Imperial Stout (with variants). Seeking advice.

[solbes]

An 11.7% stout will take awhile to carb if you didn't add any fresh yeast at bottling. My recommendation is to do nothing at all. I bet they will carb given a 65-70F environment and a few extra months. The extra time in the bottle will take the edge of this massive brew and taste better anyway.

I brewed a 12% RIS back in April, and I've drank exactly 1 beer so far. It did carb after 4 weeks, but I added some fresh yeast at bottling. I have my second bottle in the fridge for the next few weeks to enjoy after Christmas. But the bulk of these will be enjoyed this spring and next winter.

 

[sweed]

My RIS has been in the bottles for 4 months, and it still has almost no head, but it has some carbonation, but its perfect for the style. My RIS is right around 12% also. Good Stuff, now put that stuff away for a few months, if you can.

 

[looneybomber]

@sweed & tbrown4. The second half of my RIS that I secondaried on oak and whiskey didn't carb either even after waiting a few months. I used champagne yeast (it's a dollar!), which is alcohol tolerant to 20% give or take. It had no problems carbing up after I put a mL of the rehydrated EC1118 into each bottle. I'm actually glad these didn't carb, because I would have had them drank by now if they had. I drank my first bottle last night, about 9-10mo after brewing, and it's fantastic!

 

[tbrown4]

looneybomber....thank you! this is exactly what I was looking to do. Went to the LHBS this afternoon to get some random supplies for brewing this weekend and grabbed a few packages of EC-1118. Much appreciated!