- Joined
- Jun 27, 2019
- Messages
- 2,517
- Reaction score
- 7,590
- Points
- 113
Last night, I opened two bottles of an Imperial Stout I brewed earlier this year.
4 months after packaging, this beer is essentially as flat as the day it went into the bottle. Hmm.
Beer was brewed on 12/31/22 and fermented from 1.114 --->1.027.
Beer was packaged on 1/21/23 after 3 weeks in primary.
- 22oz bottles were primed with 1.5 Cooper's carbonation drops each.
- 1tsp Vanilla extract was added to each bottle.
- Capped as usual with O2 scavenging caps.
- Set in basement closet at 67°
On 2/5, I waxed the caps of all 11 bottles, mostly for aesthetics but also for a little more O2 protection.
So...
1. What went wrong? For the record, the flat beer tastes very good. My son and I both thought that there was a great beer there, but for the carbonation. As for the amount and usage of the carb drops, all I can say is that I've had great success using these in my yearly Barleywine (12oz bottles, 1 drop each, those). No issues. Were 1.5 drops not enough for 22oz bombers? Maybe. And I can understand if the bottles were UNDER-carbonated. But these are not carbed at all. Not even the slightest "pfft" from the caps upon opening. I can't rule out poor packaging, though this is the first time I have had an issue with bottles not carbonating. Did the dip in hot wax mess with the cap's seal? I can't buy that either, mainly because the beer has no stale off-flavors and the caps appeared to be sealed correctly. My guess is that the yeast, after 3 weeks in primary, was simply tapped out. I can point a finger at the storage temp of 67° and say that wasn't warm enough either...but again...nothing?
2. More importantly, what do I do with the remaining 9 bottles, all apparently flat, of promising Imperial Stout?
Flush 'em?. (Seems too early for that)
Do I give these bottles the "shake and bake" treatment, turning them upside down a few times and getting them into the mid-lower 70's?
Do I open every waxed cap, add a bit of dry yeast and re-cap?
Do I just pour all the bottles into a keg and force carb?
Something else?
Thinking them through, all options seem to have clear drawbacks. But I've got nothing to lose.
(Also posted on the AHA forum as I'm looking for any and all suggestions!)
4 months after packaging, this beer is essentially as flat as the day it went into the bottle. Hmm.
Beer was brewed on 12/31/22 and fermented from 1.114 --->1.027.
Beer was packaged on 1/21/23 after 3 weeks in primary.
- 22oz bottles were primed with 1.5 Cooper's carbonation drops each.
- 1tsp Vanilla extract was added to each bottle.
- Capped as usual with O2 scavenging caps.
- Set in basement closet at 67°
On 2/5, I waxed the caps of all 11 bottles, mostly for aesthetics but also for a little more O2 protection.
So...
1. What went wrong? For the record, the flat beer tastes very good. My son and I both thought that there was a great beer there, but for the carbonation. As for the amount and usage of the carb drops, all I can say is that I've had great success using these in my yearly Barleywine (12oz bottles, 1 drop each, those). No issues. Were 1.5 drops not enough for 22oz bombers? Maybe. And I can understand if the bottles were UNDER-carbonated. But these are not carbed at all. Not even the slightest "pfft" from the caps upon opening. I can't rule out poor packaging, though this is the first time I have had an issue with bottles not carbonating. Did the dip in hot wax mess with the cap's seal? I can't buy that either, mainly because the beer has no stale off-flavors and the caps appeared to be sealed correctly. My guess is that the yeast, after 3 weeks in primary, was simply tapped out. I can point a finger at the storage temp of 67° and say that wasn't warm enough either...but again...nothing?
2. More importantly, what do I do with the remaining 9 bottles, all apparently flat, of promising Imperial Stout?
Flush 'em?. (Seems too early for that)
Do I give these bottles the "shake and bake" treatment, turning them upside down a few times and getting them into the mid-lower 70's?
Do I open every waxed cap, add a bit of dry yeast and re-cap?
Do I just pour all the bottles into a keg and force carb?
Something else?
Thinking them through, all options seem to have clear drawbacks. But I've got nothing to lose.
(Also posted on the AHA forum as I'm looking for any and all suggestions!)