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Flat Stout

Dommt

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My first brew was an Oatmeal Stout.  I opened my 1st bottle and no carbonation, zip!  Opened another and same.  I read a couple blogs that say I can add sugar or Carb tablets and re cap the bottles.  The info is sketchy as to what kind of sugar to use and how much.  The recipe called for maple syrup as the bottle fermentor sugar.  It tastes really good but no carb.  I intend to try the re sugaring and re capping.  Any advice? 
 
How long since you bottled the Stout? 

How much maple sugar did you add and how did you calculate the amount needed to prime for carbonation?

How long did you ferment your recipe before bottling?

If you are going to re-prime the bottles, try table sugar.  Many people use corn sugar (dextrose) for priming, but I have had any problem with straight table sugar.  The fermentability of table sugar is about 108% of that of corn sugar for calculation purposes.

 
Hi, it is a 1 gal recipe.  Started it 11/16,  bottled 12/3  refrigerated yesterday.  Opened today.  it called for 3 table spoons of maple syrup and 1/2 cup water.  I followed their recipe.  So, if I use table sugar to corbonate it.  How will I know how much to put in.  I keep hearing about bottle bombs!  Dom
 
I took it out of the fridge to warm it up and will re cap tomorrow with an attempt to carbonate it.  Hopefully the yeast with re activate.
 
First, I usually give my bottles about 3 weeks to fully carbonate.  Especially when using sugar based materials such as honey, molasses, maple sugar, etc, it is important to allow the yeast to adapt to the new sugars and consume them.

Next, leave the bottle in the fridge for a few days.  It takes a while for the CO2 in the bottle to absorb into the beer.  You didn't say if you got any small 'pop'  when you opened the bottle or not.  When I have tried to rush a bottle, I usually get a good 'pop' as the pressure is relieved but very little actual carbonation of the beer.

Are you using pop top bottles or are they twist off?  I stick to pop top bottles as I have had mixed results with capping twist off tops without some leakage.  It takes a good technique to consistently get a sealed closure on them.  You can also check for leaks on any type of bottle by inverting it and looking for beer seeping out.  Poor capping may be allowing the gasses to escape instead of being help to be reabsorbed into the beer.

If it comes to adding more sugar to the bottles, try table sugar and use a small measuring spoon to add it to each bottle.  Make sure the bottle is well shaken when recapped.
 
I was a little over 2 weeks in the bottle.  Not even a hint of pressure when I opened them.  Poured some in a glass and no carb.  (tasted great)  I tried 2 before I started researching a cure.  I did not check to see if they were leaking.  I will do that next.  I don't use twist offs.  With table sugar, is a small amount like 1/8 teaspoon?  I also read that there are carb caplets you can add.  Any experience with them?  Thanks for your help.  Dom
 
If they are 12-oz bottles, I'd recommend about 1/2 to 3/4 tsp of sugar per bottle.

The only other thing that may be impeding carbonation is if the yeast have somehow been killed off.  Did the wort/beer get to a high temperature (above 90F) before bottling?

 
Thanks,  the batch was bubbling, so much I had to go from a valve to a hose in a bowl of sanitizer.  The valve was getting clogged with yeast coming out the top of the bottle.  It was pretty active. 
 
Greetings - for what's it's worth, I have had the same issue when trying to bottle condition using maple syrup.  I read an article about a year ago and if I understand what the author was saying, he said the actual fermentable sugars in maple syrup vary from brand to brand and from type to type.  In other words, when maple "water" is drawn from the tree, it's then boiled for many hours to produce "grades" of syrup ranging from light, to amber, to dark (I don't recall the exact definitions) with each one having its own fermentable characteristics.

So my point is you may have done nothing wrong other than use a syrup that didn't have a lot of fermentables.  I used 65.5% as my fermentability compared to Corn Sugar and I did not have the proper carbonation either.

Just a thought.
 
That is a good thought.  It could very well be the issue.  I used an organic syrup from Costco.  I don't recall the grade but there is a wide variation of maple grades.  I think the next time I do a Stout like that I will use sugar and put some maple flavoring in instead. 
 
I add maple syrup into the fermentor when I want some maple flavoring to come through.  There are many grades and the powers that be recently changed the rating for some stupid reason.  Typically there is grade A fancy, grade A medium amber, grade A dark amber, and grade B.  Grade B is usually made from the last runnings of the sap and has a much stronger maple flavoring.  It is the best for using in brewing (IMHO).  The last bottle I picked up was approximately 68% sugars. 
 
Putting it into the fermentor sounds like a better idea.  I like the flavor but it seems like the table sugar is a more reliable way to carbonate.  I will re sugar them tonight and let you know in 2 weeks if it was successful.  Thanks for all the help.  Dom
 
Late response, but if anyone is reading this... I had a similar problem. My solution was to make a nice malty Irish red and whenever I wanted one of the stouts, I mixed the two into a stein and it was awesome! Red gave it carb and blended well with the flavors of the stout without messing it up...
 
Well, the re sugar didn't work on the stout.  I am going to start another and try again.  It is only 10 bottles so it doesn't seem worth it to try to fix them and risk bottle bombs.  On the other hand, letting my batch of Blonde ale go extra time helped.  It has some carbonation.  Not as much as I like but it is good and drinkable.  I tried gently shaking and will let them sit another week before refrigerating the whole batch.  I did put some in the fridge to drink.  I did mention it is drinkable!  Thanks for all the advice.  Dom
 
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i didn't see if you actually added any form of fermentable before bottling the first time.

if you didn't that was the issue.

i prefer to use carbonation drops/tablets [check your local homebrew store] when i bottle. they come in 2 variations: 1 per bottle [large pill] or 2-5 per bottle [small pills] for 12 0z bottles.

also, on my first batch i made the mistake of refrigerating too early [slightly sweet, low carbed beer]. i suggest adding the drops then letting the bottles sit [at either fermentation temp or room temp, depending on whether it's lager or ale] for a minimum of 14 days [usually 21] before i refrigerate [and then minimum 4 days {usually 7} in fridge to let yeast settle to the bottom].

also, if you let it get too hot after bottling then the yeast died. how to determine how much to add before bottling...depends on beer style and how carbed you like your beers. but now i mostly keg so i just have to pressurize and wait :)

good luck on your next batch!
 
Dommt, Old law of the land was to add 3/4 cup bottling sugar to a 5 gallon batch. I found the best way is to boil 16 oz of water and add the sugar. Let it boil for @ 5 minutes then cool it down. Put it into your bottling bucket first then introduce your wort. The swirling action makes the sugar blend evenly with the wort so you have no over carb issues as with adding sugar to the bottles after bottling and before capping...And it is a bit easier! Just a thought, after reading start to finish.
Carry on and do your 12 oz curls!
Bill
 
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