and Pilsner style beers there is less fermentables in the bottle during carbonation so you may need a little more sugar than normal.
Saying that I had the bottles in a spare room which may be a little bit too cold to carb quickly.
I just shook the bottles and brought them into the living room to see what happens.
When I shook the bottles I saw bubbles rise and a head form inside.
I take this to mean that they are in the process of carbing but just haven't finished yet.
Fingers crossed

adamski8 · 16-10-2014 10:38am

Id say so. Your beer was an ale though from a kit though so i don't think the fermentables thing you read would hold true as thats probably reffering to trye lager yeasts being used.

neoanto · 20-10-2014 3:11pm

Put them in a warm room for a week, that should do the trick if you have any yeast left in the bottle.

Your pitching rates might also be a factor. For lagers you need to pitch alot more yeast. So maybe if you didnt do that, then most of the yeast have fallen out at this stage?

cyburger · 29-10-2014 11:41am

neoanto wrote: »

Put them in a warm room for a week, that should do the trick if you have any yeast left in the bottle.

Your pitching rates might also be a factor. For lagers you need to pitch alot more yeast. So maybe if you didnt do that, then most of the yeast have fallen out at this stage?

Is there anything I can do with a beer that's bottled but didn't get enough yeast? I've an IPA that was at good temps for three weeks and has sugar, but didn't carbonate - it's flat and sweet though

BeerNut · 29-10-2014 12:19pm

cyburger wrote: »

didn't get enough yeast?

I doubt it's a yeast issue. How much priming sugar did you use?

cyburger · 29-10-2014 12:34pm

one or two coopers drops per bottle depending on the size (1 for 500ml bottle, which might to too little, 2 for 660ml bottles), so unless it was the caps, which I've used before with no issue, I'm not sure what it could be.

I also had some in a mini-keg that I primed with sugar, don't have the numbers here, but that was flat too.

BeerNut · 29-10-2014 12:42pm

Any time I've used carbonation drops on kit beer I've put one in each 500ml bottle and been very happy with the carbonation levels: not fizzy like commercial beer, but far from flat and with good head retention.

Maybe try inverting your bottles and letting them sit a few more weeks.

gothictwilight · 29-10-2014 12:56pm

BeerNut wrote: »

Any time I've used carbonation drops on kit beer I've put one in each 500ml bottle and been very happy with the carbonation levels: not fizzy like commercial beer, but far from flat and with good head retention.

Maybe try inverting your bottles and letting them sit a few more weeks.

Thanks Beernut.
Have already tried this. Fingers crossed it helps

cyburger · 29-10-2014 1:20pm

BeerNut wrote: »

Any time I've used carbonation drops on kit beer I've put one in each 500ml bottle and been very happy with the carbonation levels: not fizzy like commercial beer, but far from flat and with good head retention.

Maybe try inverting your bottles and letting them sit a few more weeks.

I tried that after the second week, upped the temp too, it's almost a month now actually... the glass bottles are still flat.

The last bottle i did was plastic, to see if they were carbonating - it firmed up well, but did have a good amount of sediment where the others didn't.

P.S. sorry for jumping on your thread gothictwilight!

gothictwilight · 29-10-2014 1:36pm

cyburger wrote: »

I tried that after the second week, upped the temp too, it's almost a month now actually... the glass bottles are still flat.

The last bottle i did was plastic, to see if they were carbonating - it firmed up well, but did have a good amount of sediment where the others didn't.

P.S. sorry for jumping on your thread gothictwilight!

No worries cyburger.
I've had the same problem.
Going to put it down to experience and batch prime my next batch.
My last brew I just used the good old fashioned heaped teaspoon method through a funnel method. Bit awkward but I persevered.

MrGee · 30-10-2014 8:41am

I always used 1 and a half drops per 500 ml bottle and that was just about right. I reckon you didnt add enough.
On the other hand i made a cider a while ago and it didnt carbonate at all, all was well during fermentation but still no carbonation. There was no traces of yeast in the bottles after 2 weeks. so i ended up drinking it flat which wasnt great. Im batch priming now and its much easier.

cyburger · 30-10-2014 8:48am

MrGee wrote: »

I always used 1 and a half drops per 500 ml bottle and that was just about right. I reckon you didnt add enough.
On the other hand i made a cider a while ago and it didnt carbonate at all, all was well during fermentation but still no carbonation. There was no traces of yeast in the bottles after 2 weeks. so i ended up drinking it flat which wasnt great. Im batch priming now and its much easier.

I only did a couple of 500ml bottles, and there was 2 in the 660s and they were still flat

I'm chalking it down to experience.

Flat Beer

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