Forgot to prime tripel with yeast before bottling!?

[DPlan00]

I tried my hand at a version of Piraat Tripel Belgian Ale. The batch came in at a lower volume than expected and I had about forty-one 12 oz. bottles. I fermented with two smack packs of Wyeast Abbey Ale for 3 weeks in primary before bottling. Then I primed. Then I bottled. Then I reread the recipe, which told me to prime the beer with another dose of yeast. Oops.

Is this yeast cashed? The final gravity reading told me this beer finished 2% abv higher than expected (could be due to smaller than expected batch size).

Or, is there a chance. I know, it's "wait-and-see". When will I be able to tell if there is any chance I had some yeast left to carbonate this with?

 

[Germelli1]

What was your original and final gravities?

It shouldn't matter anyway, the yeast are still viable up to and beyond 12%. High gravity beers always take longer to carb up anyway!

 

[DPlan00]

Update:

This beer is still as flat as the day it was bottled. Can it be saved?

I would take any suggestion for rescuing this batch other than using it to boil brats!

 

[ChshreCat]

You're worried about it not carbing after only three days. It's three WEEKS before you expect carbonation.

As was asked before, what where your original and final gravities on this brew? Information might get you real suggestions.

 

[DPlan00]

It's actually been a MONTH and 3 days...

 

[Revvy]

The only problem is impatience. The 3 weeks at 70 degrees, that we recommend is the minimum time it takes for average gravity beers to carbonate and condition. Higher grav beers take longer.

Stouts and porters have taken me between 6 and 8 weeks to carb up..I have a 1.090 Belgian strong that took three months to carb up.

Temp and gravity are the two factors that contribute to the time it takes to carb beer. But if a beer's not ready yet, or seems low carbed, and you added the right amount of sugar to it, then it's not stalled, it's just not time yet.

Everything you need to know about carbing and conditioning, can be found here Of Patience and Bottle Conditioning. With emphasis on the word, "patience."

Read the above blog, and come back to the beer in a couple more weeks.

If a beer isn't carbed by "x number of weeks" you just have to give them ore time. If you added your sugar, then the beer will carb up eventually, it's really a foolroof process. All beers will carb up eventually. A lot of new brewers think they have to "troubleshoot" a bottling issue, when there really is none, the beer knows how to carb itself. In fact if you run beersmiths carbing calculator, some lower grav beers don't even require additional sugar to reach their minimum level of carbonation. Just time.

Lazy Llama came up with a handy dandy chart to determine how long something takes in brewing, whether it's fermentation, carbonation, bottle conditioning....

Your Tripel is a BIG beer...Big beers often translate to months not weeks. Hell many brewers don't even touch their tripels for 6 months to a year.

Make sure they are above 70 degrees and give them some more time and they will be fine.

I don't worry about there not being enough yeast until a beer has sat in secondary for over 6 months...A beer needs to carb up exactly as long as it needs too, and not a minute less.

 

[DPlan00]

So even though I forgot to prime with more yeast 3 days prior to bottling, there ma be a chance?

OG was 1.104
FG was 1.012

Could there be enough yeast to carb this?

 

[ChshreCat]

Ahh, I misread the date and thought it was bottled this month.

Either way, the yeast is there. They're just drunk. Keep them warm and give it time. That's a big freakin' beer and as Revvy says, bigger beers need more time than regular beers. They'll carb, it'll just take a long time. You'd want to age a beer like that anyway. Expect to try one this spring and see how it is then.

 

[DPlan00]

This is an update for the friendly brewers whom so kindly responded to my original and subsequent pleas for help, and shared their wisdom. Above all, I have RDWHAHB'd. If you have some advice, feel free to chime in.

These beers have fizz! I am encouraged, but not satisfied. I decided to see if there was progress with the bubbles. There was! I heard the sound when I cracked one open, and got a head of tiny white bubbles on my tripel. However, the head lasted only 10 seconds and the beer still tasted mostly, but not all, flat. The flavor had dramatically improved with the aging, and I agree that time and more time will help a beer an abv like this one.

My original question remains, how to tell if it can reach it's full carb potential? It is supposed to be a beer on which the head will last the entire time, not 10 seconds. These beers have been conditioning at about 55F. I know, too low. So here is my new question: will moving these beers to a closet with an ambient temp of around 68F speed this process at this point?

 

[sudsmcgee]

These beers have been conditioning at about 55F. I know, too low. So here is my new question: will moving these beers to a closet with an ambient temp of around 68F speed this process at this point?

Yes. Do it.

 

[ChshreCat]

How long did you leave the bottle in the fridge before you popped it open?

When a beer carbonates at room temp, much of the CO2 is trapped in the headspace right under the cap. Cold liquids can hold much more dissolved gas. So, by leaving the bottle in the fridge for 24-48 hours before opening it, it allows the CO2 to be absorbed by the beer. If you open one as soon as it gets cold, the CO2 hasn't had a chance to be absorbed so it escapes as soon as you open the cap. Often this gives you a good pop when you open the beer, some head when you pour but little to no carbonation when you drink the beer.

 

[ksbrain]

It's developing bubbles. That's a good sign. Patience will eventually pay off. 68F sounds good. I bet you'll need another few months, though.