HELP! My Imperial Stout isn't Carbonating

It's a big beer. Be patient and keep it in a warmish place.

 

...Or more. I had an imperial stout that I was getting worried about after a few months because it was still too flat. Now after a year, it's way too carbonated.

 

Many folks add yeast at bottling to help with carbonation. Imperials are notorious for not carbonating well, because alcohol kills yeast and so without as much active yeast as usual at bottling, there aren't enough CO2 "machines" to provide proper carbonation. I've had imperials that never carb in a bottle like that, so don't be surprised if it takes a REALLY long time for your beer to be carbed.

 

What kind of yeast?

 

10 days? That's just enough time for the yeast to wake up, let alone carb properly!

If you dont have carb in 10 weeks, then start worrying about it. Most big stouts benefit from aging anyway.

 

CBC-1

 

Adding yeast at bottling is the only time Champagne yeast should be considered when brewing beer. And a fine choice at that.

 

I mean, what kind of yeast did TS use to ferment the beer?

 

what was your OG/FG?

 

I'd wait 2 months before opening a bottle of a big beer like that. Even if it is carbed sooner, the flavor or the beer will benefit tremendously from extended aging. I have heard of some big beers taking 6-8 months to carb up but in my experience they usually start hitting prime carb levels around 2 months.

 

The beer benefiting from aging is just the yeast doing additional cleanup of the unwanted flavors?

 

Give it time, I've had RIS take 2+ months to show any appreciable carbonation. It's def one of those styles you need to be patient with, even after it's carbonated it's going to get better and better, and trust me, you want to save as many of those for when that happens as you can. When I brew the RIS, I usually make another batch of something that I can drink earlier, very soon after, so I can drink that and let the stout get it's proper age. My last time brewing my RIS recipe I didn't sample a single bottle until 4 months after bottling day. Be patient that's my advice. And good luck to you!

 

Like Jamil says; Brew Strong, Brew big
Brew fresh, brew often

 

Someone else might be able to provide a more scientific response... but when a 10%+ beer has only been in bottles for a month or so, it will probably taste a bit hot, boozy, or have that alcohol burn that you don't really want. Letting it sit in bottles longer will let that heat mellow out and let the flavors of beer integrate with each other better as well. I've drank through most bottles of an imperial stout I brewed only to kick myself when I open the last one a year and half later and its perfect, but then they're all gone .

 

Bombers? 10 days? With an imperialized beer? Yeah.
You will do best to ignore them for at least another month. .

 

Psh, all these naysayers... get a pack of cbc1, use some sterilized tweezers and drop a pinch of yeast in each bottle. Recap and wait two weeks. Boom, awesome sauce.