no carbonation after bottle conditioning

[Mojavejohn]

I've got a bottling question. I brewed a blonde ale, and tried to bottle condition it. It has been in the bottles a few months now and still hasn't carbonated. I think that I know what I did wrong. When I went to bottle, I removed the carboy from my fermentation chamber, and sat it on the counter in my garage, to let it settle. Well, unexpected chores came up and it sat there for two days before I was able to bottle. I'm thinking that the yeast died. There's a small possibility that I forgot to add the priming sugar (I've done that before), but I really don't think this is what I did. I believe it's a yeast issue. So, how do I fix this? I'm thinking about making a yeast starter, uncapping, and adding yeast to each individual bottle with an eye dropper. Then drop a small amount of priming sugar into each bottle and re-cap. How does this plan sound to you? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[kombat]

It's not the yeast. You could cold-crash, fine with gelatin, and there'd still be plenty of yeast to carbonate your beer.

It could be that you've stored the bottles too cold, but after several months, even then you'd have *some* carbonation.

I strongly suspect you forgot the priming sugar, or didn't use enough.

 

[Mojavejohn]

It's not the yeast. You could cold-crash, fine with gelatin, and there'd still be plenty of yeast to carbonate your beer.

It could be that you've stored the bottles too cold, but after several months, even then you'd have *some* carbonation.

I strongly suspect you forgot the priming sugar, or didn't use enough.

I've stored the bottles in a closet in my house, the same as always, 70-75 degrees, so this isn't it. I've stored other bottles in there since then and they've carbed up nicely.

So, you don't think that the heat in my garage over two days would have killed the yeast? I'm sure that it got close, to 100*F in there. Thanks for the feedback.

 

[Yooper]

I've stored the bottles in a closet in my house, the same as always, 70-75 degrees, so this isn't it. I've stored other bottles in there since then and they've carbed up nicely.

So, you don't think that the heat in my garage over two days would have killed the yeast? I'm sure that it got close, to 100*F in there. Thanks for the feedback.

No, no way. In order to kill the yeast, it'd have to be much warmer than that.

It sounds like you forgot the priming sugar.

You could open the bottles, drop in priming tablets, and recap.

 

[m00ps]

yeah priming tablets would be the best bet by far. They can take a while to dissolve, but better than teaspooning in the sugar

 

[homebrewdad]

I concur. You did not kill the yeast. People successfully culture yeast from bottle conditioned beers all the time, and those beers can be rather old - and are often treated horribly in distribution warehouses (100 degree F is very common).

Odds are excellent that you simply forgot the priming sugar. If you add priming sugar, mix it well, and cap properly, the beer WILL carb up - sometimes, it takes longer than you might expect, but it WILL happen.

 

[Mojavejohn]

Thanks for the good advice. I'll try the priming tabs, that sounds like it'll be a little easier than measuring out the corn sugar. I'll let you know how it turns out.

 

[Mojavejohn]

Cracked a couple bottles open, and lo and behold, there's some tiny bubbles in there. Not enough to be quite drinkable yet. I bought some CAMDEN tabs to put in each bottle....FAIL...at least I caught it this time. This is the batch from hell. Off to the LBH to get some carbonation tabs. Question, since the bottles are starting to carb up slowly on their own, do you think that I should use a half of a tab, or the whole thing? Thanks again.

 

[kombat]

At this point, you've got an unknown level of carbonation in the beer, and no way of knowing what final carbonation level you'll end up with by adding more sugars. I'd be concerned about potential bottle bombs.

If it's truly been "months" since this brew, have you brewed again since then? I would be tempted to just write this batch off and brew another. Lesson learned?

 

[ncbrewer]

At this point, you've got an unknown level of carbonation in the beer, and no way of knowing what final carbonation level you'll end up with by adding more sugars. I'd be concerned about potential bottle bombs.

If it's truly been "months" since this brew, have you brewed again since then? I would be tempted to just write this batch off and brew another. Lesson learned?

I agree it's not worth the risk. If it was me, I'd drink them warm and flat - maybe just every other day to not get tired of the not-quite-right beer. I always enjoy drinking my gravity samples, and this would be the same.

 

[akmac]

Mix it with the blandest BMC you can find. You may be pleasantly surprised.

 

[Mojavejohn]

So I went to the LBH and bought he right carbonation tabs today. I cracked three open and added a half a tab to each one. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

 

[Mojavejohn]

So, I cracked one of the test bottles open and the carbonation was perfect. When I went to re-carb the rest, a funny thing happened, several of them had bubbles, and looked as thought they might be ready to drink. I pushed forward with the plan of a half tab in each bottle. Right now i'm a little nervous. I hope that I didn't create a few dozen bottle bombs, only time will tell.

 

[kombat]

I pushed forward with the plan of a half tab in each bottle. Right now i'm a little nervous. I hope that I didn't create a few dozen bottle bombs, only time will tell.

Geez, who could have possibly forseen that? 'Cept maybe this guy, a week ago:

At this point, you've got an unknown level of carbonation in the beer, and no way of knowing what final carbonation level you'll end up with by adding more sugars. I'd be concerned about potential bottle bombs.

Hope you're storing them inside a plastic storage bin to contain the impending glass/beer cocktail.

 

[Mojavejohn]

Geez, who could have possibly forseen that? 'Cept maybe this guy, a week ago:



Hope you're storing them inside a plastic storage bin to contain the impending glass/beer cocktail.

There's no way in hell I'm writing this batch off. My momma didn't raise a quitter! Those first four bottles went down nice and easy, and actually tasted pretty good...and yes the rest are double bagged in the closet, just in-case.

 

[Mojavejohn]

It's been about a week since I added the carbonation tabs and I'll have to say this is a roaring success! The beer has carbed up nicely, and no bottle bombs....I guess it's better to be lucky than good. Actually, it's awesome having a forum to bounce ideas off of, I couldn't have done it without you.