I am having a problem getting a batch of beer to carbonate and need some advice. First, some background info.
I made a double batch (10 gallons) of Pliny the Elder using 2 kits I bought from Morebeer and fermented it in a 14 g. Demijohn. After primary fermentation had practically stopped I racked the beer into 2 carbons and dry hopped it.
The dry hopping instigated (apparently) a vigorous secondary fermentation, vigorous enough to cause some blowoff. After the krausen fell in the secondary a thick green layer(about 2 inches) developed on top of the beer in both carboys.
The instructions said to dry hop for 7-10 days and after 10 days this layer was still there on top. I gave the carboys a gentle shake/swirl and the layer broke apart and sank. Good, I thought to myself, I'll give it a few days to settle and rack it and bottle. To my surprise, a few days later this layer was back and there was still signs of active fermentation.
I did this shake/swirl every several days and the layer would return accompanied by visible signs of fermentation. After doing this about four or five times I decided to just let it sit and wait it out so I resigned myself to checking it every couple of days.
I had rented a house in Vermont for a 10 day skiing vacation at the end of January and checked it the day before I am leaving, lo and behold the green layer had dropped out and the darn beer had cleared up. I had no time to to bottle it then and upon my return had a lot of things to catch up with at work so I couldn't get to it til the next weekend.
I bottled it in 2 batches, 1 carboy at a time and I know for sure that it was charged with priming sugar and mixed well. Placing the bottles upstairs in the warmest room in my house (68-70 degrees F.) I waited 2 weeks and put a couple of beers in the fridge for a couple days. When I opened them there was no apparent carbonation in 1 and a very, very weak carbonation in the other.
I am speculating that the yeast dropped out nearly completely since the beer was in the secondary for over five weeks so I am going to try adding some yeast to the beer. I think the simplest way would be to open each bottle and using an eye dropper or pipette to add a drop(s) of a yeast slurry to each bottle individually and recap immediately.
Has anyone ever run into this problem?
Does anyone have any thoughts to share on this?
Finally, does anyone have any suggestions on the "dosage" I should give each bottle?
Thanks
Jim
I made a double batch (10 gallons) of Pliny the Elder using 2 kits I bought from Morebeer and fermented it in a 14 g. Demijohn. After primary fermentation had practically stopped I racked the beer into 2 carbons and dry hopped it.
The dry hopping instigated (apparently) a vigorous secondary fermentation, vigorous enough to cause some blowoff. After the krausen fell in the secondary a thick green layer(about 2 inches) developed on top of the beer in both carboys.
The instructions said to dry hop for 7-10 days and after 10 days this layer was still there on top. I gave the carboys a gentle shake/swirl and the layer broke apart and sank. Good, I thought to myself, I'll give it a few days to settle and rack it and bottle. To my surprise, a few days later this layer was back and there was still signs of active fermentation.
I did this shake/swirl every several days and the layer would return accompanied by visible signs of fermentation. After doing this about four or five times I decided to just let it sit and wait it out so I resigned myself to checking it every couple of days.
I had rented a house in Vermont for a 10 day skiing vacation at the end of January and checked it the day before I am leaving, lo and behold the green layer had dropped out and the darn beer had cleared up. I had no time to to bottle it then and upon my return had a lot of things to catch up with at work so I couldn't get to it til the next weekend.
I bottled it in 2 batches, 1 carboy at a time and I know for sure that it was charged with priming sugar and mixed well. Placing the bottles upstairs in the warmest room in my house (68-70 degrees F.) I waited 2 weeks and put a couple of beers in the fridge for a couple days. When I opened them there was no apparent carbonation in 1 and a very, very weak carbonation in the other.
I am speculating that the yeast dropped out nearly completely since the beer was in the secondary for over five weeks so I am going to try adding some yeast to the beer. I think the simplest way would be to open each bottle and using an eye dropper or pipette to add a drop(s) of a yeast slurry to each bottle individually and recap immediately.
Has anyone ever run into this problem?
Does anyone have any thoughts to share on this?
Finally, does anyone have any suggestions on the "dosage" I should give each bottle?
Thanks
Jim
