Different Rules for Carbonating Big Beers?

Is there a different set of rules for bottling and carbonating a big, higher-gravity beer? I sampled a bottle of my Chocolate Russian Imperial Stout last night. Here’s a link to the recipe. It tasted fantastic, but the carbonation was almost non-existent.

I primed with 1-1/4 cups DME boiled 15 minutes in two cups of H2O, cooled and added to the bottling bucket, same as I always do. It was in the primary for about a week and in the secondary for about four weeks. I racked to the bottling bucket with my Auto-siphon, same as usual. I’m stumped.

Does it just need to bottle condition longer? I know Russian Imperial Stouts aren’t usually heavily carbonated. My plan was to not drink this until December. It should be great either way, but I’d like some carbonation.

Any ideas? Thanks!

Could the alcohol content be affecting the yeast - I'm not sure about the yeast you used but it may only be able to tolerate alcohol up to around 10% abv ?

Thinking out loud really, but it could happen

80/-

80/- said:

Could the alcohol content be affecting the yeast - I'm not sure about the yeast you used but it may only be able to tolerate alcohol up to around 10% abv ?

Thinking out loud really, but it could happen

80/-

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Hadn't considered that, but I chose this yeast because it is supposed to be good for high-gravity beers. Here's the stats. I used the same yeast on a Hop Rod Rye clone, which is pretty high gravity, too. It carbonated okay.

how long has it been in the bottle? i think it might need close to one month in the bottle before you get where you want it to be, and it should get better as you let it sit.

some imperial stouts, liek the barley wines call for an addition of champaign yeast in the secondary, prior to bottling cause the yeast gets spent with so much goodies to eat up...

t1master said:

how long has it been in the bottle? i think it might need close to one month in the bottle before you get where you want it to be, and it should get better as you let it sit.

some imperial stouts, liek the barley wines call for an addition of champaign yeast in the secondary, prior to bottling cause the yeast gets spent with so much goodies to eat up...

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Sorry, I should've mentioned it has been about 2-1/2 weeks in the bottle.

should be okay w/ a little more time.

just curios though? when i used to bottle i would add 3/4 cup corn sugar to 1 cup of boiling water, stir to dissolve, then remove from heat. never heard of boiling it for 15 minutes???? i guess it just boils down to about 1 cup, so it equals out?

DeRoux's Broux said:

should be okay w/ a little more time.

just curios though? when i used to bottle i would add 3/4 cup corn sugar to 1 cup of boiling water, stir to dissolve, then remove from heat. never heard of boiling it for 15 minutes???? i guess it just boils down to about 1 cup, so it equals out?

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That's just the way I read to do it for DME years ago and I've been doing it that way ever since. Never had a problem with it. I had a couple of beers - a bock and a wheat - which took longer than typical ales in the 65oF-70oF range to carbonate. But both turned out fine.