Will yeast ferment if ABV is higher than tolerance?

[TheCollective]

We brewed a beer with an original gravity of ~1.1. We fermented with Wyeast American Ale 1056 which has an alcohol tolerance of 11%. If our original ABV was higher than the yeast's alcohol tolerance, will the beer eventually carbonate? It has been bottled for over 3 weeks and has not yet carbonated. We heard that higher gravity beers take longer to carbonate, but did we kill our yeast? If so, could we repitch with a yeast that has a higher alcohol tolerance, such as champagne yeast?

 

[gregpio85]

Without a final gravity it's hard to tell for sure, but 1056 gets a 75% attenuation rate if i'm not mistaken which would put your FG at 1.025. This means your ABV would be 9.84% ((1.1-1.025)*131.25). This would be well below the 11% ABV the yeast can live in. So assuming the above is correct, everything should be fine.

In my experience higher alcohol beers usually need at least 6 months to condition properly and a year before they get really really good.

Also, what was your priming sugar addition? See http://www.tastybrew.com/calculators/priming.html. Was your priming sugar addition correct?

 

[GuldTuborg]

Yes, FG and overall time fermenting and bulk conditioning might be helpful information, but the quick answer is, it will most likely carbonate just fine, and it will most likely take a good long time.

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

A beer of that size is gonna take awhile to condition in bottles. High gravity beers can take months (not weeks) to carb up and come around in bottles. Give it some time before you worry about dead yeast and un, or under, carbed beer.