Stout refuses to prime!

[KrausenCrazedCanuck]

Hey guys!
Bottled an Irish stout two weeks ago with 12 tablespoons of table sugar for 5 gallons of stout. The bottles are 500ml and they've been sitting in my kitchen this whole time at a happy 18-22C.
Yet no carbonation!
My ales have always been foamy by day 3 with this method
Should I wait another week? Or put another teaspoon of sugar in each bottle
Discuss!

 

[kh54s10]

It seems like plenty of sugar, maybe even a bit too much. If the temperature was closer to 18 it might take a couple more weeks. I find stouts and other darker beers take a little longer. In general it takes at least 2 weeks at 22c. I also find that all my bottled beers taste better at 3 weeks. Stouts usually peak in flavor at a few months and last for quite a while longer than that.

I think you just need to give it more time. Probably another month or 4....

 

[Abrayton]

I've had beers take over three months to carb. The difficult part is to not drink them all before they carb!

 

[ElJefeBrews]

I've had beers take over three months to carb. The difficult part is to not drink them all before they carb!

+1

One time my ESB was completely flat even after a month. At about week 5 or 6 the carbonation showed up out of nowhere. Just give it time. Yeastys work on their own schedule

 

[sky4meplease]

What is the ABV and what yeast did you use?

 

[brandonlovesbeer]

Typically (at least with me) darker beers typically take longer to carb up.
I've had beers perfectly carbed after 5 days. And I've had beers take 6 weeks.
There are so many factors at play here.

I keep suggesting to people to use a few 8oz Coke bottles for carb testing purposes. Test one per week or every 2 weeks. That way you'll know definitively If it's carbed or not.

 

[blackschnauzer]

I had a stout take a long time to carb up also. Probably 4 or 5 weeks. I don't know if it was because it was a darker beer, I think because it was wintertime had more to do with it.

 

[GHBWNY]

Did you change bottles, crowns, capper since last batch that did carb?

 

[AZCoolerBrewer]

My experience is that it takes a minimum 2 weeks and as much as 4 weeks to carb. It seems you've been lucky having your beers carb after such a short time. Keep in mind I haven't used the plastic bottle method, but have had flatish beers after 10 days. Another issue I have had in the past when carbonating is after using ez-cap flip top bottles without changing the gaskets after every batch, if you don't change them they start to leak all the fizzy foamy goodness.

 

[sky4meplease]

I got carbonation a lot quicker when I started using a bottle conditioning yeast.
A couple grams rehydrated into the bottling bucket with the priming sugar after a nice long fermentation and three or four days cold crash.
Two weeks does the trick or as soon as the bottles clear.

 

[kh54s10]

I got carbonation a lot quicker when I started using a bottle conditioning yeast.
A couple grams rehydrated into the bottling bucket with the priming sugar after a nice long fermentation and three or four days cold crash.
Two weeks does the trick or as soon as the bottles clear.

This seems excessive. I have never had a beer not show some carbonation in 2 weeks, the longest to fully carbonate was about 5 weeks. I have done beers that were in primary for about 2 months and upwards of 10% ABV and never added any yeast at all.

But if it works and you don't mind buying more yeast go for it.

 

[sky4meplease]

But if it works and you don't mind buying more yeast go for it.

I feel better now that I have your permission.

Before I started adding yeast at bottling time I was continuously being disappointed by opening beers after 2-3 weeks and being under carbonated. I would wait at least a month to six weeks so to not feel like I got into them too early.
Much better consistency now.

 

[kh54s10]

I feel better now that I have your permission.

Before I started adding yeast at bottling time I was continuously being disappointed by opening beers after 2-3 weeks and being under carbonated. I would wait at least a month to six weeks so to not feel like I got into them too early.
Much better consistency now.

Really just wondering, since in my 93 batches almost all of them have carbonated in the 2-3 weeks. Only a couple of my dark strong beers took longer and only by about a week.

 

[Imburr]

I followed a recipient for an IPA to the dot and it told me three weeks they would carb up. Going on two months now and they are just getting to the point when the carb is enjoyable.

 

[sky4meplease]

I followed a recipient for an IPA to the dot and it told me three weeks they would carb up. Going on two months now and they are just getting to the point when the carb is enjoyable.

That's just not fair.
When I bottle IPA (among other beers I want to consume young) I want bubbles fast. I am looking to drink these beers within two months. I want carbonation within two weeks and I'm not looking to drink 10% of my beer before it is ready.
I think we all agree that unfiltered beer will carbonate if given more fermentable sugar when bottling and enough time.
Lower gravity beers need 1 million cells per milliliter and high gravity beers 5 million cells per milliliter healthy yeast to properly carbonate beer in a timely fashion.
If you have lengthy fermentations, use highly flocculant yeast, cold crash, use fining agents or have stressed yeast in your beer the time it will take to carbonate and/or the level of carbonation can be affected.
Because the yeast can't talk to us to tell us how many of them are present or what their health is we have to make assumptions based on experience or fact such as cell counting.
Adding a little fresh yeast at bottling time removes the doubt and has given me better and more consistent results.