I brewed a Wootstout clone a few months ago and bottled it about 5 weeks ago. Beer spent 2/3 weeks in primary and about 2 months in secondary with oak chips and bourbon. Bottled it with priming sugar 5 weeks ago.........still no carbonation........ABV is about 11%.........Bottles conditioned at about 60 degrees for 4 weeks......moved bottles to warmer room and stored upside down for a week......still no carbonation........No dregs on the bottom of the bottle I opened today..........looking for suggestions as I thought this beer would be carbed by now........thanks in advance for any help
The high alcohol content and the 2 months in secondary are probably working against you, slowing down carbonation. But I would guess that there is viable yeast present and they will be able to make use of the sugars you have given them. But it will be an uphill battle because of the alcohol inhibition. All this depends a bit on the yeast you selected and its alcohol tolerance.
60° is on the cool side for bottle conditioning bigger beers, in my experience. Moving them to a warmer location was a good move.
I don't think storing upside down is necessarily helpful. I guess the yeast could floc out and inverting the bottle could help re-suspend and get some of them working. When you invert, can you see yeast sediment on the bottoms of the bottles?
I had this same problem a few months ago, and everyone here told me not to do what I did, and they were all wrong. Go pick up some lallemand cask and bottle conditioning yeast, a new pair of tweezersx and some rubbing alcohol. You need to pop all your tops, and take a couple grains of that bottle conditioning yeast and drop them into each bottle. Just recap and wait a couple weeks. Despite what everyone suggested, this worked, and the beer is doing well in competition. Good luck! edit: my above statement about everyone being wrong is a bit harsh. I should say that everyone thought it was crazy, and they were right... but he who hesitates is lost.... or something like that. Most people here err on the side of caution.
If you had it in secondary for 2 months, and didn't re-yeast at bottling, it's possible that a lot of the yeast fell out of suspension and you didn't have enough viable yeast to bottle condition with. I'd go with @SFACRKnight 's idea. It sounds like a shitty task, but it'll work. You can even make a solution of re-hydrated yeast and water, put it in an eyedropper, and add one drop to every bottle and re-cap. RIS's can take some serious time to bottle condition though, especially with one of this high of ABV. It can take a lot more than 5 weeks, so if I were you I'd give it a few more weeks before you try the re-yeasting method. Even the slightest 'hiss' upon opening a bottle can be very promising. Good luck!
I just want to note that my stout was @ 12.5% abv and in bottles for close to three months without so much as a pfft when opening. Pretty sure the alcohol killed the yeast.
