Beer brewed in July still not carbonated

[MomsBrewing]

I brewed an ale with an OG of 1.079 at the end of July and bottled it towards the end of August. Since then I have sampled it occasionally and it is still not fully carbonated. It has a very slight pffft when I open it, but it just does not bubble and it tastes like it needs to be carbonated more.

I've let them sit. Rolled them and then let them sit. Rolled them, let them sit, and then refrigerated for days. Nothing.

So - what can I do? Is there anything other than letting it sit more? We are over 3 months in the bottles now. I'd like to drink it

 

[mdgagne]

What and how much priming sugar did you use?

 

[Zamial]

What and how much priming sugar did you use?

and what is the ambient temp of the "conditioning area" ???

 

[MomsBrewing]

1 cup of molasses and 70 -72 degrees.

In this time I have had multiple beers successfully carbonate including a Scotch Ale that had an OG of 1.072, though that one had corn sugar as the priming sugar.

 

[Zamial]

Well temps look good and the math may be right on the molassas, I have never used molasses to prime with. I have used honey and had strange mixed carb levels that I equated to it not mixing well. Is it possible that some of the bottles may be overcarbed and you just have not discovered it yet???

If so try a sample 6er of random bottles, chilled overnight. I would be ready to mix them with a fully carbed beer to help make it more drinkable and see what you get...

 

[rycov]

thats a long time to carb! slow as molasses

 

[lowtones84]

thats a long time to carb! slow as molasses

Ba-dum chh!

Seriously though, doesn't molasses have a lot of unfermentables? It also depends on the type of molasses I believe. How long was this beer in primary/secondary before you primed for bottling?

 

[MomsBrewing]

thats a long time to carb! slow as molasses

HA!
I have probably sampled this beer 6 times or so. Each time I take it from a different place in the box and the bottles have been rolled, moved around, labeled, reboxed, etc in that time. So, while it is possible some are way carbonated and others aren't, I expect I would have found one by now.

Ok, here are more details. This is a recipe from a book that I've used for just about all of my beers (The Homebrewer's Recipe Guide) and this is a groaning ale. Brewed on July 30th. Moved it to a secondary on August 13th. Bottled on September 10th with the molasses. OG 1.079. FG 1.015. Spent the whole time in the same closet.

This is the first time that I have used molasses for priming.

Should I open the bottles and pitch more yeast? If so, how do I figure out how much yeast to pitch? What about those carbonation tablets? Can I open the bottles drop in some tablets and recap? Do I wait longer?

 

[Polboy]

1.079og 3 months at proper temp and partially carbonated it's done in my opinion so the problem is not enough fermentable sugars during priming (maybe melassa settled in the bucket?), opening and adding yeast won't change it, adding sugar will

 

[Bobby_M]

The tough thing is that even if you want to go through the effort of trying to reprime them, it's probably just carbonated enough that dropping a coopers carb tab or similar into the bottle will cause a volcano. Next time you open one, try dropping a sugar cube in and see if it blows foam out of the bottle. If not, two sugar cubes and recap.

 

[MomsBrewing]

I see what you are saying, but when I taste it now it tastes super sweet.

So, if I try adding a sugar cube and it doesn't foam then too little sugar is not the problem?

 

[BrewKnurd]

So, if I try adding a sugar cube and it doesn't foam then too little sugar is not the problem?

I don't think that's what Bobby was saying. He was just pointing out "the mentos phenomenon". The reason mentos cause soda to spew is because they provide a lot of nucleation sites for CO2 to come out of solution very quicky. What Bobby was referring to was if you have any meaningful carbonation in there as it is, when you add sugar (with lots of nucleation sites) you will likely cause the rapid release of that CO2, and hence a volcano.

 

[Grumpybumpy]

A cup of molasses just seems like a small amount to me. When using 5oz of corn sugar it looks to be around 2 cups and that stuff is almost 100% fermentable

 

[MomsBrewing]

I don't think that's what Bobby was saying. He was just pointing out "the mentos phenomenon". The reason mentos cause soda to spew is because they provide a lot of nucleation sites for CO2 to come out of solution very quicky. What Bobby was referring to was if you have any meaningful carbonation in there as it is, when you add sugar (with lots of nucleation sites) you will likely cause the rapid release of that CO2, and hence a volcano.

Ah, got it.

A cup of molasses just seems like a small amount to me. When using 5oz of corn sugar it looks to be around 2 cups and that stuff is almost 100% fermentable

Ok. So, what do I do at this point then? Add sugar cubes and wait a few more weeks?

 

[Polboy]

i would drink it as it is, but if it really bothers you you could try adding sugar (or sug tablets) directly to the bottel, i would try few first cuz it will be hard to find proper amount of sugar for small volume like that and easier to overcarbonate

 

[daksin]

Yea, I really don't think you added enough priming material. Molasses can be less than 75% fermentable, sometimes much less. I would uncap and add some carb drops, maybe not a whole dose.

 

[jfr1111]

Brew another "neutral" beer with a high level of carbonation and mix in the glass. I did that one time with a beer where the carb level was iffy and it worked decent. Better than drinking flat beer (unless it's a bitter, then it's delicious flat).

 

[JKoravos]

If it wasn't sweet before you primed but it's sweet now, it's probably a yeast issue. A 1.079>1.015 beer shouldn't taste sweet.

What was the recipe? Is 1.015 a good gravity for this beer? Also, how did you figure out how much molasses to use? Was it based on a suggestion from a trusted source?

Based on the info in the thread, IMO, it would be much better to add yeast now than adding more sugar. You can't take out the sugar once you add it, but if there is already enough yeast adding more won't hurt anything.

 

[MomsBrewing]

It was sweet from the beginning. But it is sweeter now I think. (hard to tell as it was so long ago!)

This was from a published recipe. That may not mean it is fool proof, but I have had great success with other recipes in this book. The recipe called for the amount of molasses.

I think I am going to uncap and pitch yeast and then see what happens. If it doesn't work, I'll try something else. I wouldn't drink it as is now.

 

[JKoravos]

Just do 3 or 4 bottles and wait a few weeks. If it goes well, do the rest.

 

[ErieShores]

I wonder if the molasses is cacked on the bottom of the bottle. Have you swirled the bottles since bottling day?

 

[badhabit]

Try getting a packet of dry yeast and adding 2 or 3 grains of yeast to a bottle. Re-cap and shake, let sit a couple weeks and open. If yeast is the problem that will tell you. Between that and the sugar cube drop you should at least be able to confirm the problem.