Problems carbonating my barleywine?

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by BedetheVenerable, Aug 6, 2012.

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  1. BedetheVenerable

    BedetheVenerable Initiate (0) Sep 5, 2008 Missouri

    I bottled my English holiday barleywine, 'The Gaffer', (OG 1.102, FG 1.024) about a month ago, after it had fermented out in about four weeks. I cracked my 'test' bottle today (before recapping) to take a couple of ounces out and see how it was progressing after 2 months, make sure I didn't have any bottle bombs, etc. Much to my surprise, there was no (and I mean NO) carbonation on this one at all. They've been siting at around 75-78 degrees (ambient house temperature) all this time. I was not expecting them to perhaps be fully carbed, but I figured there'd be SOMETHING. I bottled this at the end of a long/insane brewing day, and I'm paranoid now that I did something incredibly stupid like forgot to stir the sugar in or something like that. Is a month + normal for these big beers to carb up? Should I have re-yeasted at bottling? Any advice?
     
    #1 BedetheVenerable, Aug 6, 2012
  2. epk

    epk Pundit (849) Jun 10, 2008 New Jersey

    High grav beers do take longer. The ones I've done I was always aging for months anyway, so it never came up , but I've read from some sources that it can actually take 2+ months for some.

    It could be the need to reyeast as you pointed out as alcohol can kill the yeast (but at only a months worth of fermentation?). But I'm not real sure how you would handle that now. To tell you the truth, I don't think we reyeasted our Barleywine (OG 1.112). But the strain had brett in it as well.

    What yeast did you use?
     
    #2 epk, Aug 6, 2012
  3. BedetheVenerable

    BedetheVenerable Initiate (0) Sep 5, 2008 Missouri

    It was Wyeast 1968, the Fullers strain, and I pitched this on top of a washed yeast cake, so a large, healthy slurry.
     
    #3 BedetheVenerable, Aug 6, 2012
  4. epk

    epk Pundit (849) Jun 10, 2008 New Jersey

    For what it's worth, it did push beyond the alcohol tolerance range for that one. Maybe they just need more time to get the job done.
     
    #4 epk, Aug 6, 2012
  5. DavoleBomb

    DavoleBomb Pooh-Bah (2,277) Mar 29, 2008 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah

    Yeast can be finicky. I've had a low abc beer stay flat for a month and then carbonate in the fridge (I was just going to drink it flat). Give it another couple months then give up.
     
    #5 DavoleBomb, Aug 6, 2012
  6. kjyost

    kjyost Initiate (0) May 4, 2008 Canada (MB)

    It took my 10% barley wine almost 4 months to get good carbonation, and I reyeasted with US-05.
     
    #6 kjyost, Aug 7, 2012
  7. GreenKrusty101

    GreenKrusty101 Initiate (0) Dec 4, 2008 Nevada

    US-05 OR forced carbonation...a barleywine's best friend : )

    EDIT: Don't forget to add more hops for an American Barleywine when you're adjusting carbonation levels ; )
     
    #7 GreenKrusty101, Aug 7, 2012
  8. inchrisin

    inchrisin Pooh-Bah (2,013) Sep 25, 2008 Indiana
    Pooh-Bah

    I'm looking at bottling a barley wine here in a couple of weeks. I was thinking champagne yeast would be a good idea. Would a higher attenuating yeast strain be a bad idea for bottling? (Bombs?)
     
    #8 inchrisin, Aug 7, 2012
  9. HerbMeowing

    HerbMeowing Maven (1,295) Nov 10, 2010 Virginia
    Trader

    Give them just little more time....and their carb will surely grow.
    - apologies to Chairman Of The Board

    I package my barleywine in 16 oz PETs.
    It's relatively under-carbed according to style and getting fully carbed takes longer than usual.

    Gently rolling the bottles once or twice a week should help.
    Re-yeast at bottling for insurance and peace of mind.
     
    #9 HerbMeowing, Aug 7, 2012
  10. afrokaze

    afrokaze Pooh-Bah (1,962) Jun 12, 2009 Oregon
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    + 1 for giving the bottles a little shake fairly often, should help it carb more quickly.
     
    #10 afrokaze, Aug 7, 2012
  11. premierpro

    premierpro Savant (1,060) Mar 21, 2009 Michigan

    I have never needed to add yeast to get high gravity beer to carbinate. Mabe if you have let it sit for more then six weeks. Use the same yeast you fermented with if you add more. A champange yeast could eat away the rest of your sugars and leave your beer with no body.
     
    #11 premierpro, Aug 7, 2012
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