First batch in 15 years.....

I just opened my first bottle of my first batch of homebrew in 15 years. It's a black bock based on an old recipe of mine that I used to make regularly. It has been in the bottle for 43 days so I had hoped to have it ready for Labor Day. I just wanted to check the color, aroma and the taste. When I opened the bottle a cidery smell hit me right away. I poured a glass and there was no sign of a head at all. It looks like there is no carbonation taking place in the bottle at all. I had liquid malt, dry malt and one pound of honey as my main ingredients so in the past I've had to let my honey based beers go a little longer in the bottle stage to have the taste come around to where I wanted it. With no signs of carbonation though, I've never had this problem before and I used to cook for 10 years before I moved to Texas and got out of the habit. If I let it go a couple more weeks and still no sign of life, what can I do to try to salvage my beer? What would be the odds of re-priming it at this stage and put it back into carbonation? Any comments will be greatly appreciated as I really want to get back into brewing. I have two more batches going now with the last one just bottled today. Too early to check them yet.

What was the gravity of the beer when you bottled it? What did you prime it with? More time probably won't lead to carbonation if it has already been 43 days unless you have been storing them in a fridge. What kind of bottles/yeast/priming sugar/etc?

Did you buy new caps or did you use some old stock? Sounds like either the caps weren't tight enough or inadequate priming. The simplest thing to try is carbonation drops. Open each bottle, add drops and re-cap.

Specific gravity was 1.010 when I bottled it. I used a packet of priming sugar bought from Austin Homebrew. It has been stored in a closet upstairs at average 74 degrees the entire time. Caps sealed good and I got the usual hiss when I opened the bottle. I went up and turned each bottle upside down tonight and it shows foam inside so it's not entirely dead. I am pretty sure I under primed it when I bottled. I went back over my old notes and had always used 3/4 cups of priming sugar. This time I don't think the packet I used held that much. My stupidity for not actually pouring it from the bag and measuring it better. That won't happen again. I've never heard of carbonation drops but I'm getting ready to research them. The caps were brand new, everything was sanitized good and the only thing I did different from when I used to brew was I used liquid yeast. The beer worked good through out fermentation so I don't think the yeast was the issue. Am just trying to salvage if possible. Thanks for your replies.

How did you prime it? Did you boil it in water and rack your beer on top of that?

I believe one of those packets from AHS contain 5 ounces of corn sugar. If you used the entire thing you wouldn't have under primed.

wardog73 said:

I just opened my first bottle of my first batch of homebrew in 15 years.

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Don't have any real advice (others will on this fine board), but wanted to let you know you are not alone. Many of us are here after a 10-, 15-, 20-yr hiatus. Mine was, IIRC, 17 yrs.