4 weeks and not carbonated???

I am trying to figure what went wrong.

I brewed a arrogant bastard clone, OG 1.080 FG 1.020 and the beer was in only a primary fermentor for about 3 weeks, then I bottled with 3/4 cup dextrose and now 4 weeks later they are not carbonated.

The only thing I can think of is I store my bottles in my garage and here in So Cal it got pretty hot about a week after I bottled in my garage, maybe 85 for a few days. Would that heat have killed all the yeast???

Thanks for any ideas or thoughts

I would be willing to bet you killed your yeast. Infact i would almost put money on it.

anything i can do at this point?????

Force carb with a keg system then bottle. That is the only thing I can think of.

If the priming sugar is still in the beer, could you pop open every bottle and add a pinch of dry yeast and re cap? Maybe use something clean like Safale US-05. I've never had to do this before but I think I'd give it a shot.

You know...OG of 1.080 is a mighty big beer....And big beers take more time. The 3 weeks we mention is just a rule of thumb, NOT set it stone....

85 degrees isn't enough to kill yeasts... So I'd take tdavisii's bet

I wouldn't add anything to the bottles...YET....If you do and the yeast is fine, but taking your time, you could be talking bottle bombs...

I would lay them on their side, roll them back and forth a couple times to re rouse the yeast, then set them aside in 70 degrees for a couple - 3 more weeks....

Then we'll talk about adding more yeast or sugar...

Read this an watch the video...and the video is for a NORMAL OG beer....

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showpost.php?p=558191&postcount=101

Revvy said:

You know...OG of 1.080 is a mighty big beer....And big beers take more time. The 3 weeks we mention is just a rule of thumb, NOT set it stone....

85 degrees isn't enough to kill yeasts... So I'd take tdavisii's bet

I wouldn't add anything to the bottles...YET....If you do and the yeast is fine, but taking your time, you could be talking bottle bombs...

I would lay them on their side, roll them back and forth a couple times to re rouse the yeast, then set them aside in 70 degrees for a couple - 3 more weeks....

Then we'll talk about adding more yeast or sugar...

Read this an watch the video...and the video is for a NORMAL OG beer....

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showpost.php?p=558191&postcount=101

Click to expand...

Everything he said.

I've had big beers take 2-3 months to bottle carb

I still think the yeast are dead. However now that its official and the bet is on I agree there are some things (one in perticular) that might help if the yeast ARE alive. Shake that bad boy and rouse those yeast. that and just wait. As far as opening them i think that is a horrible idea. Not only would you be at risk for little critters getting in there, now you are allowing oxygen in which will make your beer turn to poo fast.

Reason for me thinking what i do. If it reached 85 and there was any light what so ever getting to those bottles. The temp in the bottle was higher than that. Add this to already hurting yeast (high alcohol and worn out from fermentation) I think they went to little yeastie heaven. Dont worry though they get to see there grandma and grandpa there.

I want some action on that yeast bet. Just bring the bottles inside and roll them around as described by the Rev. Your yeast will wake up and start eating again. A beer that big is going to take some time.

blacklab said:

I want some action on that yeast bet. Just bring the bottles inside and roll them around as described by the Rev. Your yeast will wake up and start eating again. A beer that big is going to take some time.

Click to expand...

Yeah, I've had stouts with only a 1.048-1.050 OG take 6-8 weeks to carb up. Something as big as the Arrogant Bastard I wouldn't start worrying for at least another month.

Take a read of this;

It comes from this site. http://www.ebrew.com/primarynews/high_gravity_beers.htm

Last, with gravities reaching as high as 1.110, they will require an extended time for conditioning. A reduction in the amount of sugar added at bottling should be anticipated. An amount of 1/4 to 1/2 cup is all that is needed. By itself, this amount of priming sugar would not develop enough carbonation for most of us. However, the more complex sugars which are present in a high terminal gravity, 1.025 and higher, will kick in to give beer the extra fermentables needed for proper carbonation. These sugars kick in at about the 6-9 month range. Therefore, it is very desirable to make this beer up to a year ahead of time.
These beer will keep waiting for months but they will worth the wait. Furthermore, they will have a shelf life of 10 years of more. Consider one of these beers to toast in the millennium and hold on - 10% alcohol can sneak up on you real quick.

Click to expand...

Ill give you that one REVVY....................Time will tell my friend.

I've saved a couple uncarb'd batches by actually shaking the bottles. Not rolling, shaking. I put them into my warm room (70's) and every other day for 10 days or so I'd go through and shake each bottle to rouse the yeast.

After a couple weeks of this crap, I tried another bottle. BAM, fully carbed. Not saying this will work every time, but it's worked for me every time I've tried it.

tdavisii said:

I would be willing to bet you killed your yeast. Infact i would almost put money on it.

Click to expand...

85'F kills yeast? I thought it was much higher then that!

As far as actual temp that the yeast will die at probably differs depending on the condition of the yeast themselves. Usually 85F wont kill yeast. Im just sayin i think in this instance it did. along with other factors. However this is still up in the air as to if this batch is dead or alive.

thanks for all the insight. I will say this; I made this exact recipe last year and it carbed in about 3-4 weeks.

I think I will just wait it out and try one a week for the next month.

Ethan now that its a bet between gentlemen. please please please let us know.

will do; ill post every week or so

well it is now 5 weeks and it is starting to carbonate, it still has some to go, but there are bubbles and it pfft's when I open the bottle; I guess they wernt all dead.

ethangray19 said:

well it is now 5 weeks and it is starting to carbonate, it still has some to go, but there are bubbles and it pfft's when I open the bottle; I guess they wern't all dead.

Click to expand...

They usually aren't!

Try again next week.

ethangray19 said:

well it is now 5 weeks and it is starting to carbonate, it still has some to go, but there are bubbles and it pfft's when I open the bottle; I guess they wernt all dead.

Click to expand...

Revvy said:

They usually aren't!

Try again next week.

Click to expand...

Try on the 4th. Good excuse to have a few

almost 7 weeks now and i still get some that are not carbonated, can i put a "grain" of dry yeast in the bottle and then reseal????