Will this speed up carbonation?

[MyCarHasAbs]

Got an imperial stout in carbonation now for a week. Opened a test bottle and its trying...you can tell. But it's taking a while for my beers to carbonate. Basement is at a brisk 60f. I have moved a heater into my closet and the thermometer on ground says 72.

Trying to get these puppies ready for an office Xmas party this Friday. Any chance with the additional heat on them throughout the week that bottles will be ready for drinking?

 

[flars]

The higher temperature will speed up the carbonation, but I think they will taste like a green beer for another four or five weeks. Imperials do need more conditioning time than a session beer.

 

[MyCarHasAbs]

From the samples I've taken of it, I wouldn't say it tastes green. It just tastes...flat. The chocolate and mint flavors are def there. I've def tasted green beer. I can barely swallow green beer.

 

[ktblunden]

The temp will definitely help, but I don't know if you'll get co2 into solution in that time frame. You may end up with bottles that hiss when you open them and still have flat beer.

 

[MyCarHasAbs]

Hmm. I'll probably open a bottle Thursday night to see where it is.

 

[slym2none]

I have made a stout that was drinkable (read: not green) as soon as it was carbonated.

I am not saying it didn't improve with some conditioning, but I will say this - I had a difficult time keeping out of them, and was supposed to have "some" for the upcoming Superbowl in February. Now, I have one left that I am saving.

*blush*

There was also a local brewpub that made a stout and they decided to go ahead and serve it instead of aging it some as it was delicious at 3 weeks old.

 

[MyCarHasAbs]

So long as there's some head to it, I'm okay with that. The folks I'm serving to are not beer aficionados. I served a semi carbonated fall spiced brown ale last Beer Friday (once a month happy hour my office throws) that people liked. Two weeks after the party, the beer is perfectly carbonated. My fiancé actually thinks it's better than a locally made beer that follows the same style.

My point, so long as there's foam, the mouthfeel should suffice.

 

[AZCoolerBrewer]

I was purposely keeping my beer at around 62 in the bottle on my last batch (2nd batch ever) because that is what I thought I was supposed to do. It started life as a high grav beer. After 2 weeks my beer was not carbonating. Upon advice from the forum I conditioned at room temp and the beer carbed up in about a week.

 

[Teromous]

When I bottle carb I try to place it in the warmest part of the house (within reason). Sometimes it just takes time though. I have an imperial stout at 10.9% that has been carbing for 6 weeks and it still isn't there yet.

 

[MyCarHasAbs]

When I bottle carb I try to place it in the warmest part of the house (within reason). Sometimes it just takes time though. I have an imperial stout at 10.9% that has been carbing for 6 weeks and it still isn't there yet.

This honestly makes me feel so much better. It's crazy to me how ABV content effects the amount of time for carbonation.

I've had a heater on it now for a week turned on for about 4 hours each night trying to speed things up. I've opened another bottle and it's still chugging along but not there yet. It is noticeably smoother tasting though. So I'm hoping another 48 hours will make it just good enough to sample off some at the holiday happy hour.

The mouthfeel has improved with a week's wait.

 

[MyCarHasAbs]

I also read that if you flip the bottle once and let it sit that it gets whatever yeast is in there back in to action and helps speed things up more.