Have I angered the carbing gods?

[Brewkowski]

I have a brown ale that has been sitting for 3 or more months and I went to taste it about 3 weeks ago and the bottle I tried was mildly carbed and then I opened another bottle this past week and it had like no carbonation to it. All this after a few months of swirling bottles and trying the for no carbonation. So I decided to take the remaining 15 22oz bottles and try to add a little sugar to them. I was prepared to add a 4g packet to each one, but when I started to add a few grains of sugar they started bubbling out of the bottle like a volcano. I'm guessing this means one of two things, 1) I had some bottles that were just fine and some that were not (bad racking technique). Or 2) adding a little sugar gave it a temporary carb, that will eventually die down and not be a long term solution.
I ended up only using like 3 packets for 15 bottles, so that probably didn't add much to flat bottles, but there was a little head in each bottle when I recapped. How bad is this? What does it take to actually make a bottle blow? Did I really do anything besides waste my time by adding such a small amount of sugar. This batch has been a real carbing experience, all my other brews turned out with good carbonation. Any thoughts?

 

[staffVAJoe]

What's you ABV? maybe this is you private stock beer you drink instead of drinking the good beer. Think about that while I salute you with a SCHLITZ O.M.L.:cross:

 

[jmo88]

I have had problems with a beer that never really carbed, even after two months. I'm thinking I didn't suck up enough yeast from the carboy while racking to the bottling bucket. It sat in the carboy for a month so it was pretty clear.

That said, I don't think adding the sugar would produce the carbonation you need, unless you didn't mix in enough at bottling time. You may need more yeast. is there a cake on the bottom?

 

[jagg]

What yeast did you use? It wouldn't happen to be Wyest 1028 London Ale would it?

 

[Brewkowski]

Extract - Accidental Brown Ale - Home Brew Forums

I hope I linked that right. It was a brown ale and I used 1098 Wyeast I think. I didn't see any yeast at the base, I guess I should have looked at that more. The only thing I have on hand is bread yeast, could I use that since it's such a small amount? The foaming while adding sugar was really confusing me. Thanks for the quick posts.