Beer is flat :( How can I fix?

[Quyzi]

Back in May I brewed dcHokie's Rapture RIS and aged it in a bourbon barrel until mid-July then bottled it. It's been sitting in bottles in a rather warm room since then. I opened two bottles tonight, one capped and a grolsch bottle. Both were uncarbed. I used four of those conditioning tabs in each bottle. Second time I've used them, second beer I've had that was entirely flat. I ruled out that it's my capping or caps, because of the grolsch bottle.

Long story short, how can I save this beer? It's absolutely delicious, but it's missing something without the carbonation. I think adding more sugar wouldn't do anything, and adding a bit of yeast to it could be a huge mistake. I'm thinking my only option is to pour all the bottles into a keg and force carb it. The problem here is that I don't have a kegging setup now. I've been thinking about using kegs and force carbing it and bottling from the keg for a while now, but never really got around to it. If there isn't some simple way to fix the lack of carbonation, and kegging is the best solution, can anyone recommend a good set of parts to me? This beer is so tasty I don't want to have 40 bottles of it sitting there without carbonation staring at me with those crying eyes.

 

[Uziyahu]

Why is adding yeast not a good option?

 

[Quyzi]

Why is adding yeast not a good option?

I fear explosive bottle bombs.

 

[IvanTheTerribrew]

One thing you could do if you're worried about bottle bombs in your fridge. Is to put the newly yeast filled bottles in some big plastic storage containers and letting them ferment at a warmer temp. That way if any explode, it's contained

 

[Quyzi]

One thing you could do if you're worried about bottle bombs in your fridge. Is to put the newly yeast filled bottles in some big plastic storage containers and letting them ferment at a warmer temp. That way if any explode, it's contained

That doesn't negate the loss of beer. I've tasted this uncarbed, I'd probably lick it off the carpet . Damn it's tasty! Everyone should brew this recipe at least once.

 

[wilserbrewer]

If you added the carb tablets then the sugar is in the beer and you need yeast. I would suggest adding a 5 or so granules of dry yeast to each bottle and checking again in two weeks. I would NOT pour all the bottles into a keg as this will oxidize the beer.

 

[Uziyahu]

Adding yeast won't create bottle bombs unless you already added too much priming sugar. As far as I know, there are only two variables in bottle carbing: yeast and sugar. If you added sugar, and waited long enough, and there is still no carb, IMO the next step would be to add a little yeast to make sure the original yeast didn't crap out on you.

 

[freisste]

What yeast as what ABV? Maybe you are above the yeast's limit. Or you have gone above its attenuation limit.

 

[Quyzi]

It was pacman yeast. After fermentation it was around 11%. Then I aged it in the bourbon barrel. The bourbon barrel was cleaned with everclear diluted to around 50%abv then poured out. I kept the barrel from drying out with the same diluted everclear solution while the brew was fermenting.

 

[Ravenshead]

That sounds like your yeast fell out in the barrel. Wilserbrewer is right, add a few granules of dry yeast to each bottle and recap. This happens with big aged beers.

 

[Quyzi]

I will give that a go tomorrow. I've been trying to think about what would cause this to happen and it's really the only thing. Thank you!

 

[Quyzi]

My LHBS told me to wait it out, said that it just needs more time. He warned that I'd either end up with bottle bombs or aerating the beer if I popped them all open to add yeast. Not sure what to do. I didn't get any dry yeast yet.

 

[ahpsp]

I can't really comment on the oxidation issue, but bottle bombs are a function of how much sugar is in the bottle, not how much yeast is in the bottle.

 

[Thanks_Yeasties]

Assuming you let the beer fermented out to its FG and you've only added the recommended amount of tabs (4 for normal carbonation) per bottle there is not enough sugar in each bottle to create bottle bombs. Someone else correct me if I'm wrong as I've never aged beer in barrels and am unsure if there is a way more sugars enter the beer while doing that. The addition of new yeast should digest that sugar and carbonate your beers as you originally planned. Like ravenshead said big beers can overpower the yeast, which sounds like the problem you're having.

 

[Quyzi]

I can't really comment on the oxidation issue, but bottle bombs are a function of how much sugar is in the bottle, not how much yeast is in the bottle.

That's what I thought. I could add a gallon of yeast to a bottle and it would only eat up the available sugars. Not sure if I should add a tiny bit of dry yeast to each bottle and recap them, or wait it out for another 3-4 months. I honestly don't think that waiting is going to do me any good, other than letting it age longer. The couple of bottles I opened I noticed didn't have that layer of dead yeast sediment I'm used to seeing in my bottles, there was a thin haze but that's about it.

 

[peterj]

That's what I thought. I could add a gallon of yeast to a bottle and it would only eat up the available sugars. Not sure if I should add a tiny bit of dry yeast to each bottle and recap them, or wait it out for another 3-4 months. I honestly don't think that waiting is going to do me any good, other than letting it age longer. The couple of bottles I opened I noticed didn't have that layer of dead yeast sediment I'm used to seeing in my bottles, there was a thin haze but that's about it.

Correct, the sugar is the deciding factor of how much carbonation you have. You just need some yeast in there to process it, but it doesn't matter how much yeast.

I've heard that big beers that have been aged for a long time can take as long as 3 to 6 months to carbonate, so you could wait a little while longer. I would give it another month or two and if it's still not carbed I would add a tiny bit of dry yeast to each bottle. I think you only need something like 1-2 grams per 5 gallons.

 

[brewguyver]

If the beer is >11%, those granules of dry yeast may not survive to carbonate the beer. You may need to use a little from a healthy starter at high krausen to get things going. I typically use a sterile syringe off amazon for something like this - one with 5 - 10 cc capacity should have gradients small enough that you won't add too much oxidized starter.

Two things to make you feel a little better. First, many breweries add back yeast during bottling, including Sierra Nevada - you won't be doing something out of the ordinary. Second, the yeast will chew up some of the O2 that gets introduced as the beer carbs up.

 

[Quyzi]

If the beer is >11%, those granules of dry yeast may not survive to carbonate the beer. You may need to use a little from a healthy starter at high krausen to get things going. I typically use a sterile syringe off amazon for something like this - one with 5 - 10 cc capacity should have gradients small enough that you won't add too much oxidized starter.

Two things to make you feel a little better. First, many breweries add back yeast during bottling, including Sierra Nevada - you won't be doing something out of the ordinary. Second, the yeast will chew up some of the O2 that gets introduced as the beer carbs up.

I always use a starter with my liquid yeast but I haven't saved any of it. Not sure what you mean by high krausen though. What if I added a few grams of wine yeast rather than beer yeast?

That does make me feel better.


As for letting it age longer... Even if that is the case, I'd expect to get some quantity of co2 in the bottles. When I opened them, there was no trace. No CO2 scent, no genie, nothing.

 

[feinbera]

So... the bottles have been capped with the priming sugar and sitting in a warm room for close to two months, now? Seems like two months should be plenty of time, even for a big beer, and continuing to wait won't make much difference.

You planning on brewing anything else with dry yeast in the near future? You could always set aside just enough yeast to sprinkle a few granules into just four or five of your grolsch bottles to see what happens. Even if, as your LHBS guys fear, you create weapons-grade oxidized bottle bomb death beers, you'll only have ruined a small fraction of the batch.

 

[Quyzi]

I think it's actually been longer than 2 months at this point. Closer to 4. I think it's been enough time for it to at least show some signs of carbonation.

I haven't used dry yeast in a long time. It's not a huge waste if I only used a part of the package. As it was explained by others, I don't think I'm going to get bombs by adding a little yeast. I'm probably going to ignore the guy at the lhbs and just add a bit of dry yeast to it, what type though I'm not sure.

 

[Battles4Seattle]

I think it's actually been longer than 2 months at this point. Closer to 4. I think it's been enough time for it to at least show some signs of carbonation.

I haven't used dry yeast in a long time. It's not a huge waste if I only used a part of the package. As it was explained by others, I don't think I'm going to get bombs by adding a little yeast. I'm probably going to ignore the guy at the lhbs and just add a bit of dry yeast to it, what type though I'm not sure.

You said in your original post you bottled mid July, that's ~2 months. I too would either add some dry yeast or wait it out.

 

[Quyzi]

You said in your original post you bottled mid July, that's ~2 months. I too would either add some dry yeast or wait it out.

Oh, that was a typo. I bottled it mid-June. That beer is tasty but its potent I'll wait it out until October and check it again, if it's still uncarbed I'll add some yeast to it.

 

[T29]

My wheat beer turned out great but almost no carbonation when I opened the bottles. Will be trying adding some yeast granules to the bottles also. Hope it works

 

[brewguyver]

I always use a starter with my liquid yeast but I haven't saved any of it. Not sure what you mean by high krausen though. What if I added a few grams of wine yeast rather than beer yeast?

That does make me feel better.


As for letting it age longer... Even if that is the case, I'd expect to get some quantity of co2 in the bottles. When I opened them, there was no trace. No CO2 scent, no genie, nothing.

High Krausen is essentially active fermentation - e.g. when you see foam on the top of your starter. This is the point when yeast is at it's healthiest - great nutrient stores, lots of energy, and has the oomph to survive in inhospitable environments (e.g. 11% alcohol). You'll want to use a strain that can ferment that high and goes well with your beer - Maybe San Diego super yeast, the high fermenting English ale yeast, etc.

I wouldn't recommend wine yeast unless you want that kind of flavor.

The problem with dry yeast is that the cell membranes aren't functioning correctly. The cell membranes don't work until they're rehydrated and supple - before that they do a bad job of controlling what can pass through, and the yeast may die before it is able to ferment the remaining sugars.

A little googling and you should be able to find info on all three topics.

 

[Quyzi]

Just over a month ago I popped all the bottles open and added about 2cc of WLP050 (Tennessee Whiskey Yeast) to each. Tonight I opened one. Success!

This tastes amazing. Truly a special beer. Going to be very hard to share this with friends, they might not get any... or maybe one to share among them... If they're lucky.

Thank you guys for helping me figure this out! If any of you are in the Hamilton, NJ area, I will share with you The guy at my LHBS can bite me. He told me not to add yeast.


Wow, I've got a buzz from half a beer...