High gravity beer not carbonating

Hi gang,

I've just done my first attempt at a DIPA: mashed at 148, 7 days in primary and 2 weeks in secondary. 3.75 gallon batch (lost a ridiculous amount due to hops / trub). OG was 1090, FG is 1015; over 10% alc vol. I primed with 3/4 cup corn sugar and was concerned that this was too much given how little beer was left.

Bottles were left in a warm place (too warm at about 75 to 80 degrees; I'm in SoCal)

After 2 weeks in the bottle I cracked one open. It was crystal clear (I think I finally fix my chill haze problem by using a lower mash temp) and it tasted outstanding. But flat and no head. There was a very faint fsst sound when I popped it open so carbonation had clearly started. I left it a week and cracked open another one. I noticed one or two bubbles and an extremely thin 'head'. Still flat.

Did I kill most of the yeast due to the high alcohol content (it's WLP001 yeast)? Or do do high gravity beers simply need more time to carbonate? Or should I have added more yeast when when adding corn sugar?

Any suggestions to fix this? I just tried rousing the sediment in the bottles yesterday and plan on leaving it for another week. The only other thing I can think of is to dump all the beer back into a bottling bucket, stir in some dry yeast (Nottingham?), bottle again and wait another 2 weeks.

(Or buy a keg and force carbonate. Life is too short.)

I'm a newbie at this, and I started doing high gravity beer without studying all the caveats. Any advice would be much appreciated...

Higher gravity beers often take longer to carbonate. I've had some take 5-6 weeks to really get there, the rousing you did should help some. I've never added yeast at bottling so I can't really speak to that.

That is a lot of priming sugar for the volume... but the problem is probably with the yeast. The fact that it seems to have started to carbonate is a good sign. Your idea to shake the bottles and wait is best. If that doesn't work, and you do decide the open the bottles, it's less painful to add yeast to the bottles. Just re-hydrate your Nottingham (or Safale) use a sanitized eyedropper to add a couple of drops to each bottle, and re-cap. High gravity beers usually carbonate just fine, but adding the dry yeast at bottling is cheap & easy insurance.

I always pitch an extra pack of yeast into the bottling bucket when i do high gravity beers. I usually use S-05. It's probably not necessary, but i have never had a problem with them conditioning. I've had beers up to 11.5% be carbed up in under a month doing this.

Sounds like it is carbonating, just not quickly, usually the case with high gravity beers.

You are refrigerating the beer for a day or two before opening it right?

steelerguy said:

Sounds like it is carbonating, just not quickly, usually the case with high gravity beers.

You are refrigerating the beer for a day or two before opening it right?

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Of course! I usually chill them for 2 days minimum.

steelerguy said:

Sounds like it is carbonating, just not quickly, usually the case with high gravity beers.

You are refrigerating the beer for a day or two before opening it right?

Click to expand...

Why would this matter? Thanks,

Jim

Generally speaking the 3 weeks at 70 degrees that we recommend is only a guideline, a minimum...the higher the grav, the longer it takes to carb and condition. Don't forget, just because a beer is fizzy doesn't mean it is still not green, and tastes like a$$...

I've had stouts and porters take 4-6 weeks to carb...I have a 1.090 Belgian Strong Dark Ale that is 2.5 months in the bottle and it is barely beginning to carb up, I don't think it will even begin to stop tasting green and like rocket fuel for about another 2-3 months....

Hell during the winter I am lucky if I get ANY BEER to carb up inn 8 weeks, since my loft stays in the low 60 all winter...I wrap them in sleeping bags and other things to keep them warm.

this ain't koolaid we are making....

Read this, and Relax.

Revvy's Blog; Of Patience and Bottle Conditioning.

SO the answer is Patience, Patience, Patience That's a might big beer you are waiting on...big beers mean months/ not weeks...

Roll thoses babies back and forth a couple times to re-rouse the yeasties, and put them back in the closet.

You might wanna consideri doing that once a week for a few...but other than that, it's a time things....

SOemthing to remember is that it is actually carbonate a bottle of beer simply by bottling it without priming sugar or yeast (playing with numbers in beersmith for carb levels is surprising) but they take months to achieve a basic level of carbonation eventually......SO if a little beer can carb up with nothing being done to it, in time...your beer will too....

And it will probably still taste like rocket fuel for a little while after that, but it will mellow eventually.

Pappers said:

Why would this matter? Thanks,

Jim

Click to expand...

To get more of that C02 that is sitting in the head space to dissolve into the beer. If you just pop in freezer and and chill for 30 mins, you can get a pretty loud pfft when opening the bottle but not much fizz in the beer.

I made this handy chart a while back for determining the time it takes beer to properly carbonate and bottle condition. Hope this helps!

My 10.2% alcohol batch took nearly 6 weeks to carbonate, patience...

steelerguy said:

To get more of that C02 that is sitting in the head space to dissolve into the beer. If you just pop in freezer and and chill for 30 mins, you can get a pretty loud pfft when opening the bottle but not much fizz in the beer.

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Thanks, I did not know this! Its a good day - sunny, warm and I learned something . . .

Jim

Pappers said:

Thanks, I did not know this! Its a good day - sunny, warm and I learned something . . .

Jim

Click to expand...

I learned it here also, just passing on the knowledge.

llazy_llama said:

I made this handy chart a while back for determining the time it takes beer to properly carbonate and bottle condition. Hope this helps!

Click to expand...

I can't quite follow the graph. It doesn't have a title is that talking fermentation length, aging length, carb time, how long it loves you?

llazy_llama said:

I made this handy chart a while back for determining the time it takes beer to properly carbonate and bottle condition. Hope this helps!

Click to expand...

Damn you! I just snorted beer out my nose!

Brett3rThanU said:

My 10.2% alcohol batch took nearly 6 weeks to carbonate, patience...

Click to expand...

After nearly 5 weeks + about 4 days in the fridge I popped one open yesterday and I'm happy to say it's now perfectly carbonated!

A simple solution really: as suggested, I just needed to be more patient.

The other thing that I learned with this batch was that with a 10.5% beer to not bottle it in large, 22oz bottles if you're not going to share it 'cause when it's opened you're kind of committed. Seriously, you could probably smoke this stuff

lol..awesome...thanks for taking the time to educate!

I am having the exact problem with my first belgian dark ale, about 9%...17 days in the bottle and it looks, tastes a bit like and has the mouthfeel of brandy!

c'mon yeasties, i'm pullin for ya!

llazy_llama said:

I made this handy chart a while back for determining the time it takes beer to properly carbonate and bottle condition. Hope this helps!

Click to expand...

llazy_llama said:

I made this handy chart a while back for determining the time it takes beer to properly carbonate and bottle condition. Hope this helps!

Click to expand...

can we get T-shirts????

Cool graph ha. im also having this problem with an indian brown clone. its funny since my ipas are ready to drink in less than a week for the most part. well, at least well carbonated if not technically ready.

maybe old thread, but oh well. i searched before posting and found this thread that answered my question. thanks to all who replied.

llazy lama that graph ROCKS!

my situation if interested? did a sam adams maple nut porter clone (but when it said add a gallon of maple syrup -- i added REAL maple syrup b/c i read of the horrors of what preservatives do to beer. well REAL maple syrup is like twice the sugar so i <unintentionally> made an imperial clone of that beer). been in bottle 5 weeks still no carbonation. did a search and this is among the threads that surfaced. again thank you ALL for your input. this forum is an amazing resource!

I bottled a belgian quad (10.5 abv) in October that is has just now carbonated to a drinkable level. I did not add yeast at bottling because I had planned on aging for 4 to 6 months. I invert swirl the bottles about every other week.

Zombie thread, back from the dead&#8230;



TL;DR: 11.6% ABV bottled beer not carbonating after 3.5 weeks at 70F. Open bottles and add more yeast? Dry yeast equivalent to Wyeast 1728?



For those of you that enjoy reading novels when you log on:



Instead of starting a new thread on a topic that has already been covered, I figured it would be better to breathe some simulacrum of life into a now defunct thread. So, much like the OP from so long ago, I&#8217;m having trouble getting a high gravity beer to carbonate.



A little background:



This is my second brew period and very first batch bottled. It&#8217;s an Imperial Maple Brown Ale for lack of better terminology. OG was 1.109 and FG turned out to be 1.021 and ABV is 11.6%.



Fermented in primary for 4 weeks with Wyeast 1728 and promptly moved to a bottling bucket with 2.3oz priming (table) sugar solution. Made a huge mess in the kitchen without the use of a bottling wand, but eventually ended up with bottled beer.



The bottles have been stored at around 65-70F for 3.5 weeks and I have been cracking one open each week to check carbonation levels. Up to this point, carbonation has been basically nonexistent. Oh sure, the last bottle opened made the faintest of pfffft sounds (may have even been my imagination &#8211; SWMBO claims to have heard nothing and she&#8217;s always right&#8230, but I&#8217;m thinking that might be more to blame on a pressure change inside the bottle from chilling over any sort of carbonation. There really wasn&#8217;t any noticeable fizz on the tongue and there was certainly no head, no matter how aggressive the pour.



So, knowing that high gravity beers may take a considerable time to carbonate, is it worth opening each bottle and adding fresh yeast? If so, what strain? Go back with the 1728 and make a starter or rehydrate some dry yeast? Is there a dry yeast that is equivalent to 1728 or one that won&#8217;t alter the flavor of the beer?



Whatever the suggestion, I&#8217;ll have to do it for the second batch I bottled this past weekend. This one is actually my first ever batch that has been sitting in secondary for a couple of months. It&#8217;s a Belgian Strong Dark weighing in at 10.6% ABV.

The third batch I&#8217;ve got going (1.116 OG with a bourbon addition waiting in the wings) will get a fresh pitch of yeast prior to bottling to expedite the carbonation process&#8230;



Thanks in advance for your help.

I know this isn't necessarily the correct forum for the question, but no one has any suggestions? Trying to avoid starting a new thread on a similar topic...

2.3 oz of table sugar, is that for a 5 gallon batch? If so that is not enough, even for a low gravity beer, buy some over priced carbonation drops uncap them plop a drop in and recap.

Sorry. Meant 3.2oz. And that was for five gallons. I'm using Palmer's book as a reference for typical volumes of co2 per style.

Still need more priming sugar? Can I make up another priming solution and add via sterilized eye dropper?

It takes many people (myself included) up to 6 weeks to get proper carbonation on high gravity beers so you might have to wait a little longer since I always add about an ounce more of sugar. I'd bet if you forgot about it for 2 months and came back it'd be great.

That's probably the safest bet.

I'm itching to try my first home bottled beer and am getting in a hurry. May still add some more sugar to a couple of bottles and let the rest sit in the meantime. I assume you think the yeast are still up to the task?

Thanks for your help, by the way.

At that ABV, this beer will benefit from several months of aging. It should carb up in a couple months, but it won't be at its best until well after that. If I were in your position I'd feel the same way you do - antsy to drink my beer - but as someone with the luxury of not being in your position, you're probably better off brewing something significantly lower-gravity in the meantime and just forgetting about this batch for a while. Ignore it for a month before you crack the next bottle. If it's carbed, cool. If not, come back for more ideas. The more you research and think about it now, the more it's going to bug you, but this is a situation where you should just sit back and let time do what it does.

Ever the voice of reason this forum. Sigh. You're right.

And I get to wait for the other two batches I've got going too.

However... There's good news in all of this! I have an excuse to brew another (more manageable) batch of beer! I was looking for one of those. My wife will be thrilled... Ha.

Thanks, guys!