Failed bottling of Lager

[greyfox_21]

I brewed my first lager about 2 months ago and bottled 2 weeks ago. I popped a bottle open this weekend and realized there is absolulty no carbonation taking place. I reviewed some of the threads on here and have realized I probably should have added more yeast during the bottling stage. At this point I am wondering if I can just open all of the bottles and pour them into my corny keg and force carbonate from here. What do you think?

 

[FastAndy]

Usually there is plenty of yeast left in suspension. 2 weeks may not be long enough to carb, how much of and what kind of sugar did you use to prime before bottling?

 

[greyfox_21]

I used 2/3 cup of corn sugar. There was next to no sediment.

 

[rjsnau]

Pouring them all into a keg is going to expose them to oxygen and will shorten the life of the beer to a few weeks at best. I know because I did the same thing with a batch of my beer. My recommendation is if you have all equipment to keg is to get a carbonator cap. Most LHBS sell them or you can get them on line. You can then carb each beer right before you want to drink it. Simply pour it into a 12 ounce empty soda bottle, attach the cap, then attach the gas and shake. You may have to experiment with the pressure setting to get the right amount of carbonation. This would be a pain but it would save your batch.

Of course I would give it another week or two before doing this to see if it does carb up. Good luck!

 

[Homercidal]

Whoa...

Stop the train!

2 months is not a terribly long time to lager a beer. There should be plenty of yeast in there to carb with. However, since they are lagered, it might take a bit longer. Just let it go and check again once a week and see how it's coming.

I'm assuming you've moved them into a relatively warm place to help the yeast get going?

 

[greyfox_21]

I have the bottles sitting in my basement which is holding steady at 68F. It sounds like the concensus is to just let them go and hopefully they carbonate? I guess that is my best option at this time.

 

[aryoung1980]

This is just an idea and I have never done it but what if you popped the bottles, added conditioning tablets, and recapped? May be worth a shot if waiting it out doesn't help.

 

[Yooper]

I have the bottles sitting in my basement which is holding steady at 68F. It sounds like the concensus is to just let them go and hopefully they carbonate? I guess that is my best option at this time.

Yes. Bring a few upstairs where it may be warmer, and keep them someplace pretty warm (above the fridge? in a cabinet in the kitchen? anyhow- someplace warmer) and check them in three weeks. That should do the trick.

 

[Homercidal]

This is just an idea and I have never done it but what if you popped the bottles, added conditioning tablets, and recapped? May be worth a shot if waiting it out doesn't help.

The conditioning tabs are sugar? This will only add more fermentables and possibly causing bottle bombs.

The question is whether there is enough yeast, not sugar. I think there is. If a few weeks go by and nothing happens, then would be the proper time to think about adding a few drops of yeast slurry.