newbie, beer not carbonating

[markw6796]

Hi I'm a Newbie to this forum & I'm having trouble getting my beer to carbonate.
I've been brewing now for 7 months & have had pretty good results. Until the last couple of months, where I've not been able to get any bubbles in my beer at all.
For the past 5 months I've been using a Brigalow Premium Kit with the yeast supplied & approx. 8oogms of white sugar. I know that hardly any one on this forum likes Brigalow, but I've found it tastes allright to me.
With each brew the SG is around 1034 - 1032 & the FG I've been bottling at is 1006 - 1007. I've been storing the bottles in, my laundry on a shelf in Milk Crates, where the temp of the room is between 18 - 22 C. Each batch has been stored for a minimum of 3 weeks, some of them have been stored for 6 weeks.
Every bottle I open is either dead flat or has a tiny amount of bubbles. The ones with a litlle bit of gas, by the time I've poured it into a glass ( very clean Schooner, rinsed & chilled in freezer for 15 mins), & sat down to have a mouthful, it's dead flat.
I use a combination of PET bottles & glass Stubbies & Longnecks.

I allways take great care when washing my bottles & I dry them on a bottle tree.

I use a Coopers Fermenter & a Fermenter I bought from a HB shop.

One fermenter is in a non working upright freezer that has a 15 watt light globe on a timer to keep the fermenter temp at 23C.
The other fermenter is in a chipboard box that I made, with a 40 watt globe, on the timer, to keep it at 23C.
I've only brewed with the fermenters in the old freezer & the box, since the weather has cooled. I had a few brews come out of those that were fine, good taste & plenty of gas. So I don't think that brewing inside the freezer & box have made them come out flat.

By the way, I live on the Central Coast NSW. When I was brewing in summer I didn't have any trouble with flat beer.
Here are my questions :-

Am I not leaving the bottles long enough before drinking ?
Do I need to store the bottles in a room that has an ambient temp of more than 18-22 C ?
Is it because of brewing in the old freezer & box ?
If these things aren't the problem, then what is ?

Thanks in advance

[hyjak]

Hey mate
Im pretty new at this myself too but are you priming your bottles??
With the low amount of consumables you have in the brew i think you will struggle to have it carb up without priming.
If you are priming, what with and how much?
Only couple of things i can think of with my limited knowledge.

Jez

[Bizier]

As Hyjak mentioned, you need to outline what you are doing to prime your bottles.

Sounds to me like you are getting less yeast in the bottle, perhaps because of lower general temps, and that this is causing your beers to carb slower. Do they taste sweet? Can you measure one with a hydrometer and see if it is currently above your recorded terminal gravity reading (if you took it down)? That would show that the priming sugar is still there.

All in all you just need more time.

I know that hardly any one on this forum likes Brigalow, but I've found it tastes allright to me.

I have done one single Brigalow in my life... all I can say to your comment is that you have a lot left in homebrewing to enjoy and new horizons to explore whenever you are ready.

[markw6796]

Sorry I forgot to mention priming.
I'm using 1 teaspoon of white sugar for 750 ml bottles & 1/2 teaspoon for 375 ml

[markw6796]

Do they taste sweet? Can you measure one with a hydrometer and see if it is currently above your recorded terminal gravity reading (if you took it down)? That would show that the priming sugar is still there.

No they don't taste sweet, thye're just flat.

Took a reading with the hydrometer last night. Just before I bottled them, it was 1007. After 5 weeks it's now 1006

[billybushcook]

Try storing them a little warmer.
It is dificult in winter due to the space required for bottles but I like to keep mine at brew temp for a fortnight then bring e'm up a bit for another week or two to make sure, then they can go back to colder temps for as long as you like.

I have never noticed any difference in flavour between those of the same batch which were left in the shed & those which were put in a warm spot, if anything, the ones which were heated not only carbed quicker but tasted better for it.

As for priming, you said the only difference has been the cold weather, so put e'm back into a summer type environment & you should get the same beer right??

Cheers, Mick.

[markw6796]

Cheers for that Mick. I thought that the cool temp might have been the problem. I'll have to try & convince the missus to let me store them inside for awhile. I don't like my chances, but hey, she likes me home brewing cos it saves me money, so that's gotta be a plus.