Yeast after bottling? Never carbonated

[Lee Rosenblum]

I brewed a Kolsch from Zainasheff and Porter's book. I;m thinking that the yeast gave up the ghost in 4 week lager. Bottled, but no carbonation. Maybe some acetelaldehyde, but not too strong. Would it help to unbottle, add finings (solving another problem) and some new yeast and let it condition and re-bottle? O)r just chalk this up to "it ain't great, but it's beer" This is the first problem I've had with any of their recipes: wonderful book. Thanks

 

[BOB357]

How long and at what temperature are you storing the bottles at? After 4 weeks at lagering temperature, there probably isn't much yeast left in suspension. Might take some time to carbonate.

I have uncapped bottles and added a few grains of dry yeast to each bottle with success but wouldn't do anything else that can introduce oxygen. I used US-05 but now there are yeasts available specifically for bottle conditioning. CBC-1 by Lallemand comes to mind.

 

[Kevin58]

The word lager simply means to store or keep. Once primary fermentation is complete you should go ahead and bottle your beer just as you would an ale so that there is still some yeast present for carbonation. I would then let those bottles carbonate for a couple of weeks just as you would with an ale and then lager them... or store them at cooler, lager temperatures. To solve your immediate problem however do as Bob357 suggests and add a few grains of dry yeast being careful not to introduce oxygen.