Force Carbonation Time for Imperial Stout

[Rob2010SS]

I remember this topic coming up in another thread but I couldn't find it for the life of me. Has anyone else experience longer times to force carbonate imperial stouts as compared to other styles? I've experienced this on the 3 stouts I've done to date. 2 being an imperial and 1 being a milk stout. I've had an imperial stout in a keg carbonating and it started at 20 PSI for 12 hours then I brought it to 30 PSI. I kegged it Sunday night around 5:00pm, so timeline looks like this...

5:00pm 12/16 to 5:00am 12/17 - 20 PSI
5:00am 12/17 to 12:30pm 12/18 - 30 PSI

...and still not carbonated!

If this was the first time I've experienced it, I'd chalk it up to a bad keg or a fluke, but it's not. Like I said, I've experience this extended carb time in all 3 stouts I've done to date.

Any ideas?

Ultimately, I need to bottle it tomorrow night so I'm going to leave it and hopefully it'll be carbed enough by then. I may increase to 40 PSI over night tonight...

 

[wepeeler]

I kegged my RIS that I brewed in July on Nov 29th, so 2 1/2 weeks ago. I started at 30 for 24 hours, then 20 for 48 hours, then to 12 since. I tried it last night, and it's finally got the carbonation I want. So yeah, for me, it took way longer than a typcial beer. I kegged a neipa last Thursday, and it's perfectly carbed, as of last night (4 days).

 

[Hwk-I-St8]

I've posted several times about troubles force carbonating big stouts and porters. I brewed a 12% stout with a FG of about 1.033 that was at 30 psi for well over a month, then at 15 psi for another month and is barely carbed. I finally bottled it anyway. If you pour really agressively, you can get a small head.

It's actually quite tasty and after having a Bourbon County Stout a few weeks ago I realized it's pretty much the same level of carbonation. I don't know if it just won't carb or if something about that beer makes it not really show up.

I also brewed a big porter (about 8.5%) that exhibited the same behavior. Both beers were designed to have a rich mouthfeel, which may be a factor.

 

[BrewMan13]

In my experience, it definitely takes longer for thicker beers to carb. I force carb at only slightly more than intended serving pressure, so it takes ~5 days to get to a solid level usually. The stout I just did was at least double that, but it did get to a "normal" level eventually.

 

[Rob2010SS]

That makes me feel better. I'm definitely cranking that thing up tonight then. I don't want an undercarbed beer.... Again! The first imperial stout that I did and gave away didn't even get a head on it when you poured it.

Thanks.

 

[Tobor_8thMan]

All the posts are interesting and very informative. Thanks!

 

[day_trippr]

Before I switched to a nitro setup (thus carbed to a much lower level - like 1.3 volumes) my stouts took close to twice as long to carb up as everything else I brew. Imo there's no doubt FG plays a significant role wrt carbonation time...

Cheers!