The beer won't carbonate

It's been 3 weeks since I bottled this https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f71/easy-chimay-blue-clone-73965/

To carbonate, I used carbonation drops, 5 in each bottle (instructions said 5 for high carbonation) and when I opened one of these beers up, it was totally flat. I thought maybe it was a fluke, ended up opening up another two beers, both flat as well.

I am debating on what to do now, my thought was to pour all the beer back into the bottling bucket, add another back of yeast, wait 3 days, add priming sugar and rebottle. I wanted to wait 3 days, because if the yeast is dead, and that is why it is not carbonating, I don't want excess sugar in each bottle making beer bombs.

Ideas? Thoughts? Suggestions?

Thanks

What temp are you carbonating at?

about 70 degrees

Do you see a layer of yeast in the bottom of the bottle? Are you using the Coopers carbonation drops and what size bottle are you using?

Hard to tell... they should have been enough yeast left in suspension to carb the bottles. I guess the questions that come to mind are what kind of bottles are you using ("normal" glass bottles, or PET?), what temp. did you store them at, and any chance there's a problem w/ your bottle capper?

The first thing I would do is wait two more weeks. Turn the bottles end over end, and make sure they are AT LEAST 70 degrees. If you can stick a couple ontop of your fridge, you could do that and sample one in two weeks.

If after turning them end over end and storing them warmer doesn't help, I wouldn't pour them back into a bottling bucket. If you're 100% sure you adding the drops to each beer, you could uncap, add a grain of dry yeast, and recap. I had to do that once- and used nottingham dry yeast. Literally one little grain is enough- that is still more yeast cells than the eye can see, so it's plenty. That way, you can re-yeast, but not aerate or otherwise oxygenate your beer.

They were not cooper's specifically, I am not at home now so I can't tell you the brand, they were the only ones sold at my LHBS. Capper should not be an issue, it is pretty new still, and has done a good job with my first 5 batches. I didn't see a layer of yeast when I checked the other day either. Also, the bottles are normal 12 oz brown bottles, which I have used for other batches fine. I keep my apartment at around 71-72ish, so I would imagine the temperature would be pretty uniform.

CaptZav said:

They were not cooper's specifically, I am not at home now so I can't tell you the brand, they were the only ones sold at my LHBS. Capper should not be an issue, it is pretty new still, and has done a good job with my first 5 batches. I didn't see a layer of yeast when I checked the other day either. Also, the bottles are normal 12 oz brown bottles, which I have used for other batches fine. I keep my apartment at around 71-72ish, so I would imagine the temperature would be pretty uniform.

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Sounds like a problem with the carbtabs... I'd follow Yooper's advice... (Which is a sound idea anytime she offers wisdom. )

I had a similar problem with my priming sugar with my Honey Wheat last year - mostly because I forgot to add it to the bottling bucket.

I am in a similar situation now with my scottish ale and was wondering how this turned out.

I now am the proud owner of two beers that did not bottle prime so I compared them for something common. What I found is both had a syrup addition, one Lyles Golden Syrup and one Maple Syrup. Both had high OG, one 1.092 and one 1.089. One ended up with ABV of 6.23% and the other with 9.43%. But here's the real suspicious thing, one was in primary fermentation for 15 days and the other for 16 days which is WAY longer that all my other beers. I suspect I wore out the yeast even though I was still getting some slow bubbling. Now just need to figure out the best way to re-yeast it and I'm sure I need no futher fermentable sugars.

mrames said:

I now am the proud owner of two beers that did not bottle prime so I compared them for something common. What I found is both had a syrup addition, one Lyles Golden Syrup and one Maple Syrup. Both had high OG, one 1.092 and one 1.089. One ended up with ABV of 6.23% and the other with 9.43%. But here's the real suspicious thing, one was in primary fermentation for 15 days and the other for 16 days which is WAY longer that all my other beers. I suspect I wore out the yeast even though I was still getting some slow bubbling. Now just need to figure out the best way to re-yeast it and I'm sure I need no futher fermentable sugars.

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Well, with a beer that is over 9%, that's over many ale yeast's alcohol tolerance so that is probably why it didn't want to carbonate. The one with an ABV of 6.23% doesn't make sense- it must have stalled at a too-high FG, which means the fermentation was stuck before you bottled it. If the fermentation is stuck, that's why it didn't carbonate. That's probably a good thing, because if it became "unstuck", the bottles would blow up.

Thanks for the reply. Any thoughts on how to get these to bottle prime? I'm guessing for the Michigan Maple Ale with the ABV of 9.43% that I will have to find a high alcohol yeast and possibly uncap the bottles and add yeast and recap? Bottle bombs? For the Gale's Prize Old Ale at ABV of 7.99%, (I mistyped before, 6.23 was the ABW) maybe the same thing? Both these beers are actually way to sweet tasting as they are. Maybe back into the carboy?

Did you find your solution? I know it's an old post, but I just bottled a 9.45% ABV IPA and am keeping my fingers crossed. I had it in secondary for 3 weeks and there was absolutely no activity.

Well I am about to be that guy. Found this post and same situation. Thinking of going back to the fermenter and dumping in a sasion yeast pack or something to get this going. My beer stop at 1020 so I have some sugar to play with thoughts? It's a spruce ale.