Flat Tripel

[yonkersbrewer]

I have a tripel in the bottle for two weeks and just had to have a try last night. Something is wrong and I need help!

It is flat. Maybe a hint of carbonation - you know what fresh cider feels like on your tongue when it is begining to "go"? But I could also just be kidding myself!

It has a 9%ABV and it tastes good, if a bit sweet and with a decided alcohol "bite". I don't think that it is infected since there are no off tastes except for the sweetness and the alcohol bite I don't think that I did anything wrong.

Should I just leave it for a couple of more weeks or what?

Thanks in advance!

[sullydavid]

I just recently made several Belgiums, 3 of which could be considered Tripels. All three speant at least 6 weeks in the secondary. Due to this I repitched yeast about 2 days prior to bottling and mine were ready to drink within about 3 weeks.

Of course if you are already bottled I would say it is too late to do that. If you had an extended stay in the secondary I assume that a lot of the yeast fell out of suspension. There should still be enough to corbonate but you will probably have to leave it in the bottle for an extended period. But that will help get rid of the "bite" it has anyway. :)

[ray m]

I agree with Sully.......relax for awhile longer. It's hard to give you any kind of a timeline not knowing how long your 2ndary fermentation was----if you did one, that is.

My average carbonation time anymore is @ 3.5 weeks, and it's been like that for a couple years.

What temperature is the room where your bottles are at? If they're in a location that's in the mid 60's or so, I would move them to a warmer location (@ 70*).

If the temp. is not an issue, just wait a couple more weeks at least. If you are certain that you put your priming sugar in and everything, you'll be fine. Worry not, grasshopper.

[Beerconnoisseur]

Ray,

I'm curious... what yeast strains are you using? Are they Wyeast, White Labs, or something else entirely? That carbonation time just seems really strange to me...

[ray m]

They're strange to me, too, Beerconn. I use White Labs exclusively, and I only brew ales. I typically have a 1 week primary and a 10-14 day 2ndary before bottling.

I went to using DME for priming for about a year about 3 years ago. Carbonation took too damn long, so I switched back to corn sugar only. I do get carbonation after a couple weeks, but it's not full carbonation and the head is still pretty non-existant after that period of time. If I give it another week to 10 days, everything's great with head formation, retention, etc. The only thing I can attribute it to is that everything is done in my basement, which is a little cool (usually stays @ 67-68*). I just have accepted it as part of my brewing routine. I just don't have room anywhere else in the house to expose my bottles to "warmer climes", and I've thankfully developed the patience to wait the extra time.

[Beerconnoisseur]

Originally posted by ray m
They're strange to me, too, Beerconn. I use White Labs exclusively, and I only brew ales. I typically have a 1 week primary and a 10-14 day 2ndary before bottling.

What may be happening is that too much yeast drops out of suspension, or you might even lose much of your yeast when you rack to the secondary fermenter. Normally, after I brew, I will let my ales ferment for two weeks in the same primary fermenter with no separate secondary, then I rack to bottles.

It's worth a shot. Let me know if it helps. :)

[yonkersbrewer]

I kept it a week in primary and a week in secondary. I brewed on the yeast cake of a previous brew so I don't think the issue is lack of yeast, or tired yeast. There was PLENTY of slurry when it went in and a fast start up. And I am not neurotic about not getting any sludge in the bottleing bucket when siphoning so I am sure there is enough yeast in the bottles.

I distinctly remember measuring out the sugar for priming, but when things go wrong like this one begins to doubt one self!

I'm hoping that is just a matter of timing. The bottles are in the corner of the living room, an inside area not exposed to the cold or to huge temperature swings. I took another bit of advice and shook all the bottles to get the yeast suspended again and to aerate slightly within the bottle.

Thanks for the encouragement and we'll see what happens.

[Magnew]

I had a stout do this recently. See my post "Help! Stout wont ferment". After six weeks in the bottle with no carbonation I finally took someone's advise. I uncapped, added a bit of dried yeast to each bottle and recapped. Turned out great.

[Beerconnoisseur]

yonkersbrewer: What might be happening with your batch is that the alcohol content is too high for the yeast strain that you are using. You could try using a small dose of White Labs Dry English Ale Yeast, or something similar when it comes time to bottle. Hope this helps!

[ray m]

Originally posted by Beerconnoisseur:
___________________________________
What may be happening is that too much yeast drops out of suspension, or you might even lose much of your yeast when you rack to the secondary fermenter. Normally, after I brew, I will let my ales ferment for two weeks in the same primary fermenter with no separate secondary, then I rack to bottles.

It's worth a shot. Let me know if it helps. :)
___________________________________

Thanks, Beerconn....hopefully my newly purchased V-vessel will help with that. I do get pretty decent yeast cakes (not as much as I get with the primary) in my secondary. Supposedly with the V-vessel, I can easily eliminate 1 week of "2ndary" now that trub & yeast can be dumped every few days.

With my latest batch of "cherry" ale, I tried one after about 1-1/2 weeks in the bottles. Carbonation, again, was there, but absolutely no head to speak of yet. I think, since at this point it's been 2-1/2 weeks, I'm gonna go ahead and bust open a tap-a-draft keg full of my new brew.

[fretlessman71]

Originally posted by Magnew
I had a stout do this recently. See my post "Help! Stout wont ferment". After six weeks in the bottle with no carbonation I finally took someone's advise. I uncapped, added a bit of dried yeast to each bottle and recapped. Turned out great.
When you say you added a "bit" to each bottle, can you be more specific? 4 grains? 5? How'd you do it?

[Magnew]

Well...everyone who gave me this advice only said "a bit". I used a 1/4 teaspoon measuring spoon and just put a few grains in the bottom of it. Wish I could be more specific, but I can't. As I said though, worked great. A couple of bottles were overcarbonated, but most have been perfect.