11%ABV Abbey Ale wont carb up, any suggestions

[Pablosanjari]

Hey all!

I brewed this bad boy up and finished at11%abv.
I bottled about 2 months ago hoping to age over several years to see how it matures.

The brew tastes amazing but still hasn't carbonated. I think possibly this is due to a very long secondary at about 12 degrees Celsius which led to the yeast dying or completely falling out of suspension.

2 weeks ago I cracked open all of the bottles and added some wlp001 yeast that I was brewing with that day to see if that would eventually get carbonation going. Today still nothing although the beer is hazy now.

I guess my question is if the wlp001 will be able to do the job with a bit more patience or is 11% abv just killing the yeast off?

Any tips on how to get this carbonated would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks again, frustrated and thirsty !

 

[PhelanKA7]

How warm is it where you are storing your bottles?

 

[ThaBrewFather06]

I would say 11% is pretty strong for that yeast

 

[sfrisby]

Both the 001 and whatever your first yeast was will likely be fine in 11%. But that high of ABV takes time, like 6 months time, to carb properly. Stick it in the back of the closet and forget about it until the summer.

 

[Pablosanjari]

Thanks , I thought that it might take a while to carb but the 10% barley wine it's standing next to has carbed up already.

WLP530 was my original yeast and the bottles are standing at a constant 20degrees Celsius/68 Fahrenheit .

Patience I guess is what's needed here my dear friends. Thanks for reminding me .
Ill just have to brew something that's gonna be ready quicker.

The past few brews have long waiting times, lager , imperial stout , barley and abbey. Time to break out the IPA recipes again.

Thanks for taking the time.

 

[aiptasia]

Patience, or do what the Belgians do with high alcohol content beers, add champagne yeast that can tolerate the higher alcohol content.

 

[Pablosanjari]

Patience, or do what the Belgians do with high alcohol content beers, add champagne yeast that can tolerate the higher alcohol content.

Ah! Maybe that's the way forward for me. I don't have time to be patient haha.
Might add champagne yeast to half and then wait and see how the other half turns out on its own. Funny that as I've bottled about 3/4 of it in champagne bottles.
Thanks for the tip!

 

[dmoore714]

I had the same problem with a Belgian Strong recently. It's just over 10% ABV, and I let it sit in secondary for a month before I bottled. Sat for almost 2 months in my closet and did not carbonate. I got so frustrated I poured half the batch out (doh!)

Fortunately, I stopped myself before they were all gone. Took the remaining bottles out of storage and gently rolled them on the floor to stir up the sediment - hoping to get any remaining yeast back into suspension. Then I put them on the top shelf in my closet, thinking heat rises so they should stay warmer being closer to the ceiling.

Cracked open a bottle a month later (few weeks ago) and boom goes the dynamite. Perfectly carbonated.

 

[Pablosanjari]

I had the same problem with a Belgian Strong recently. It's just over 10% ABV, and I let it sit in secondary for a month before I bottled. Sat for almost 2 months in my closet and did not carbonate. I got so frustrated I poured half the batch out (doh!)

Fortunately, I stopped myself before they were all gone. Took the remaining bottles out of storage and gently rolled them on the floor to stir up the sediment - hoping to get any remaining yeast back into suspension. Then I put them on the top shelf in my closet, thinking heat rises so they should stay warmer being closer to the ceiling.

Cracked open a bottle a month later (few weeks ago) and boom goes the dynamite. Perfectly carbonated.

Awesome! Shame you lost half but great that saved half!
So patience is the game I'm gonna play as I plan on aging anyways.
If there's no action by the time summer comes around then I guess I'll give the champagne yeast a bash.
If that fails j guess I'll have some kind of dessert wine on my hands.

Cheers