Stout hasn't carbed yet...

[TravelingLight]

I'm asking for some thoughts on this as this is my first all-bottled batch. Usually keg everything but didn't want to tie my one tap/keg up with a stout.

I bottled two stouts on Jan 16, 2017. As of last night (17 days post bottling), they aren't carbed yet. There is a bit of carbonation in the mouthfeel, but basically zero head on the pour, even if I give it a hard pour. This coming Monday will be three weeks post bottling. I figured it would be getting closer by now. Here are some specifics of the batches.

OG: 1.072
FG: 1.014
Same OG/FG for both batches as this was the same beer I split after primary, coffee in one, coffee and bourbon in the other.

WLP004 (1.5L starter)

Batch 1 (2 gallons): 1.3 oz. priming sugar for 2.0 vols
Batch 2 (2.25 gallons): 1.5 oz. priming sugar for 2.0 vols

Since bottling, they've been sitting in boxes in my beer closet inside my house. So probably hovering around 68-70 degrees.

Thoughts? Let me know if you need anymore specifics, recipe, etc.

 

[HopHeavy]

Straight off I would think it is just too soon. If you see clear signs of CO2 at this point, there is definitely some yeast working in there. I find higher ABV will slow yeast down some, especially if some ageing has stalled their metabolism or driven them into hibernation.

Which brings us to a variable to consider that we don't know: How much yeast is in the bottle? If you were ageing the stout for months prior to bottling, less yeast made it in there.

I have recently begun a quasi-krausening approach with bigger beers or ones which have aged some. At bottling, I will drop around 50 ml of a near finished yeast starter into the bottling bucket. Might not do anything but line the bottle, but it makes me feel better.

 

[flars]

The stout without the bourbon is about 7.6% ABV. The yeast in the bottle is stressed. It will take time. Check another bottle in three weeks if you can keep the bottles at 70°F or higher. Flavor usually improves with even more bottle conditioning time.

Check the stout with the added bourbon in 2 to 3 months.

 

[paarman]

Just out of curiosity, how much bourbon did you add to the one batch?

 

[TravelingLight]

Just out of curiosity, how much bourbon did you add to the one batch?

I just looked back at my notes. I added the bourbon that the spiral had been soaking in at bottling to give more bourbon flavor. Per my notes, I ended up going with 2ml bourbon per 4 oz. This worked out to 144ml for the 2.25 gal. bourbon side.

Honestly, it could stand a little more. I'm not super pleased with this stout, but that's mainly the coffee I used.

 

[paarman]

I just looked back at my notes. I added the bourbon that the spiral had been soaking in at bottling to give more bourbon flavor. Per my notes, I ended up going with 2ml bourbon per 4 oz. This worked out to 144ml for the 2.25 gal. bourbon side.

Honestly, it could stand a little more. I'm not super pleased with this stout, but that's mainly the coffee I used.

Oh wow. Reason I ask is that I am brewing a breakfast stout next weekend, and I've had 2oz oak cubes sitting in 4oz bourbon for about a month... I was going to make another tincture with cocoa nibs and vanilla beans in like 2oz of bourbon and this is for a 5 gallon batch... Was worried 6oz might be too much haha, but sounds like you've got roughly 4.5oz for about half that.

What are your thoughts on taste? Too hot, mellowed out, too little? I was originally going to do 4oz in both tinctures but someone recommended that may be too much. With everything that's going on in my batch, I'm wondering if I could do 8oz.

I was going to rack the beer on top of it in the secondary.. Bourbon, cubes and all. But with the cubes added in there, maybe I won't add 2 more oz.... Still having a hard time deciding, as you can see lol... Thanks for the feedback on yours!

 

[TravelingLight]

Oh wow. Reason I ask is that I am brewing a breakfast stout next weekend, and I've had 2oz oak cubes sitting in 4oz bourbon for about a month... I was going to make another tincture with cocoa nibs and vanilla beans in like 2oz of bourbon and this is for a 5 gallon batch... Was worried 6oz might be too much haha, but sounds like you've got roughly 4.5oz for about half that.

What are your thoughts on taste? Too hot, mellowed out, too little? I was originally going to do 4oz in both tinctures but someone recommended that may be too much. With everything that's going on in my batch, I'm wondering if I could do 8oz.

I was going to rack the beer on top of it in the secondary.. Bourbon, cubes and all. But with the cubes added in there, maybe I won't add 2 more oz.... Still having a hard time deciding, as you can see lol... Thanks for the feedback on yours!

The bourbon flavor is just barely there. Honestly, I could stand a little more. And I'm not a bourbon drinker at all. In fact, I can't stand bourbon. But I love bourbon BA beers. Weird, I know.

I soaked the spiral in bourbon for about two weeks, then I added just the spiral in secondary and let that sit a while. When I went to bottle (first batch I've bottled the whole batch without kegging), the bourbon wasn't strong enough so I took samples and added measured amounts to each until I found the right blend. Then did some math and added the bourbon from the spiral soak right to the bottling bucket.

 

[paarman]

Awesome, thanks for the info!