High ABV Beer Is Rather Flat

[JohanTheMighty]

I've been brewing for for a few years now, but recently I brewed an Imperial IPA that came out to about 9.5% ABV. I've brewed plenty of beers between 7-8%, and one prior to this one at almost 8.5%, but this is definitely the biggest beer I've brewed to date. I waited 10 days after bottling to try my first bottle and, while delicious, it was really very flat. You could see some small carbonation bubbles in the glass, but there was no foamy head and you definitely could not feel the carbonation. I normally take my first taste after about 7 days to see how it's coming along and every brew I have made before was considerably more carbonated after 7 days than this batch is after 10 days. I didn't use less sugar than normal, and I didn't overfill the bottles.

I guess my question is, once you pop over that 9% ABV level, does it take considerably longer for the beer to carbonate properly?

I will say this, whether it carbonates properly or not, it's still so good it's going to be consumed... no question there. I'm just wondering if I'm looking at a much longer carbonation/conditioning time frame than I am used to.

 

[bruteforce]

My triple ipa took about 2 months to properly carbonate (it came in at about 11%). My 13.5% barleywine refused to carb after 3 months, so I added a little champagne yeast to each bottle and it was carbed in about 3 more weeks.

But yeah, in general, the big beers take a while compared to brews under 8%

 

[JohanTheMighty]

My triple ipa took about 2 months to properly carbonate (it came in at about 11%). My 13.5% barleywine refused to carb after 3 months, so I added a little champagne yeast to each bottle and it was carbed in about 3 more weeks.

But yeah, in general, the big beers take a while compared to brews under 8%

Thank you for that. I was hoping to have this ready to go by Thanksgiving, so I'm glad I started it sooner than I had initially intended. It might not be "perfect" by then, but with any luck it'll be close.

 

[xpops]

I've been brewing for for a few years now, but recently I brewed an Imperial IPA that came out to about 9.5% ABV. I've brewed plenty of beers between 7-8%, and one prior to this one at almost 8.5%, but this is definitely the biggest beer I've brewed to date. I waited 10 days after bottling to try my first bottle and, while delicious, it was really very flat. You could see some small carbonation bubbles in the glass, but there was no foamy head and you definitely could not feel the carbonation. I normally take my first taste after about 7 days to see how it's coming along and every brew I have made before was considerably more carbonated after 7 days than this batch is after 10 days. I didn't use less sugar than normal, and I didn't overfill the bottles.

I guess my question is, once you pop over that 9% ABV level, does it take considerably longer for the beer to carbonate properly?

I will say this, whether it carbonates properly or not, it's still so good it's going to be consumed... no question there. I'm just wondering if I'm looking at a much longer carbonation/conditioning time frame than I am used to.

It could take a long time, or it could be that the yeast was stressed at some point, and it's just not going to carb more than it is. I had this problem with a DIPA a few months back as well. After almost 3 months it still wasn't carbed properly. check out my thread about the issue i had.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=526313

good luck!

 

[JKaranka]

Are you keeping the bottles warm enough for them to carbonate quickly?

 

[JohanTheMighty]

Are you keeping the bottles warm enough for them to carbonate quickly?

I believe so, kind of a tough question to answer in one sentence. I mainly bottle all of my beers in 22oz bottles, but I always use 3-12oz bottles.... my tasters, for purposes of seeing how everything is coming along. I have the 22oz bottles conditioning in large black tubs (with black lids) on a shelf in my living room. Ambient temp in my living room is 70-72 degrees. I always place my 12oz bottles in my closet. The difference is, the ones on the shelf in my living room are in a better temperature controlled environment, because there are A/C and heater vents in there. If I were to run through the back wall of my closet, I would be outside, and there is no AC/heater vent in there. Temps rise and fall between about 66 degrees at night to 74 during the day. I realize that the 12oz bottles are more at risk for off-flavors, but I don't think the temp is low enough, or the temp variation severe enough, to make the yeast go dormant.

 

[hucklb]

Giving the bottles a shake to get the yeast back into suspension may help. I did that with an 8% stout that was slow carbonating and it helped out. Don't know if it was just a coincidence or not but rousing the yeast in the primary definitely helps. So, I see no reason that shaking the bottles wouldn't help. It definitely won't hurt.

 

[peterj]

Yeah I would just wait a little longer. The higher the alcohol the longer it takes to carbonate. Keeping them all as warm as you can will help it go faster too.

I have an 11.2% RIS that's been in the bottle for 6 months that's still not carbed.

My triple ipa took about 2 months to properly carbonate (it came in at about 11%). My 13.5% barleywine refused to carb after 3 months, so I added a little champagne yeast to each bottle and it was carbed in about 3 more weeks.

But yeah, in general, the big beers take a while compared to brews under 8%

I was thinking of adding champagne yeast to my RIS. How much did you add per bottle and did you rehydrate it first?

 

[sancycling]

7 days or even two weeks is premature for a high gravity beer (ABV>9%) to carbonate in bottles. I just started enjoying a IIPA ~10% that took about a month and a half to carbonate. I had a bad experience with a RIS ~11% that did not carbonate even after a year (73 - 75F). From that I learned to add rehydrated yeast when bottling high gravity beers. I've been getting good results with Fermentis Safbrew F2.

 

[peterj]

Giving the bottles a shake to get the yeast back into suspension may help. I did that with an 8% stout that was slow carbonating and it helped out. Don't know if it was just a coincidence or not but rousing the yeast in the primary definitely helps. So, I see no reason that shaking the bottles wouldn't help. It definitely won't hurt.

Yeah I had an 9.2% Imperial IPA that wasn't carbed after a month or so and I swirled the bottles a couple times a week and tried to warm them up for a few weeks and they carbed up nicely. Not sure if it was the swirling, the warming, or just the extra time.

 

[bruteforce]

I was thinking of adding champagne yeast to my RIS. How much did you add per bottle and did you rehydrate it first?

I just poured the packet of EC118 into a sanitized bowl and then used a sanitized small steel spoon to scoop just a tip worth and pour into the bottle. I thought about rehydrating, but I didn't have an eye dropper so wasn't sure how to make that work. Either way, just a few grains per bottle and it carbed nicely.

 

[JohanTheMighty]

Yeah I had an 9.2% Imperial IPA that wasn't carbed after a month or so and I swirled the bottles a couple times a week and tried to warm them up for a few weeks and they carbed up nicely. Not sure if it was the swirling, the warming, or just the extra time.

I'm not too terribly excited at the prospect of opening, re-yeasting, and recapping a bunch of bottles. This seems like a good idea, and I started the process the day I read it; I'm sorry I couldn't reply sooner to express my gratitude. I'm going to try "taster bottle #2" next Saturday, which will be about another 10 days from the time I tasted bottle #1 and will decide at that time whether I need to resort to re-yeasting or continue playing the swirl and wait game.

Thanks everyone