I have made an Oktoberfest/Marzen style lager, it has lagered in my temp controlled fridge @34F for about 3 weeks… i have read and heard from various online sources that there could possibly be enough yeast in suspension to carbonate in the bottle. the beer was pretty clear when i primed and bottled (without adding any extra yeast), i opened one after a week just because i was impatient and wanted to check progress, it hissed when i opened the bottle, the beer was still pretty flat without much bubbling, and no head to speak of… could this beer still carbonate if left to sit for another 3-5 weeks?.. im in no hurry as i have more beer to drink, but i would like to nip a problem in the bud now, instead of waiting the 3-5 weeks still to have uncarbonated beer. give me your input guys, looking for someone who may have experienced this before.
thanks in advance for your responses.
happy brewing!
One week is rarely enough time to carbonate a beer. It usually takes me about 3 weeks at room temp to hit my desired carb level. With a lower amount of yeast it may take a month or more. If you got a hiss at one week I would take that as a very good sign at this point.
When I bottle lagers I usually bottle and carbonate first, then lager in the bottles. I think that speeds the process up a bit.
Depends on whether or not yeast is remaining in the beer. The previous post is correct: 2-3 weeks to carbonate. If there isn’t enough yeast, it may take longer.
There’s plenty of yeast in there. Give it another week or two and everything will be fine.
You could re-yeast if you want but you should be fine rolling with what is in the beer as long as you are willing to wait a few weeks to ensure good carbonation. If you want the beer a little quicker then you might want to reyeast at bottling.
one week— got Pffst…? You are doing fine.
Let it go another two weeks and then chill it so the CO2 dissolves more into the beer. Let it sit cold for about 1 week minimum, and things will settle out, CO2 will dissolve into the beer more… and you will have a nice head on the beer when you pour it!
Enjoy!