Flat DIPA

Ok, I'm NOT saying you will increase the amount of Co2 in the bottle but I always thought that dropping the temp would break the equilibrium and cause Co2 to go into the beer (solution), that and pressure in the bottle. If you open a warm beer you get lots of foam, yes pressure drop is causing this but I also believed a warmer beer temp did too. Maybe I'm wrong, or maybe we are saying the same thing

 

when bottle conditioning you have to almost not care when or if your beers ever get done. Pop a test bottle, if it's got anything at all, you're probably on your way, but if it's not perfect, leave the rest another week. Losing hop flavor is irrelevant if it means drinking flat beer. It's uncommon that something will carb just a little but not finish out. It's also essentially unheard of that you get a batch that takes so long to carbonate that you lose all the hop flavor, but eventually the carbonation is perfect long after the fact. Give them time. Loss of hop flavor is probably more panicked over than is warranted (it doesn't diminish exponentially by the day, it fades slowly over time).

 

You get more foam when opening a warm beer as compared to a cold beer because warm beer that's not being pressurized loses its CO2 to the atmosphere faster than cold beer that's not being pressurized. And because the total pressure in the bottle is greater at the higher temperature. But before you opened the bottles, each had the same amount of CO2 in solution.

When the bottles were still unopened, the amount of CO2 leaving the beer and going into the headspace was equal to the amount of CO2 leaving the headspace and going into the beer. You can think of it as if (on average) the force trying to drive CO2 into solution is equal to the force trying to drive CO2 out of solution.

ETA: the higher pressure in the warmer bottle is not due to more (or less) CO2 in the headspace or the beer. It's due to the fact that for a given amount of CO2, higher temperature causes higher pressure.

 

Ok, now that's making since to me. Thanks

 

yeah you're not going to have much difference between one day and the next, that's why you wait a week (give or take) between test bottles.

And I have tasted IPAs/DIPAs (both commercial and nomebrew) that were getting pretty "old" (at least if you believe the hype). Can't say that any of them were truly bad, although if old enough, and hoppy enough in the first place, I suppose you could detect some falling off of flavor and aroma in a direct comparison test vs. a freshie. But the idea that a non-3-week-old-or-less IPA is going to suck donkey balls because it's "old" is mostly horse-crap.

 

To add to the good advice given above: your yeast should consume (ferment) all the simple sugar added for priming. This is not true for the more complex sugars that are initially in the wort. To begin primary fermentation it is important to pitch the correct amount of yeast for the complex sugars and you expect an attenuation in the 80'ish percent range. This is rarely exact and the hydrometer tells you when the yeast have completed their job. When you add priming sugar you can expect the smallest amount of active yeast remaining to consume it all. It is important to calculate/measure/distribute the simple sugar correctly and there must be some active yeast remaining . . . then just stand back and it will be surprisingly accurate. The yeast's calling card is the thin residue that settles on the bottom. Time to complete is dependent on temp and how many yeasties are actively at work, but 1 - 3 weeks is common. As suggested by AlCapone, I wouldn't open another beer for at least a week. Coming from the fridge you are asking your yeast to wake up from dormancy and chow-down on your sugars, but they should be up for the task.

I would recommend getting a pocket scale (Amazon, < ten bucks) to accurately measure your priming sugar (also great for hops). An excellent priming calculator can be found at Brewers Friend, along with a good discussion on priming techniques to include the effects of residual oxygen.

 

If you were using Grolsch/stoppered bottles, a small crack in the seal could be contributing, but even then it's likely just time.

 

Patience, young Jedi.

 

I did a DIPA kit from Northern Brewer and had the exact same thing happen to me. I thought something went wrong when I checked a few of the bottles and they were all flat after about 3 weeks of conditioning. After 4 and a half(ish) weeks in, they were perfectly carbonated (finally...). Would have liked to enjoy them a little fresher than that, but I ended up with a pretty tasty beer after all was said and done. So like everyone else is saying... Just takes a bit of patients when bottle conditioning higher abv beers.