Bottle carbonation

[brew-T]

I llke belgian beers - so I try to brew them. The problem is the carbonation. I do get the taste i want but not the (bottle)carbonation. I have added yeast at peak when bottling, I have added more sugar than i should.... I have put the bottles next to a heater to make sure the yeast have a good environment.
But every time i open one of my begian ones it is really weak as far as carbonation goes.
This is not the case with my strong english ales etc. They always carbonate fine.
Any suggestons?

Tom

[BrewDog]

Welcome to the site!

How long are you letting them carbonate?
2-3 weeks at 70*F (21*C) is pretty standard.
Do not put them directly on a concrete or other cold floor.
Also ensure that you have capped them well.

Hope this helps-

[brew-T]

TThe shortest I have given my bottles is 3 months.
So I do not think time is a problem,,,,But temperature or.....welllll

[brew-T]

I live in an apartment so I don´t have anywhere cold to lager my beer. It is a constant 68-70° F. I have read that some Belgian brewers use a "hotroom" to help the yeast carbonate before it is overcome with the alcohol. So I raised the temp in my bathroom to about 80° F and after bottling put the whole batch there for a week. But no luck.
In the last one I brewed I added a starter of wyeast 1214, added about 3,5 ounces of sugar before bottling (to 5 gallons) and let the bottles sit in 80° for a week. They sat in my closet for another 4 weeks before i opened one .
Weak carbonation. Do you think I should use more sugar and/or more yeast? Should I use another yeast than the 1214?
Ironically - I just brewed next christmas ale with wyeast 1028 London Ale.
It landed on 7,5% ABV. I just primed with sugar and bottled. And now, 2 weeks later, the carbonation is right where I want it. I did not even add more yeast.

[wild]

I've brewed several Belgians (especially strong) and just follow a few simple steps:
Ferment in the primary fermenter at 70ºF for 7 days or until fermentation slows, then siphon into the secondary fermenter. Bottle when fermentation is complete, target gravity is reached and beer has cleared (approx. 6 weeks) with:
1.25 cups of Extra Light DME that has been boiled for 10 minutes in 2 cups of water. Let prime at 70ºF for approximately 6 weeks until carbonated, then store at cellar temperature.
I've been real happy with the carbonation of each brew.

Tip: The reason for the long carbonation time is due to the use of Belgian candi sugar in the recipes.

Wild

[brew-T]

Thanks, Wild

I was not aware of the candi sugar/carbonation time.
I´ll try it the way you describe next time - with DME instead of sugar.
Do you add yeast when you prime and bottle or is what is left from
primary/secondary enough to do the job?
What kind of yeast do you use?

One of these days I AM going to have bubbles in my belgians :-)

cheers

[wild]

Originally posted by brew-T
Do you add yeast when you prime and bottle or is what is left from
primary/secondary enough to do the job?

I haven't needed to add any yeast prior to bottling but if I were, I'd just use the same strain.
Originally posted by brew-T
What kind of yeast do you use?

Depends on the beer style. For instance,
An Abbey: I can use Wyeast #3463 Forbidden Fruit or Wyeast #3944 Witbier.
A Golden: I use WLP570 Belgian Golden Ale Yeast
A Trappist: I’ll use WLP500 Trappist Ale, Wyeast #1388 Belgian Strong Ale or Wyeast #3787 Trappist High Gravity
Or a Trippel: I’ll use Wyeast #1214 Belgian Abbey Ale or Wyeast #1762 Belgian Abbey II

Hope that helps.
Wild

[brew-T]

Last one was a trippel and I used Wyeast 1214.

It seems to me that I am doing pretty much of what you are suggesting. I am going to have to pay much closer attention to the details to get to the bottom of this I think. The biggest difference is that I use sugar and you DME for the priming. That will be my first change. Maybe it is that simple :-)
Thanks for good advice!

Tom

[wild]

My pleasure. Good luck.

Wild