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Author Topic: Advice needed: Lager Bottling  (Read 2995 times)

Offline mcdanis

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Advice needed: Lager Bottling
« on: January 20, 2012, 06:13:17 am »
I have a Bock that lagered in a secondary for a month.  It has been in the bottle for over three weeks and has zero carbonation.  The one I tried made some sound when I opened it, but that is probably just from temperature change.  No signs of carbonation at all.  I don't notice any sediment on the bottom of the bottles, either.  It tasted great, so I'd be really disappointed if it never carbed up.

So, shouldn't I see at least some carbonation at this point?  Should I give it a few more weeks or go ahead and use some dry yeast in each bottle and recap?

I have read on the forums that a month of lagering normally doesn't require repitching at bottling time, but maybe I lagered on the cool side.  I'll use this as a learning experience and next time I will save yeast from the primary and repitch that for bottling.  Meanwhile, I'd like to make the best out of this batch.

Thanks for your input!
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Offline weithman5

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Re: Advice needed: Lager Bottling
« Reply #1 on: January 20, 2012, 06:45:09 am »
you have a few options. the easiest would be to get a package of dry yeast and sprinkle a little in each bottle. remember the bottles will need to be warm for those few weeks, if cold there will be no fermentation to generate the co2.  if you think the bock is a little dry/or you forgot to mix in the priming sugar, mix up some priming sugar and add a few drops of this to each bottle with the yeast.

or pour all the bottles in to a keg and force carb
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Offline gmac

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Re: Advice needed: Lager Bottling
« Reply #2 on: January 20, 2012, 06:56:01 am »
You did add priming sugar right?  I didn't see where you mentioned it or how much so I've gotta ask.

Offline mcdanis

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Re: Advice needed: Lager Bottling
« Reply #3 on: January 20, 2012, 07:06:43 am »
Yes, I primed with DME.  I'm not close to my notes to get the amount, but I used the TastyBrew priming calculator.
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Offline paul

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Re: Advice needed: Lager Bottling
« Reply #4 on: January 20, 2012, 07:37:20 am »
I think I've read that DME is harder for the few remaining yeast cells to eat, so it could take longer to carbonate than with simple sugar. 

Also, I've had beers carbonate in the bottle with no notable sediment on the bottom...so don't assume that no sediment means no yeast.

You might need to let the bottles warm a bit, say 68 or 70 F, and give it a couple more weeks before trying anything drastic.

Offline tygo

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Re: Advice needed: Lager Bottling
« Reply #5 on: January 20, 2012, 07:50:31 am »
You might need to let the bottles warm a bit, say 68 or 70 F, and give it a couple more weeks before trying anything drastic.

+1  This is the easiest thing to do and has a good chance of working based on what you've said.  After one month of lagering there should still be enough yeast to carb things up. 
Clint
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Offline mcdanis

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Re: Advice needed: Lager Bottling
« Reply #6 on: January 20, 2012, 08:16:01 am »
I hope that will be the case.  The bottles have been stored at 67-68 degrees.  I hope that the combo of removing most (hopefully not all) of the yeast and using DME is causing a longer time to carb up.  I may wait about three more weeks since that is when I'll probably place my next supply order.  If they are not showing good progress towards carbing I'll order some dry yeast to help things out. 
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Offline duboman

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Re: Advice needed: Lager Bottling
« Reply #7 on: January 20, 2012, 08:28:40 am »
I hope that will be the case.  The bottles have been stored at 67-68 degrees.  I hope that the combo of removing most (hopefully not all) of the yeast and using DME is causing a longer time to carb up.  I may wait about three more weeks since that is when I'll probably place my next supply order.  If they are not showing good progress towards carbing I'll order some dry yeast to help things out. 

I have found that when I keep my bottles at the temperatures you stated they may take up to a month to fully carbonate but the bottles that I keep in a room that is more around 72-74 degrees carb up in as little as 10 days to 2 weeks  so I would try to find a warmer location. I n addition, I always use priming sugar as I find that DME just takes forever and is not always reliable.
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