Concerned about priming and bottling my tripel. Need advice

So I have a tripel that has been bulk aging since March 12th. I am somewhere in 12%-14%ABV range with it and I used WLP500.

When I did my "IPA Bomb" that ended up being 12%ABV, even after following recipe to the T and priming it per recipe, it has been a month and it is yet to carbonate properly. It is still flat.

I am afraid my tripel won't carbonate either, since I have probably gone past the tolerance of the yeast. It tastes DELICIOUS flat, but I can't serve it like that to my friends and I don't have a cegarator.

 

1) Big beers can take a REALLY long time to carb. My xmas ale of 9.2%, which I bottled start of december, wasn't carbonated until March (though to be fair, it wasn't at 70 degrees the entire time, as I had to move it to the garage, so it was probably not kept warm enough).

2) If you are concerned about the yeast, you can pitch at bottling time. If you read "brew like a monk", you'll see that it's actually really common for belgian beers to use a different strain of yeast before bottling.

 

Check out this very similar thread: http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/dry-yeast-help-carbonate-high-alc-content-belgian-209324/

 

I re-pitched when I bottled my Scotch Wee Heavy.

 

Going to try T-58. We shall see how that comes out.

 

Wrong, many if not most of the smaller Belgian breweries use the primary strain @ bottling.

 

The last Tripel I brewed took approx 8 weeks of bottle conditioning to be ready to drink. I also used WLP500 with great results. I did not however use a second yeast addition during bottling, just the one with a big starter at primary ferm.

beerloaf

 

Oops. Ok. I'll have to go back and re-check my facts. I did find this quote on the forums here:

"It isn't necessary to use the same yeast as in primary. Trappists do that because they always have it ready. Generally, an alcohol-tolerant strain will do better but is not required."

Anyway I'll re-check when I have time. Thanks.

 

I had a conversation with a brewer at Allagash Brewery up in Maine last weekend and he told me that their tripple, double, and wheat beers get different yeast for bottle conditioning.

P.S. Yes, I did ask for possibly some tripple yeast I could use in my brew... but he kindly declined