Flat brew! what to do?

[chairmanmaw]

Hi all,

Ive been brewing a coopers european lager for a few weeks. Its reached its desired SG, so yesterday I decided to transfer the brew in to a bottling bucket. I added the priming sugar to the bucket (mixed with a little boiling water) and left it instead of bottling it immediately. The brew seems to have gone flat now (after about 36 hours, after trying a small sample). What can I do to rectify this?

Can I still bottle the lager and hope it re-carbinates itself?

Should I add more priming sugar and bottle immediately?

Please help!!!

[martyn142]

I'd add a bit more sugar and then bottle it straight away. Remember to keep it in the warm for a few days for the secondary fermentation. The only reason you might be unlucky so far as I know is if the alcohol level is already so high that it has killed the yeast, which is very unlikely if you followed the recipe.

[chairmanmaw]

I'd add a bit more sugar and then bottle it straight away. Remember to keep it in the warm for a few days for the secondary fermentation. The only reason you might be unlucky so far as I know is if the alcohol level is already so high that it has killed the yeast, which is very unlikely if you followed the recipe.

Great, thanks for the advice. I have just bottled it and moved it to somewhere warmer.

I guess the next question is; What should I do if I've wrecked it? if it stays flat?

[tomU]

If you primed it but then didnt bottle it it would never have been fizzy, so it hasnt gone flat. It only gets fizzy under pressure, i.e. in a sealed bottle. Otherwise any CO2 generated is going to come straight out of solution.
Anyway, sounds like you've sorted it. Open one in a couple of weeks to see if its carbed up. If not you'll have to open then up and add more sugar if you want them fizzy.

[chairmanmaw]

I think the brew is saved! I bottled it following the advice on this thread and have left it for a good few days at a higher temperature (18 - 21c). I opened a bottle last night to check for pressure and there was a healthy pop and a nice little head of bubbles!

Thanks for you're help guys!

[Dill]

Whenever I bottle a brew I always fill a 500ml pet bottle. That way you can just squeeze it to test if it is carbonating, and believe me that plastic bottle feels rock hard when it has carbonated.
This saves you having to open a bottle just to check on carbonation.

[chairmanmaw]

Whenever I bottle a brew I always fill a 500ml pet bottle. That way you can just squeeze it to test if it is carbonating, and believe me that plastic bottle feels rock hard when it has carbonated.
This saves you having to open a bottle just to check on carbonation.

I like your style. I will give that ago in 2 weeks when its time to bottle my canadian blonde!