Using beergun on Bouboun County Stout 10.5%

[jturman35]

I brewed up a Bourbon County Stout clone attempt back in 4/7/18. I then kegged this beer 5/6/18 and let sit at room temp until 6/6/18. The beer stayed in the keezer until 7/29/18. I then bottled the beer using a Blinchman beer gun. I didn’t make any notes but I’m pretty sure the beer was carbonated. I have opened 3 bottles in the last week all pretty much flat. If you swirl the beer some bubbles will form but overall the beer is flat. This stinks because this was a beer I planned on aging a few years.

Where did I screw this up?

 

[GPP33]

On step #8.

You know you didn’t provide anywhere near enough information to help you right? Although a 10+% burbon Stout should be pretty flat so maybe you didn’t actually screw up afterall.

 

[anotherbeerplease]

did you carb it when at room temp or when at keezer temps? If you unplugged the co2 when you put it in the keezer it wouldn't really be carbed at all...

 

[JBone120]

When you kept it in the keezer, was it connected to CO2 the entire time? if it was, and the gas was turned on to that keg (assuming you have a manifold) which I'm assuming it was since you got beer through your beer gun, and it sat at the right pressure the whole time... my guess would be bad seal on the bottle caps?

But this is completely a guess, since more details, as noted above, are needed to really have a clue.

 

[jturman35]

I’m chalking this up to not carbing up enough in the keg before bottling.

 

[Hwk-I-St8]

I can say this: I brewed a Bourbon County Stout type batch in January that came in at about 12%. I had it at 25 psi for 4 days and 15 psi for about two months. I posted back in August that it just did not want to force carb at all. I tried shaking it for a couple days...still not much carbonation.

It's not absolutely flat, but there's little/no head when I pour. It really is pretty close to BCBS in flavor, mouthfeel and carbonation though, so I'm not complaining. Ultimately, I just bottled it up. After distributing some to friends, I'm getting great feedback, so maybe it's really where it should be?

 

[jturman35]

It’s pretty flat although I have never had the original. Is the method for carbonating a big beer with beer gun the same as smaller beers?

 

[jveruin]

I can say this: I brewed a Bourbon County Stout type batch in January that came in at about 12%. I had it at 25 psi for 4 days and 15 psi for about two months. I posted back in August that it just did not want to force carb at all. I tried shaking it for a couple days...still not much carbonation.

It's not absolutely flat, but there's little/no head when I pour. It really is pretty close to BCBS in flavor, mouthfeel and carbonation though, so I'm not complaining. Ultimately, I just bottled it up. After distributing some to friends, I'm getting great feedback, so maybe it's really where it should be?

I wrote about a similar issue force carbing a big stout with lots of adjuncts (coffee, oatmeal, chocolate). I had it on 35 psi for 5 days at 32 degrees with almost no carbonation. This has happened to me more than once, but only on this big stout. Normal beers show normal carbonation in 2.5 days.

I’m wondering if the adjuncts make a barrier between gas and liquid that makes The diffusion of gas tougher.

 

[Rob2010SS]

Not to sound like a broken record but i had a 10% stout that wouldn't carb up as well. I had it at 25 psi for just shy of a week and then 15 psi for about a week. Bottled it up and realized it has barely any carbonation to it after the fact.

I chalked it up to a faulty keg originally but now not so sure...

 

[Jayjay1976]

Did any of you force carb with an airstone? Just wondering if the tiny surface area:volume ratio that a keg offers is the bottleneck??

 

[Hwk-I-St8]

I wrote about a similar issue force carbing a big stout with lots of adjuncts (coffee, oatmeal, chocolate). I had it on 35 psi for 5 days at 32 degrees with almost no carbonation. This has happened to me more than once, but only on this big stout. Normal beers show normal carbonation in 2.5 days.

I’m wondering if the adjuncts make a barrier between gas and liquid that makes The diffusion of gas tougher.

Yeah, my theory was that the cocoa nibs added an oil that sat on the surface and prevented the CO2 from getting into solution. The other possibility was the relatively high final gravity (1.034). It's a pretty viscous beer...that might affect the ability for it to take CO2 into solution.

 

[Hwk-I-St8]

Did any of you force carb with an airstone? Just wondering if the tiny surface area:volume ratio that a keg offers is the bottleneck??

I did not. However, I used a similar process (burst carb) as what I use with my IPAs and other "normal gravity" beers. The only difference is that I used the high burst pressure for longer (2 vs 4 days) and left the stout on higher pressure for much longer (12 vs 15 psi and a week vs 2 months). The stout should have been over-carbed. My IPAs would be a foamy mess if I did to them what I did to the stout.

One other difference: I keg my IPAs in a sankey and the stout in a corny.

 

[ApolloSimcoe]

Is the method for carbonating a big beer with beer gun the same as smaller beers?

This may be your issue. Beer guns don't carbonate beer.

 

[jturman35]

No, co2 in keg is what carbs beer. I was just asking if it helps to maybe compensate by over carbonating in the keg so it will balance out in the bottle. I wasn’t sure if there was different method on higher abv 10% + beers.