7 replies to this topic

[CaptRon]

So I sampled one of my RIS that I bottled 2 weeks ago last night. Unbelievable flavor (I'll post up the recipe soon), but it has little to no carbonation. Do bigger beers tend to take longer to carb up due to alcohol content or something?

[Jimmy James]

In my experience they can take longer. Sometimes up to a couple months. Once when I was in more of a hurry I popped the caps off and dropped in a couple grains of dry yeast (US-05) and they carbed up, but now I just wait and figure the aging doesn't hurt any for those bigger beers.

[Mudd]

I think it depends on the yeast that you used/abv and temps.If the yeast is at or near its limit or the temerature is low, it will be a slow go.My first RIS took several months to carb.IIRC: 12% abv and temps in the 60s. Moved the bottles into a 72 -74F area and a month (or so) later I started getting carbonation.

[MolBasser]

My stouts always carbed slow in the bottle, and I have no good explanation for it.Maybe the high alcohol content.BrewBasser

[Stout_fan]

My stouts always carbed slow in the bottle, and I have no good explanation for it.Maybe the high alcohol content.BrewBasser

BINGO!

[MyaCullen]

My stouts always carbed slow in the bottle, and I have no good explanation for it.Maybe the high alcohol content.BrewBasser

so much for that Master Brewer Certificate ehh?jk BBThat's the most logical explanation I can come up with, other than simply that higher gravity beers tend to cause yeast to lose it's viability in it's ferment, and the few surviving cells are just not enough of a population to do the job quickly. The best advice, would seem to be that when bottling a high gravity beer, to use a fresh neutral yeast to ensure viability, and a quick predictable carbonation.

[earthtone]

I also find the ones that I have aged longer in bulk (usually high ABV brews) have less yeast in suspension due to a prolonged secondary. This coupled with the high ABV slow it down as mikeinspokane has said.Additionally 2 weeks really isn't a long time for carbonation. I've had batches that take a month before they show adequate carbonation and could still use a week or two at cellar temps for that gas to dissolve completely into solution.Patience and your RIS will be great, the fact that there is any carbonation at all says the yeast is viable, it just needs time.

[Bearphin]

I also find the ones that I have aged longer in bulk (usually high ABV brews) have less yeast in suspension due to a prolonged secondary. This coupled with the high ABV slow it down as mikeinspokane has said.Additionally 2 weeks really isn't a long time for carbonation. I've had batches that take a month before they show adequate carbonation and could still use a week or two at cellar temps for that gas to dissolve completely into solution.Patience and your RIS will be great, the fact that there is any carbonation at all says the yeast is viable, it just needs time.

+1 I found with any of the beers which I keep in secondary for prolonged lengths (RIS, DIPA, Barley Wine), when it comes time to bottle, the yeast have mostly gone dormant. I generally will rehydrate some dry yeast and mix it well in the bottling bucket prior to filling. Seems to work a bit faster.