Carb Tabs didn't work - What to do?

I am having a BIG family get together in 2.5 weeks from now, and I decided to brew a stout for it. I, for some stupid reason, chose to try carb tabs on this batch. After two weeks, there was very little carbonations. I waited a week, and there was no more carbonation at 3 weeks than at 2.

I am now swirling the bottles around everyday, and storing them in a warmer room. However, if mid next week I see no difference in carbonation, I am tempted to try something else out, being the get together will be less than 2 weeks out.

Do you have any suggestions on what to do to get these bottle to carb?

I am considering with rebottling and either adding champagne yeast, or more sugar. The danger of sugar would be bottle bombs, but I doubt with under 2 weeks that that would be an issue. The danger of adding yeast is that if the carb tabs didn't dissolve, there would be nothing for them to eat and it wouldn't solve my problem.

What are your thoughts? Why don't you think it is carbing now, and how can I fix it? Thanks!

What kind of tabs and how many did you use? I use brewers best tablets and I find that 4-5 tablets takes about 4 or even 5 weeks to fully carbonate.

I have never used carbonation tabs. If you used the proper dosage the beer will carbonate. It is unlikely that you don't have enough yeast in solution to do the job. Heavier beers often take longer to carbonate. I have had a couple that took longer than a month to show carbonation.

If you add carbonation tabs beyond the proper dosage, be sure to drink all the beer before it gets too much over-carbonated and reach bottle bomb status.

It just may take longer.

If nothing happens, you could get some dry yeast. Add a few granules to each bottle along with a little bit of sugar.

Thanks for the responses guys! I used 4 brewers best tablets. I'll wait till next week to get me to a full 4 weeks of bottle conditioning before I do anything to the beer.

Tell the SWMBO that `this` is the reason `why` you need to get that keg set up you've been eyeballing for months.

Prime dose tablets. Expensive as ****, but they will carbonate a 15% beer!


Better brewing through science!

What temperature were they bottle conditioning at? If you had a little bit of carbonation, which you said you did, then you have yeast, and they are doing their job... Maybe just a bit slower than other batches, which happens depending on the amount of sugar, and the temperature they are at.

The prime dose capsules will certainly take the guess work out of it. It's a bit overkill for a stout, but they contain both priming sugar and yeast for refermentation. This is best used for aged beers but can be helpful for problematic carbonation. If I remember correctly, the brewers best (and the like) tabs aren't corn sugar but a combination of dextrose and DME. I think they may have a longer carbonation time frame than corn sugar. You'll most likely want a lower carbonation with a stout anyway, I'd almost be inclined to roll the bottles gently, then put them in a box next to the water heater. It will most likely throw off a steady 75-78F and will get the job done. If you hit your FG post fermentation then, you're yeast are there... just taking their sweet time.

MKLA said:

Thanks for the responses guys! I used 4 brewers best tablets. I'll wait till next week to get me to a full 4 weeks of bottle conditioning before I do anything to the beer.

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Just wait. At this point even if you do doctor the bottles, they won't have enough time to do much of anything. I had a batch that went undercarbed at one month to beautifully carbed at 2 months.

Not to toot my own flute, but you can carbonate it all in 12oz PET bottles in about 15-seconds with a FiZZ GiZ (www.FizzGiz.com). You can precisely carbonate them to 1.4g per bottle or more or less as desired.

Ive had such poor luck when using carb tabs. I avoid them as much as I can unless im in a lazy mood and only have a couple bottles that need to be filled after emptying most in the keg. I know youve already done this but for anyone new that uses carb tabs id suggest rotating bottles the day after bottling to make sure the sugar is mixed after it dissolves.