Conan yeast - bottles not carbing

[grrickar]

Buddy and I bought the Off the Topper kit from NB with the Conan yeast, and brewed the batches at the same time. Both spent about 10 days in secondary, and have been in the bottles around 3 weeks. Bottles are simply not carbing, so we both raised the temps a bit to see if they improve.

Anyone else seen this? My unfinished side of the basement is like 60-65F, and that must be too cold for Conan. Every other beer I have ever brewed carbed just fine in those temps...

 

[moreb33rplz]

60-65 is too cold methinks. Get 'em warmer!

 

[grrickar]

I'm warming one of the flat bastages in me tummy right now...

Still not carbed...hic

Who ever knew Conan yeast are girly men that prefer warmer climes...

Ahh-nold would not approve of this name...

 

[olotti]

You want the temp a minimum of 70 deg to carb and the warmer the less time it'll take but once their ready get em in the fridge as beer left at say upper 70's will degrade really fast especially an IPA, I learned that the hard way.

 

[Juno_Malone]

I'm having the same issue...I've got a 9.4% ABV Double IPA that's been in bottles for almost six weeks now, brewed with Imperial A04 Barbarian yeast (supposed to be the Conan strain), and they just aren't carbing up. They've been at ~72F the entire time.

 

[olotti]

I'm having the same issue...I've got a 9.4% ABV Double IPA that's been in bottles for almost six weeks now, brewed with Imperial A04 Barbarian yeast (supposed to be the Conan strain), and they just aren't carbing up. They've been at ~72F the entire time.

In this case due to the fact it's a high abv beer there prob weren't enough healthy yeast left after fermentation and odds are it may never carb, I learned this the hard way with a 9% dipa I made using 001 I believe and a huge starter, 6 weeks later bottles never carbd, moved them to my second floor for another two weeks where it was warmer and finally got some carbonation but by that time it killed the hops and oxidation was setting in so the beer was essentially shot. I'm not saying yours is but what I mentioned could be the culprit, from now on anything 8.5% and higher I add cbc-1 at bottling to ensure carbonation. Im sure others may have ideas on what you could do. First thing may be to swirl the bottles to get the yeast back in suspension and then move them to a warmer spot for a bit and see if that doesn't work.

 

[Juno_Malone]

In this case due to the fact it's a high abv beer there prob weren't enough healthy yeast left after fermentation and odds are it may never carb, I learned this the hard way with a 9% dipa I made using 001 I believe and a huge starter, 6 weeks later bottles never carbd, moved them to my second floor for another two weeks where it was warmer and finally got some carbonation but by that time it killed the hops and oxidation was setting in so the beer was essentially shot. I'm not saying yours is but what I mentioned could be the culprit, from now on anything 8.5% and higher I add cbc-1 at bottling to ensure carbonation. Im sure others may have ideas on what you could do. First thing may be to swirl the bottles to get the yeast back in suspension and then move them to a warmer spot for a bit and see if that doesn't work.

Dang, thanks for the advice. I'd hate to see this batch turn out flat. I'll definitely take your advice and pick up a pack of cbc-1 to have on hand for next time I bottle a heavy beer.

 

[olotti]

Dang, thanks for the advice. I'd hate to see this batch turn out flat. I'll definitely take your advice and pick up a pack of cbc-1 to have on hand for next time I bottle a heavy beer.

No prob that's what these forums are for someone's been in your shoes before and well I'm still finding that two years into brewing new things arise all the time. I use Cbc-1 on all my ris's and it works like a charm there's a formula/ratio if you search this site or google it but for my big stouts I only use a half pack and it works, usually beers carbing in a month. The one I have now is almost 12% and in 2 months I'll be bottling one that's been on oak cubes for 6 months and both will get a full pack just to be sure. But yeah when my dipa went down I said never again since those beers need to be enjoyed fresh, I don't have a month to let it carb plus at that 70 deg temp the hops fade fast and oxidation increases even faster so yeah no more of that. Best of luck and keep brewing.

 

[sky4meplease]

No prob that's what these forums are for someone's been in your shoes before and well I'm still finding that two years into brewing new things arise all the time. I use Cbc-1 on all my ris's and it works like a charm there's a formula/ratio if you search this site or google it but for my big stouts I only use a half pack and it works, usually beers carbing in a month. The one I have now is almost 12% and in 2 months I'll be bottling one that's been on oak cubes for 6 months and both will get a full pack just to be sure. But yeah when my dipa went down I said never again since those beers need to be enjoyed fresh, I don't have a month to let it carb plus at that 70 deg temp the hops fade fast and oxidation increases even faster so yeah no more of that. Best of luck and keep brewing.

I would follow the directions on the package of CBC-1. A whole package in 5 gallons would likely be an overkill.
For beers that may age for quite some time in the bottle an excessive amount of yeast may not be good.

 

[olotti]

I would follow the directions on the package of CBC-1. A whole package in 5 gallons would likely be an overkill.
For beers that may age for quite some time in the bottle an excessive amount of yeast may not be good.

Noted. thank you. Maybe I'll iust stick to half a pack then

 

[sky4meplease]

Noted. thank you. Maybe I'll iust stick to half a pack then

I think it is one tenth of a gram per Liter.
The directions are clearly printed on the back of the package.
That would be roughly 1.9 grams per 5 gallons so even half a pack would be more than twice what you would need.

 

[BrewBrains]

I also brewed a DIPA Heady clone and bottled 1 month ago with Gigayeast Vermont Ale Yeast. ABV 7.9% and used large carbonation drops. Just a trace of carbonation this week. Getting frustrated and considering adding dry yeast to each bottle. Most threads on the forum advise endless patience but there must be something unusual going on for several Conan users to be complaining?

 

[Juno_Malone]

I also brewed a DIPA Heady clone and bottled 1 month ago with Gigayeast Vermont Ale Yeast. ABV 7.9% and used large carbonation drops. Just a trace of carbonation this week. Getting frustrated and considering adding dry yeast to each bottle. Most threads on the forum advise endless patience but there must be something unusual going on for several Conan users to be complaining?

Consensus seems the be that Conan yeast sometimes has trouble bottle conditioning above 9% ABV or so. Personally, if mine are still pretty flat after 3 months, I'm going to open each up, sprinkle a tiny amount of CBC-1 in each, and recap. At this point, all of the wonderful dry-hop aroma is likely to be all but gone though

 

[grrickar]

Mine carbed....finally. I'd say keep the temps warm at the bottle conditioning phase...like 72-75 degrees warm. Shake the bottles to rouse the yeast. I'm not a fan of this yeast...expensive and finicky....

 

[BrewBrains]

Mine carbed....finally. I'd say keep the temps warm at the bottle conditioning phase...like 72-75 degrees warm. Shake the bottles to rouse the yeast. I'm not a fan of this yeast...expensive and finicky....

So grrickar, it was well carbed after about 6 weeks? I'll hold my breath then. I was considering carefully dumping them into a keg and force carbing.
My OG was 1.080, FG 1.020 and bottle conditioning temp around 75.
I had emailed Gigayeast and they said. "Hi Robert,
Unless your beer is very high gravity (>20 Plato) you should have no problems with yeast viability for bottle conditioning. Typically we see difficulties with bottle conditioning in cases where the yeast is subjected to a high gravity fermentation or settles out so well you end up with a very low concentration of yeast at bottling. Hope this helps!"

I do love the peachy aroma this yeast produces. You won't get that from California ale yeast. I was fortunate enough to have sampled the real Heady recently and it was worth the trip to VT. I just hope all the hop aromas in my batch aren't dissipated by the time I get some bubbles.

 

[grrickar]

So grrickar, it was well carbed after about 6 weeks? I'll hold my breath then. I was considering carefully dumping them into a keg and force carbing.
My OG was 1.080, FG 1.020 and bottle conditioning temp around 75.
I had emailed Gigayeast and they said. "Hi Robert,
Unless your beer is very high gravity (>20 Plato) you should have no problems with yeast viability for bottle conditioning. Typically we see difficulties with bottle conditioning in cases where the yeast is subjected to a high gravity fermentation or settles out so well you end up with a very low concentration of yeast at bottling. Hope this helps!"

I do love the peachy aroma this yeast produces. You won't get that from California ale yeast. I was fortunate enough to have sampled the real Heady recently and it was worth the trip to VT. I just hope all the hop aromas in my batch aren't dissipated by the time I get some bubbles.

More or less. I'd say still not as carbed as I would prefer, but decent. A sloppy pour will reward me with a decent, although quickly dissipating head.

 

[olotti]

Mine carbed....finally. I'd say keep the temps warm at the bottle conditioning phase...like 72-75 degrees warm. Shake the bottles to rouse the yeast. I'm not a fan of this yeast...expensive and finicky....

Agreed I'm not getting the "it" from this yeast after using it on three IPAs its attenuated well but this whole peachy thing I'm not getting. The beer I just made with 1318 is much more pronounced with a fruity character and thicker mouthfeel than the Oly-52 Conan strain I used. Both beers were mashed at 149-150 using the same grain bill and I like 1318 better, no yeasty character it just add a fruity thick taste to the beer that us didn't get from Conan.

 

[hopbrad]

agreeing it has issues carbing in the bottle. I brew with a friend, i keg and he bottles. any time we use conan it takes over a month for them to carb for him, at that point, the delicious hop aromas are very faded. I love what conan brings to my IPAs over s-05 so i still use it since i can force carb, but now when we brew IPAs we split it up into different carboys and his gets s-05.
will have to bring down some 1318 next time im in the states.