Carbonating bottles.

[Roosterjuice]

I can’t find anything about secondary fermenting in wine bottles I’m going to try it with cider wondering if it’ll explode?

[Mikes15]

welcome to the Forum,,

 

Don't think that's a very good idea, you should consider that glass beer / cider bottles are thicker than wine bottles for a good reason.

 

I suppose that IF your 110% sure your primary fermentation is complete & your aiming for a very low CO level, say 1.0 or less you MIGHT get away with it but FFS handle those grenades with extreme care & not around members of the public, loved ones, children or animals, bottles are not made from toughened / safety glass & will shatter causing serious injury to the anyone in the area.

 

All in all, very risky considering how inexpensive plastic beer bottles are & how available second hand beer / cider bottles are.

 

**edited post caffeine intake,,,

 

[Otto Von Blotto]

Champagne bottles would work but I would not use standard 'still' wine bottles because they likely haven't been made to handle the sort of pressure that a carbonated drink requires.

[Walid]

Hi Guys,

 

i have user cooper carbomation drops and after 15 days of fermentation in the bottles the beer tastes great but it's totally flat ,  what could happened ? 

temperature has been about 18 degrees , eveything is fine but the beer is Flat .

can you help me ?

[Otto Von Blotto]

Is it flat in that there is no fizz at all or is simply no foam on top of it?

[Walid]

No fizz and no foam on the top 

[Otto Von Blotto]

They may just need more time, maybe warm the bottles up a bit. It's highly unlikely the yeast are dead so the only other possible cause would be the bottle lids not being completely airtight.

[Walid]

Thanks for your Answers ,

it's really strange because one or two of them are perfectly carbonated , i don't know i will brew another one and see the result.

i was wondering maybe the light influe on the carbonation , because sometimes i open to check if the plastic bottles are Hard or not.

[Otto Von Blotto]

Light won't affect it. 

[EWildcat7]

On 10/11/2018 at 1:42 AM, Walid said:

Hi Guys,

 

i have user cooper carbomation drops and after 15 days of fermentation in the bottles the beer tastes great but it's totally flat ,  what could happened ? 

temperature has been about 18 degrees , eveything is fine but the beer is Flat .

can you help me ?

I had a very similar experience.  I tried one each week starting at 2 weeks.  It was pretty bad after 2 weeks and drinkable, but not great after 3 weeks.  But, after 4 1/2 weeks, the beer tasted great. 

Just give it time.

[Walid]

Thanks for your answer.

It's not really about the taste but about carbonation, the beer still flat even after one month of bottle fermentation. I have had only Two of them with gas and the others completely flat.

Next time I will try 5 grams of table sugar instead of 2 carbonation drops in each 0,5L.

[Titan]

Presuming your using the pet type bottles. I have never used them but after all the reading ive done on here i would fill the bottles allowing enough head space. 1 day later i would then go back and retighten the lids. Maybe the secondary ferment is causing the lids to move off the seals.

[Walid]

Titan thanks for your message, it can be yes it's a little bit difficult that the lids changes position but it can be yes. I will make another beer and see what happens. 

I will let you know anyway 

[Easy]

Hey Walid, I've experienced the same thing, and have found that time sorts it out. I leave my brews for 21 days as standard before trying and those that have still seemed to be flat have come right after a few more weeks (4 - 6). I'm also willing to push the boundaries a bit and add more carbonation drops ( 3 instead of 2) especially for brews where I want a bigger flavour. Yes it increases the alcohol but it also enhances the flavour - especially in big flavoursome stouts which I enjoy and you get more head/fizz for the effect.

[Otto Von Blotto]

I find the opposite with stouts, higher carbonation ruins the flavor because the bite overshadows the malt flavors in them. Obviously it's all personal preference but I like them better with a little less carbonation than other styles. Can still pour a decent head of you do it right. 

[Lab Cat]

I've posted regularly on the same issue. I'm going to use sugar now, so I can set my own carb level preference. Once your beer hits 4 weeks in the bottle, I think that's the carb level you're going to get and for me, a couple of my brews didn't get enough. I got a couple of flat ones in each batch too.

Some of it is possibly expectation. Home brew carb levels seem to be lower than many commercial brews, as another brewer at work thought my pale was fine. Also, some beer styles don't need much carbing to taste as intended -  like the English bitter.

 

[Beer Baron]

3 hours ago, Otto Von Blotto said:

I find the opposite with stouts, higher carbonation ruins the flavor because the bite overshadows the malt flavors in them. Obviously it's all personal preference but I like them better with a little less carbonation than other styles. Can still pour a decent head of you do it right. 

I agree. When I do a stout it is the only time I bottle and I only add half a carb drop to a 345ml bottle. Perfect carbonation

[Walid]

Guys Thanks A million for your Help and for your advises.

i wil finish my 40 beer of Cooper Europeen lager beer that tastes really great but flat for the moment.

i think the solution is to put 5 Grams ( 1 coffee Spoon ) of white Sugar in 500 Ml of beer. for the next time and let it rest for at least 1 Month in the Bottles and try.

Best regards.

[Lab Cat]

I see your beer is at 15 days bottling. I'd give it another week or so, then let it chill in the fridge for a couple of days or so. But sugar will give you flexibility to add a bit more next time.

My pale ale with drops was a bit disappointing for carbing, but after 4-5 weeks it was somewhat better. Still got a few left and first glass is now good, but carb level for the rest of the bottle drops again.