[jaftak22]

So I brewed a RIS back at the beginning of August. It has been sitting in the Secondary since September 1st. The Army just told me I am moving to Alaska in July so I am gonna bottle this on December 1st. I have read a lot of different stuff such as people pitching champagne yeast or US-05 before bottling. I really think I am going to pitch US-05 because I know how reliable this stuff is. The other reason I did this is because I actually brewed this RIS on a whim when my brother visited. Do beers that have sat this long take a long time to be ready to drink? I made a porter that took a long time to finally carbonate

[Stevie]

I think it is combination of time and alcohol. I had one batch of imperial stout fail to carbonate five or so years ago. I still have one out two left actually.

I have been adding a half pack of champagne yeast every since. I use champagne yeast because it is less than a $1 per pack. I rehydrate it in a bit of pre-boiled water and add it to the bucket when I add my priming sugar.

Edit - and yes, they do take a bit of time to be ready. They also get better over time. I try to brew an imperial stout every year and horde them away.

[jaftak22]

Well I am gonna take your advice as this is my first RIS. I read what you had to say and after drinking a four pack of O'Dell's Mercenary I feel as though I've come to a decision.

[mblanks2]

Nottingham is also an excellent strain to add for bottle conditioning. I typically rehydrate about 5 grams and add to the bottling bucket with the priming solution. Great results.

[unclebrazzie]

Bumping this.

I brewed 15% ABV impy stout which has settled in secondary for about 6 months. Bottles 5 weeks ago with about 1 g of rehydrated US-05 en 5g/l of priming sugar (just plain table sugar).

No carb whatsoever.

How long would a stout of this caliber take to develop some carbonation in the bottle? I was hoping for it to have at least a bit, so I could extrapolate and plan my first proper tasting, but seeing as how "zero" is hard to extrapolate from...

[morticaixavier]

Bumping this.

I brewed 15% ABV impy stout which has settled in secondary for about 6 months. Bottles 5 weeks ago with about 1 g of rehydrated US-05 en 5g/l of priming sugar (just plain table sugar).

No carb whatsoever.

How long would a stout of this caliber take to develop some carbonation in the bottle? I was hoping for it to have at least a bit, so I could extrapolate and plan my first proper tasting, but seeing as how "zero" is hard to extrapolate from...

what has the temp been where the bottles are conditioning? for bottle conditioning you want a pretty warm temp, maybe as high as 75f(26c) or so. there won't be enough metabolism to create any flavor characteristics associated with high temp fermentations but it will optimize the environment for those very very stressed out yeast.

It might also be that they aren't going to be able to do it with a 15% beer. I like sparkling wine yeasts for bottle conditioning really big beers because they can handle high ABV and low pH while also being really bad (for the most part) at metabolizing malt sugars so they will focus only on the simple priming sugar I provide without thinning the body of the beer or over carbonating through continuded attenuation.

[unclebrazzie]

They spent about a month at room temp (approc 19-20°c on average) and the last month in the cellar at 14°C or so. So probably too cool. Will patience be enough or do I need to bring 'em out in the warmth again?

If nothing helps, I can uncap, pitch specialty yeast (or wine/champagne yeast) and cap again, but I'd rather not, obviously.

[morticaixavier]

They spent about a month at room temp (approc 19-20°c on average) and the last month in the cellar at 14°C or so. So probably too cool. Will patience be enough or do I need to bring 'em out in the warmth again?

If nothing helps, I can uncap, pitch specialty yeast (or wine/champagne yeast) and cap again, but I'd rather not, obviously.

bring them out somewhere very warm, 20c if that's what you've got, warmer if you can. a lot of commercial breweries will have heated spaces for conditioning. they maintain the mid to high 20's.

Give each bottle a gentle roll on their sides to get everything mixe dup and back into soution and let it ride another couple weeks then check again.

[unclebrazzie]

Cheerz, will do that

[reverseapachemaster]

I'm not sure what the upper limit of us-05 is but I would be surprised if it is very fond of your 15% beer. If it carbonates it will probably be a slow adventure at warmer temperatures.

[unclebrazzie]

I'm not sure what the upper limit of us-05 is but I would be surprised if it is very fond of your 15% beer. If it carbonates it will probably be a slow adventure at warmer temperatures.

I was surprised it even fermented to such a high ABV. It raced from OG 1.125 to FG 1.021 in about 5 days.
Spent a loooong time in secondary, and I'd be surprised too if US05 can survive that long in such a hostile environment. Which is why I added some fresh yeast at bottling, but yes, it'll probably take a long slow time.

[unclebrazzie]

Follow-up.
Completely ignored (I mean "forgot") the above advice and left the case undisturbed at 13-16 °C cellar temperature for about three months.

Lo and behold.



She carbed after all.

Brewer's Friend estimates the 1.125-to-1.021 drop to equate to about 15.5 % ABV, and even it were a measly 13%, I'm impressed by good ol' US-05 for its bottle conditioning properties in these inhospitable conditions.

[69franx]

Looks delicious!