High Gravity Brew - no carbonation in a bottle

[drakub]

i brewed a what i called "a bomb" and it has been sitting in bottles for about a month now and i got no carbonation in it at all. I used DME rather then bottling sugar as i have in the past with no issues... Here are some numbers from this brew...

OG 1.133
FG 1.024
99.8 IBU
10 SRM
alc 14.4

i originally used White Labs Belgian Strong Ale Yeast and the SG went down to 1.044 and then a guy from a local store told me that in order to get the SG lower i should use White Labs Super High Gravity Ale which i did after 2 weeks in primary.

Any help will be greatly appropriated.

 

[djbradle]

Sounds like beaten yeast at such an abv. I always always repitch at such high grav brews. What was the primary and secondary time?

 

[drakub]

I did repitch when it went into secondary with the high gravity yeast. I don't have my paperwork with me but i believe it was about 2 weeks in primary and 2 weeks in secondary. Do you think that overtime there might be some carbonation? The taste of the beer is actually very good considering that it has set in the bottle for only a month i just wish it had those damn bobbles as well... LOL.

 

[djbradle]

I did repitch when it went into secondary with the high gravity yeast. I don't have my paperwork with me but i believe it was about 2 weeks in primary and 2 weeks in secondary. Do you think that overtime there might be some carbonation? The taste of the beer is actually very good considering that it has set in the bottle for only a month i just wish it had those damn bobbles as well... LOL.

Indeed then more time and a higher ambient temp . 70 F plus for a few more months. Since you repitched you should be good but I assume dme will take more time than dextrose?

 

[drakub]

Thanks DJ... I really hope that you are right... and yes DME does take a little longer then dextrose from my previous experience.

 

[Pilgarlic]

I've had big beers take months to show signs of carbonation. Goes with the gravity, relax.

 

[djbradle]

I had a bsda awhile back that took 3 months to carb up properly. It was flat at a month and this was with dextrose.

 

[drakub]

Waiting it is then ...

 

[beergolf]

I am just waiting for revvy to pop in with his drawing.........


Big beers can take a longer time to carbonate.Let them sit.

 

[freeflydude]

I am having similar issues with my most recent bottles. OG was 1.087, FG about 1.014 and it's been in the bottle about a month with little carb. I tried it at two weeks and then again today and there is a difference in the amount of conditioning from the first bottle I opened. It's taking much longer than I had anticipated. I heard higher gravity brews took longer to carb but I may have to leave this one for another month. It's the highest OG brew I've done so I guess I'll just leave it for awhile and let it do it's thing. Waiting is definitely the hard part about brewing.

 

[austun-reddog]

I also had similar issues with a Bourbon Baltic Porter - OG was 1.084, FG was 1.016. I did not re-pitch, and for that it took 6 months to carbonate. But in the end it was completely worth it as conditioning over the duration really created an awesome sipping beer! :rockin:

 

[freeflydude]

Can someone explain repitching process? I never knew that was necessary for higher gravity beers and it sounds like I am in for a long wait on mine since I didn't repitch. I've heard of using champaign yeast for higher gravity brews, is that typical? How much yeast do you need to pitch?

 

[Pilgarlic]

Can someone explain repitching process? I never knew that was necessary for higher gravity beers and it sounds like I am in for a long wait on mine since I didn't repitch. I've heard of using champaign yeast for higher gravity brews, is that typical? How much yeast do you need to pitch?

Repitching isn't standard procedure for big beers but only used in cases of truly stuck fermentation.

If and when you do find that you need to repitch, it is best to pitch a new starter which is actively fermenting at full krausen and at a temp very close to your stuck beer. You will be pitching yeast into a relatively inhospitable, alcoholic environment where the most readily used nutrients have likely been exhausted, and the new pitch of yeast will need all the help it can get.

Unless the stuck fermentation was due to the use of an inappropriate alcohol intolerant yeast strain I would use the same or similar yeast. If possible, you don't want to dramatically change the characteristics of the beer you were shooting for.

 

[freeflydude]

Sounds like a pain. Hopefully I never have to repitch. In the case of beer already in bottles would you just open all the bottles and use a dropper to add the yeast? I used a good yeast with high alcohol tolerance so everything should be alright.

 

[Pilgarlic]

Ah. Sorry. You weren't really talking about repitching but reinnoculating before bottling, for bottle conditioning and carbing. That's really almost never necessary. Just give it time. If you have lagered at low temperatures for a LONG time you MIGHT need to add yeast at bottling. I've done it only once, and I'm pretty sure it wasn't necessary then.