carbonation problem

Hello everybody
This is my first post here, and I bring you a problem I ran into.
I've bottled my third ever batch about 10 days ago.
I made an unusual brew (I think), I used about 1.8kg (4 pounds) of caramel malt in 20 liter batch (5.3 gallon). Plus some chocolate malt and. this was an extract recipe. O.G = 1.080

To my problem:
I added 200gr (7.1oz) of corn sugar for priming. I understand this is a bit high for strong, dark ale (or not, you tell me …). the bottles were cept in a dark room of 26-27 Celsius (80F).
There was an obvious, yet fine, layer of sediment on the bottom of each bottle.
After 10 days I've opened a bottle. the beer was delicious, but surprisingly flat.
Just a very light carbonation. Much lower then my previous brews, when I used even less priming sugar. I think the beer was a bit sweeter than it was bottled.

I wrote down all this bulk of data because I don't know what caused this low carbonation. the high temp? short time after bottling? high gravity ? high caramel?
and if someone thinks he knows the answer - is there a way to fix my beer now?

Thanks

HUH?!

Are you kidding or what!

Sorry, I'm about 3 sheets at moment...


Uh. 4 lbs. of caramel!

7 lbs. of priming sugar!

better get a helmet and goggle when you go to get the next bottle :fro:

Well, given it was only 2 weeks priming i would say make sure it is in a warm enough environment and give it at least another week. However given the other variables I am a bit dumbfounded! That is a huge amount of priming sugar for a 5 gallon batch. Some more details would be helpful too. What is the rest of the recipe? You said it was extract. How much and what extract did you use, how long to ferment...

Basically give us the recipe and more details please.

What is the alcohol tolerance of the yeast you use? Check the gravity of one of your brews. At 1.020 it's 8% abv.

Also, what is the temp of where you are storing your bottles.

oh, sorry missed the temp. So the bottles have sat at 80° F for 2 weeks. Hmm. That is strange. Especially with all of that priming sugar. Perhaps yours there is not enough yeast remaining or it has reached its limit environmentally as Ed is suggesting.

oh, and disclaimer. if I am making no sense I blame it on Ed. I just downed a quart of Apfelwein.

The fact that you have some carbonation says the yeast are trying, at least. They may be tired (or drunk ) from the ABV.

10 days isn't really very long. I'd try another bottle at three weeks, and see how they're doing.

Need to post your FG and also check the gravity of one of the bottles. When the ABV gets high like this beer the yeast can slow way down. It is still possible that it will carb up.

the alcohol content is about 8%, FG=1.020

I used dry Muntons Premium Gold Yeast
the fermentation was 11 days, no secondary.

should I change the temp of storage to lower ?

I don't know about the alcohol tolerance of Muntons but 1.020 sounds like the beer is pretty well attenuated. I'd still let it sit for another 2 weeks and check carb level. If it is any more carbed then there is still enough yeast to do the job and you can estimate how long it will take based on the level of carbonation. 27 may be a bit high but the yeast should still be able to live there. If that's room temp right now I'd just leave it there.

edit: missed bike n brew's response. I think it's right on.

knights of Gambrinus said:

HUH?!


7 lbs. of priming sugar!

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Not trying to call you out or make you look stupid, but he said 7.1 oz, not 7lbs. I guess roughly a cup of priming sugar. I'd do like everyone else said and give it a little more time.

Edcculus said:

Not trying to call you out or make you look stupid, but he said 7.1 oz, not 7lbs. I guess roughly a cup of priming sugar. I'd do like everyone else said and give it a little more time.

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No problem, he was wearing Apfelwein goggles.

EdWort said:

No problem, he was wearing Apfelwein goggles.

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sheesh... does everyone around here own a pair of those? I guess I have no room to talk since I'm making my first pair right now... LOL

Would shaking the bottles, thus forcing the yeasty sediment into the beer, do any good?
My idea is that , theoretically, more yeast would transform more sugar into gas this way.

Is there any known (good or bad) effect to this action?

no bad effect to worry about (assuming you don't open it immediately!)

It has been known to help along stuck fermentations to rouse the yeast off the bottom. I doubt it will have any effect in your case because the "yeast cake" of flocculated yeast if quite thin. But there's nothing to lose so go ahead and try it with half the batch and then compare carbonation levels of the shaken and unshaken bottles after a couple weeks.

ohad said:

Would shaking the bottles, thus forcing the yeasty sediment into the beer, do any good?
My idea is that , theoretically, more yeast would transform more sugar into gas this way.

Is there any known (good or bad) effect to this action?

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A gentle stir, not a vigorous shake, should be sufficient. I've done this one or two times, and it seems to work.

well, I don' t think the carbonation level is gonna change...
its way too low and sweet.
I'll still check again two weeks from now.

what can I do so this won't happen to me again?
should I add fresh yeast when bottling high alcohol beers?

I am lacking any significant carbonation in my DIPA I just brewed, it is almost 11% and stopped at 1.024 down from 1.106. I used the yeast cake from my pale ale in which I used wyeast cali ale.

I have a tiny pssst when I pop the top, but that's it after a few weeks. Give it time and hopefully we will both have success stories.

If all else fails, mix it with some carbonated water (miller light) and drink a light version of your brew. I have an over carbed IPA that I just may have found a use for.

how do I mix beers?
just open the two bottles and pour to the same glass?
or is there a way to mix and re-bottle?

Adolphus79 said:

sheesh... does everyone around here own a pair of those? I guess I have no room to talk since I'm making my first pair right now... LOL

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What he said