Bottles didn't carbonate

[dRaPP]

Not sure where to put this so I'm posting here and in yeast and fermentation. I brewed an arrogant bastard clone a while ago, gave it 5 days in primary and let it sit in secondary for about 3 weeks. When it came time to bottle, I used about 5 oz of corn sugar, stirred gently, and bottled as usual. 12 days later the beer still isn't carbed well. It has some carbonation but definitely not enough. What could've happened?

Gravity Readings: OG 1.077 FG 1.016
Fermentables: Breiss Pilsen Light DME (8 lbs)
Crushed Crystal 120L Malt (1.5 lb)

 

[dRaPP]

Forgot to add that I pitched one vial of WLP001 White Labs California Ale Yeast with no starter. It was before I knew about the usefulness of yeast starters.

 

[Fletch78]

Did you dissolve the corn sugar into a solution first?

What temp have the bottles been sitting at?

What temp is the bottle when you opened it for a 'test' ?

 

[devilishprune]

You're going to get a lot of copy and paste in this thread. Wait 9 more days and come back.

 

[Yooper]

No need to double post- most of us use the "new posts" feature, and see all of the posts. Double posting means that the answers are scattered in different threads and then a moderator has to combine them anyway so it's better to just post once.

I would agree that your beer just needs more time. At least 21 days at 70 degrees or warmer is the usual "minimum" time so it could be longer. Most beers are fully carbed up by three weeks, some are sooner, some are later. I'd wait another couple of weeks at least and then try one. It also helps if you put the bottle in the fridge at least overnight before drinking, at least when it's young. Cold liquids absorb co2 better, and it'll be more evenly carbed that way.

 

[dRaPP]

Yooper, sorry about the double post and thanks for fixing it.

Fletch, I did dissolve sugar into a solution first. The bottles are sitting at about 73-75 deg F, same as my ferm bucket and secondaries. The bottle temp when I opened it was whatever temperature my fridge was at (nice and cold), not sure exactly tho. I didn't know about yeast starters yet and so therefore didn't use one. I'm just worried that since I didn't use a starter, the high gravity might've killed the yeast or something. Is that possible?

 

[Yooper]

Yooper, sorry about the double post and thanks for fixing it.

Fletch, I did dissolve sugar into a solution first. The bottles are sitting at about 73-75 deg F, same as my ferm bucket and secondaries. The bottle temp when I opened it was whatever temperature my fridge was at (nice and cold), not sure exactly tho. I didn't know about yeast starters yet and so therefore didn't use one. I'm just worried that since I didn't use a starter, the high gravity might've killed the yeast or something. Is that possible?

No, not really. An OG of 1.077 might make the yeast a bit sluggish, but won't kill them. Some time is all that is needed.

You got 78% attenuation out of that yeast, which is just a wee bit higher than its average attenuation. It should be able to carb up the beer.