Mon Dec 20, 2010 4:42 pm
Depending on your OG, 3 mos is a long time for an Imperial IPA to sit in a fermenter. By that time, most of your yeast will probably have dropped out. Next time when you bottle a strong beer like that be sure to add some fresh yeast at bottling time to ensure a quick healthy bottle conditioning.
If you find that those bottles are not carbing up in a couple weeks, here is a quick solution (albeit a PITA).
Boil up 1 cup of water for 5 min in a small saucepan. The last 2 min put the lid on to sanitize. Cool the water to about 100 degrees (I just wait till it still feels warm on the outside but doesn't burn my hand or feel too cold). Sanitize a packet of lalvin EC-1118 dry champange yeast (less than 1$) and a pair of scissors. Add the yeast to the cooled water and put the lid back on (don't swirl yet). Let sit for 15 min. undisturbed. Then swirl yeast into suspension. Open a few bottles of your uncarbonated beer. Carefully add 1 mL of yeast solution with a sanitized dropper into a bottle and quickly cap with a new sanitized bottle cap. (Be prepared for some foaming due to nucleation sites so be ready to cap immediately). Keep these warm for 1 week (70 deg or so) and then check one for carbonation. Should be fine!
Good luck and hope you don't have to do this, but if you do, you are ready to tackle it!
"A bad man is a good man's job, while a good man is a bad man's teacher."
