[djmcmath]

Due to some confusion at bottling time, I ended up leaving a Belgian Dubbel in the fermenter for FAR longer than it was supposed to be there and just realized my mistake.  I think it's been more than 3 months sitting in the fermenter by now.  If I bottle normally now, with normal quantities of priming sugar, will I get the normal carbonation?  Or has the residual yeast that gives me magical carbonation all died by now? 

My instinct is that if I try to bottle normally, it'll be flat.  So I'm thinking I should add just a little yeast, maybe a quarter of a packet, leave it for a few days to make sure it isn't actively fermenting anymore, then bottle normally. 

Thoughts?  Am I on the right track here, or completely off base?  Other ideas?

Thanks,
Dan

[dmtaylor]

You're on the right track.  Your yeast is likely pretty dead by now, but if you add like a quarter pack as you're planning, this will help you get natural carbonation.  Go for it as you plan.

[morticaixavier]

you don't need to wait after adding the yeast, add the yeast directly to your bottling bucket with the sugar.

[pete b]

you don't need to wait after adding the yeast, add the yeast directly to your bottling bucket with the sugar.

+1 If you do this not only will you be fine but I bet you will be glad you forgot to bottle awhile back. One caveat: make sure the gravity is not significantly higher than expected. If its close to target I'm sure your fine but if you had never checked the final gravity and made sure its done and the gravity is much higher than it should be then you'll need to pitch a big starter. I bet that's not the case unless it got really cold too soon.

[reverseapachemaster]

Belgian yeast are voracious. I would be comfortable bottling that beer with no additional yeast added at bottling but no harm will come by adding yeast. If the beer was at relatively stable temperatures over the three months then you should have sufficient dissolved CO2 still in solution to make a priming sugar calculator effective without making any temperature correction.

[Steve Ruch]

What temperature was the beer at during this three months?
I've had lagers at 35 for three months that carbed fine with no additional yeast, but if you're worried go ahead and add a bit of yeast to the bottling bucket.