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I ask this question because I have had two brews fail recently. Both where in the fermentor 4 & 5 weeks respectively. I have left brews in this long before without any problem but I am guessing that the length of time left in the fermenter has something to do with it. The failed brews where a Coopers Bavarian Lager with Brew enhancer #2 ,500g dried malt and saflager yeast left in fermenter 4 weeks. Second brew was Cascade porter with 1 kg Morgans chocolate malt left in fermenter 5 weeks. Both brews taste great but they have very low to non existent carbonation. I assume this is because all the yeast had gone to the bottom and was not suspended in the solution anymore.

Any guidance on this would be appreciated.

PS I am not letting anything go past 2 weeks now unless SG is high and needs a bit more brewing.

Hi

Well Canbera is a bit cold, though 5 weeks is probably pushing it.

I am like you though never had any probelems leaving it in a little longer than should, probably though max three weeks. I have a job that sometimes takes me away and it just has to wait. Happy to say always seems to be OK, never had this problem.

Regards

If you are in a plastic fermentor you are asking for trouble. I would be suprised if it was glass, I have left brews up to two months in glass and no problems.

If you are going the distance in glass, it doesn't hurt to rack it a third time to get it off the yeast bed

Dogger

I haven't had problems leaving brews in the (plastic) fermenter for a long time.

How long since you bottled? Perhaps secondary fermentation hasn't happened because it's too cold? Maybe leave it a bit longer and put them somewhere warm. (I'm assuming you weren't drunk when you bottled and forgot to prime )

If you're convinced it's the yeast (or lack thereof) causing the problem, you could always uncap each bottle and add a bit of yeast before recapping.

Cheers,

Oliver

I have been brewing all through winter in Canberra and have never had a problem like this before. I always leave the bottles inside for about 3-4 weeks for the secondary fermentation to occur. Weather has been quite warm for Canberra over the last 3 months so I doubt its a temperature thing. As far as I know I wasn't drunk either. I use carbonation drops and have always had perfect carbonation from them. I am still drinking the Porter as although the carbonation is low it is still quite drinkable. Might have to chalk this up to bad luck. I have done a Bavarian lager since which was also in the fermenter for 4 weeks and it has turned out fine. In fact knocked off quiet a few last night!

I have one brew that i have to leave in the fermenter for 3-4 weeks to settle all the other goodies i put into it

I've never had a problem with it


the first ever brew i did i had no idea what i was doing & left it in for 5 weeks it still turned out fine

I went back to my brew log and noticed that both of these beers I primed with Coopers brewers sugar. It is quiet fine and it is a possibility that I measured the sugar incorrectly. I am basically putting this down to operator error. Got a nice 30 litre pale type fermenter for chrissie so it is bulk priming from now on using dextrose.

Cheers Dory

Oliver wrote:If you're convinced it's the yeast (or lack thereof) causing the problem, you could always uncap each bottle and add a bit of yeast before recapping.

Cheers,

Oliver

Oliver, just out of interest how much yeast should I use? Would it be better to make a starter and squirt a little bit in each bottle with a syringe or something? Might try a couple of the porters and see how it goes

Cheers
Dory

Dory,

If you decide that the problem's with the priming sugar, you shouldn't need any more yeast, just add some more sugar.

If you think it's the yeast (which seems unlikely given there's some carbonation), even a pinch of dried yeast into each bottle should do the trick.

But you certainly could dissolve the yeast and use a syringe to put a bit in each bottle.

Cheers,

Oliver

Most probably is ingredients but might be good idea to look for a physical cause.

poor seals in your bottle tops or the capper is not working at it's best
did you use the same batch of caps or capper on both brews. If your using the plastic botlles with screw tops the sealing will deteriate after each use.

Maybe a bad batch of carb drops, I read they need to be kept cool or maybe they are out of date though they should last a couple years till opened. I guess you have to find a common link between the two.

Could it be that the type of sterizing liquid makes a difference. On that note does anyone know if babby bottle santizer is OK to use?

I use Napi-San and have never had any problems.