"High ABV, No Carbonation" Stories

[DSorenson]

I know this is an issue for a lot of folks and finally it has caught up with me. In my hour of need I found this thread, which gave me hope.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f13/barleywine-not-carbonating-286538/
I also liked how a kindly forumer in their hour of need tried to revive it. This gave me an idea.

Let us compile a list of stories surrounding high alcohol beers that haven't carbonated as we expected or hoped. IN ONE POST, write about the problems you experienced and then how it turned out. If you are in the middle of your "bad" experience, simply post your experience and edit that post once you have achieved some resolution (positive or negative).

Let us avoid debating or having conversations in here and just let the stories speak for themselves. There are other forums for discussions on what to do or argue the finer points of barleywine production. This will make it easier to read story after story and just get the relevant information from it. I will start us off. I hope this helps!

DSorenson's Story
Last night I brought two bottles of a barleywine (I had painstakingly planned, made, and bottled) to a bottle share to find that the bottles were not carbonated at all. Its sitting at around 10% ABV with WYeast London Ale and I remember distinctly measuring out and adding my priming sugar. It had spent a month in primary and a month in secondary, then a month in the bottles at temperatures well above the 62 F I fermented it at.

On the bright side, the barleywine was fantastic and full of those toffee/caramel notes and subtle fruity esters I was desiring for long term aging. Not a bad beer considering how thick it was with the lack of carbonation.

Edit: 2.5 months later and there is still no carbonation in the beer.
On a sad note, there is something distinctly salty about the beer.

 

[Beernik]

Two stories:
1) I did a big citrus saison. I was planning for it to be about 10%. It was my first time using Saison yeast and I didn't realize how aggressive it is. It ended up about 11.5%. It took two months to develop a slight carbonation.

2) Same saison yeast. This time I was making a big cyser. I was expecting it to be aggressive. I didn't take into account the alcohol tolerance of the yeast. It crapped out right at 12% like Wyeast said it would. Left it with an FG of 1.030. It's delicious, but very sweet.

 

[adiochiro3]

Over a year ago, I did my first RIS, and it never carbed. I absolutely know I added priming sugar as my FG went from 1.025 pre-priming to 1.028 post priming. Added champagne yeast te each bottle at one point to no effect. Since I feel I have nothing to lose at this point, I think I will once again add champagne yeast and 1/2 a carb tablet and put them in a plastic bin and see what happens. On the plus side, the beer has aged really well...

 

[philipCT]

In October I brewed a Pliny clone for an annual flag football game here in town. 10g. Cold crashed in the conical. Treated with gelatin. Cold crashed for 5 more days.

Kegged half and bottled half. The keg carbed as expected. The beer was wonderous and spectacularly clear.

For the bottles, I added two of those sugar drops to each bomber, and one to the 12oz bottles. I filled the bottles directly from the conical. After six weeks, I found that some bottles were perfectly carbed, others flat. Real bummer. Did not fix itself even after 8 weeks.

I suspect that because the bottles were left at 62, they just didn't carb well. The ones that did probably sat at the top of the stack and got warmer more after than the rest.

Next time I would mix a priming solution and bottle from a bucket so I can control the amount of sugar better. I will also insure the bottles sit at 70F or above.

Also, FWIW, the Kegged beer was better than the bottled. Perhaps less O2 exposure in the packaging and also it was consumed fresh, so likely had best hops freshness.