Failed bottle priming

[DocAnna]

Hi all, ok opinions please..
I made what I thought was a really tasty winter beer with the Wyeast 1968 yeast... lovely stuff that smelled like baked parmesan bread while brewing, and dropped out crystal clear with cold crashing, beautifully flocculant...

and that's the problem. It hasn't carbonated over two weeks with priming with sugar, the yeast I harvested has dropped clearer than I've ever seen a yeast perform before and I suspect the bottles simply didn't have enough yeast left in to prime. So I'm thinking of uncapping them, adding a small amount of yeast in suspension and recapping then leaving to condition again. Problem is that this will add yet more oxygen. Is this worth doing, or should I leave for another couple of weeks, and recheck. Oh and should I stick with the same yeast for the reprime?

Thanks

Anna

 

[terrym]

Gently turning the bottles to resuspend the yeast and leaving for another two weeks and then try again would, for me, be the easiest option. Arguably the extra two weeks count as conditioning. But if you believe you need to intervene at any stage you just have to do it, but frankly I wouldnt worry about oxidation. And finally I would have thought the impact of a different yeast to consume 2-3 gm of sugar would be undetectable, so just use what viable brewing yeast you have to hand would be my suggestion.

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

I'm NOT an expert on this, but it seems to me it might be unlikely there is no yeast left in the ale no matter how clear it's dropped. And all you need is one cell, and a bit of exponential growth...
I'd say leave it, and keep it at a temperature where the yeast will reproduce.

 

[DocAnna]

I tried it again today after chilling and the slightest of fsssssst on opening and that was still warmer than bottled at, so really almost no carbonation. Think I might try a few bottles with a adding a some of the diamond lager yeast - which I have lots of since it has an tolerance of 13% so should be able to restart fermentation. Thinking of a couple of drops of slurry per bottle. @The-Engineer-That-Brews yes you are right but it has an ABV of over 7% which I think will make it difficult for expansion from small numbers, @terrym I will try that with some of the other bottles as well just to see what works.

Anna

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

Sure! Really hope it works.
Incidentally I read elsewhere that WY1968 has an alcohol tolerance of 9% - the post referenced this source but I haven't checked it http://www.wyeastlab.com/hb_yeaststrain ... .cfm?ID=22

 

[marshbrewer]

I would be absolutely gobsmacked if there wasn't enough yeast in there for carbonation. I have bottled crystal clear lagers that have been at 2-3° for nearly 8 weeks and they have carbed up fine, and there are podcasts a plenty suggesting the same thing. I wouldn't worry, bung them somewhere warm for two more weeks then try again.

 

[An Ankoù]

I've never had a beer carbonate in two weeks. Six is more like it and even then it benefits from a few more weeks.

 

[foxy]

There will be more than enough yeast in suspension to carbonate the bottles, the higher the ABV the longer it will take. Also check out the science of carbonation video.

 

[Deathstar]

I found it has taken around 6 weeks for my Barley Wine to carb up. I was worried at one point, so I inverted them all a couple of times and they are now going to be ideal for Christmas.

 

[AXW123]

How much sugar did you prime with Anna?

 

[Pablosaurus]

I had the same about six weeks ago, now the bottles have perfect carb. I'd leave it alone - bet they'll carb up. Are they stashed somewhere warmish?