Do carbonation pills (drops) need yeast?

[omazing]

I made a batch and it turned out to be very flat (either my priming sugar calculations were wrong or the bottle seals are leaking). I got new seals so that should solve the problem.

However, the batch has been in the fridge for good 4 weeks now (i highly doubt any living yeast is in it now). I was thinking of using those carbonation pills to carbonate my bottles (30oz each).

Let me know please.

Note: I live in a dry country so the soonest those pills will get to me is 2 weeks from today (this means the bottles have been in the fridge for 6 weeks since bottling).

 

[jwelch1103]

They do not contain yeast. There must be enough yeast in suspension in the beer for carbonation to occur. Not sure about your procedure but you did let the bottles sit at room temperature for a couple to several weeks before refrigerating right? If you put the freshly bottled beer in the fridge right away then you will have little to no carbonation since the yeast are not very active at those temperatures.

 

[derekcw83]

You can rouse the yeast by turning upside down gently a few times and bringing to room temp for a few weeks along with more sugar.

 

[omazing]

I used saflager yeast so its been fermenting/bottled in the fridge. when i added the sugar i only added 75grams of brown sugar for the whole 5G batch (i used this priming sugar calculator).

any hope left or should i just move on?

 

[porterpounder]

Take it out of the fridge and let it warm up to carbonate. It's not going to hurt it any to be warmer for a while and if you leave in the fridge it's either not going to carbonate or it's going to take months and months to carbonate depending on the temp. More sugar may be required, but if you've had it at low temps all the way through and it fermented out fully, you will likely have a good amount of CO2 left in solution, so don't add sugar until you try a couple bottles warmed up for a couple weeks first.

 

[omazing]

Take it out of the fridge and let it warm up to carbonate. It's not going to hurt it any to be warmer for a while and if you leave in the fridge it's either not going to carbonate or it's going to take months and months to carbonate depending on the temp. More sugar may be required, but if you've had it at low temps all the way through and it fermented out fully, you will likely have a good amount of CO2 left in solution, so don't add sugar until you try a couple bottles warmed up for a couple weeks first.

I've had it in the fridge this whole time. so should i take the bottles out and leave them for like a week or so? if i add sugar now (without yeast), aren't I risking the fact that i'll lose some of the current carbonation?

 

[porterpounder]

Yes, take them out for 2 weeks, raised to about 65-70 F. Check a bottle or two. If it's not carbed, add sugar and repeat. There should be plenty of yeast in there to carbonate. If after you add sugar it still doesn't carb, then you can add a couple drops of rehydrated yeast to each bottle, reseal and try one last time.

 

[sfish]

yes yes take the bottles out for a while. A while is 3 to 6 weeks. give them a little shake each day to rouse the yeast.

 

[omazing]

Will certainly do that! thanks guys