I guess I killed it?

[Slounsberry]

New all-grain brewer here, and been doing some experimenting, perhaps too early in my 'career'!

Back in November or so I made a brown ale, fermented fine in primary* and then I cold-crashed, bottled most of it and transferred 1 Gallon into secondary over a crushed cinnamon stick and the ~1oz of vodka it had been soaked in. Bottled that portion about 5 days later and to date it hasn't carbed. (Opened one at room temp to dump the other day and got a very minimal hiss but when opening at fridge temps they're about as flat as can be.) Bottles that were bottled without the cinnamon carbed up fine.

So I'm leaving out some details, I know, and can add them if requested. But my hunch is that the combination of cold-crashing in primary before transferring to secondary reduced the yeast population and then the vodka killed what was left? Does that seem possible? Or was it maybe just one of these two things that was the main culprit?

*Due to first use of freezer ferm chamber mixed with a bit of stupidity I setup my heater and temp probe in such a way that I accidentally cold crashed the batch part way into fermentation (heat rises...derp) but upon fixing the issue fermentation and Krausen picked back up and it went to completion. So I don't think that's related, but could be another minor factor.

Thanks!

 

[RedlegEd]

New all-grain brewer here, and been doing some experimenting, perhaps too early in my 'career'!

Back in November or so I made a brown ale, fermented fine in primary* and then I cold-crashed, bottled most of it and transferred 1 Gallon into secondary over a crushed cinnamon stick and the ~1oz of vodka it had been soaked in. Bottled that portion about 5 days later and to date it hasn't carbed. (Opened one at room temp to dump the other day and got a very minimal hiss but when opening at fridge temps they're about as flat as can be.) Bottles that were bottled without the cinnamon carbed up fine.

So I'm leaving out some details, I know, and can add them if requested. But my hunch is that the combination of cold-crashing in primary before transferring to secondary reduced the yeast population and then the vodka killed what was left? Does that seem possible? Or was it maybe just one of these two things that was the main culprit?

*Due to first use of freezer ferm chamber mixed with a bit of stupidity I setup my heater and temp probe in such a way that I accidentally cold crashed the batch part way into fermentation (heat rises...derp) but upon fixing the issue fermentation and Krausen picked back up and it went to completion. So I don't think that's related, but could be another minor factor.

Thanks!

Hi. I really don't think 1 oz of Vodka would raise the ABV to the point where it would kill the little yeasties. How did you prime that batch before bottling, or did you use fizzy tabs? Usually, cold crashing doesn't kill or neutralize the yeast to the point where you can't carb it. Also, did you leave the bottles in a nice, warm space to condition? Don't mean to offend, but don't want assume anything. Ed

 

[Slounsberry]

Hi Ed, no offense taken! Still fairly new to this and probably doing all kinds of dumb stuff unkowningly.

I used those sugar tabs, the ones that look like cough drops, for this batch. And I put the bottles in a downstairs closet. Our house is held at 65-70ish this time of year, maybe a couple degrees colder downstairs. Maybe a bit too cold, but again the other bottles carbed fine and were kept in the same place.

Maybe I should also mentioned that I recall noticing that the portion which had been put it secondary had absolutely no trub or settled yeast at the bottom of the jug, which I remember seeming a little odd?

 

[IslandLizard]

Even when beer is clear, it still contains plenty of yeast for carbonation. Now low active/viable cell counts will prolong the time it takes.

Maybe the cinnamon oils retard the yeast?
Give them another 2 weeks and see if they get better. A little aging won't hurt them either.

 

[RedlegEd]

Hi Ed, no offense taken! Still fairly new to this and probably doing all kinds of dumb stuff unkowningly.

I used those sugar tabs, the ones that look like cough drops, for this batch. And I put the bottles in a downstairs closet. Our house is held at 65-70ish this time of year, maybe a couple degrees colder downstairs. Maybe a bit too cold, but again the other bottles carbed fine and were kept in the same place.

Maybe I should also mentioned that I recall noticing that the portion which had been put it secondary had absolutely no trub or settled yeast at the bottom of the jug, which I remember seeming a little odd?

Even when beer is clear, it still contains plenty of yeast for carbonation. Now low active/viable cell counts will prolong the time it takes.

Maybe the cinnamon oils retard the yeast?
Give them another 2 weeks and see if they get better. A little aging won't hurt them either.

Here's a trick that I learned when I bottled. Turn each bottle upside down, then right side up again (to rouse any sediment.) Then try and find a dark place in the low to mid 70s. As @IslandLizard said, give them another two weeks in a little warmer environment. Hopefully, that'll get some movement on your carbonation. Good luck and let us know how it turns out. Ed