Carbonation query

[Mark Weusten]

I have a batch of IPA which has been in bottles for 4 weeks now. Some (about half) of the plastic 750ml vessels are what I would call half carbonated and the other half are spot on. Each 750 bottle received two carbonation drops before the beer went in. My question is, instead of throwing away the flat beer or use in cooking can I open the flat bottles which I can find by squeezing them and add an extra carbonation drop or will there be no yeast left to carbonate? Cheers in advance

[Tadd Clayton]

John Palmer (in How to Brew)) uses a twee analogy to discuss failure to carbonate:"Time, temperature and yeast strain all combine to form a government committee with the charter to determine a range of times when they expect to be 90% finished with the Carbonation/Residual Attenuation Project. This committee works best without distractions-the meetings should be held in quiet, low-light areas in a warm room. If the committee was given enough budget (priming sugar), then they should arrive at a consensus in about two weeks. If they don't get their act together within a month, then it's time to rattle their cages and shake things up a bit."

Suggested fixes are to shake the bottles up to re-suspend yeast which may have all settled out or moving the bottles to a warmer room. John Palmer does say that with long-aged beers there is sometimes not enough viable yeast left to do the job and fresh yeast may need to be added. I presume that your IPA wouldn't fall into the category of 'long-aged' beers so there should still be sufficient viable yeast if you do want to add another carbonation drop but why not try his suggested fixes first?

I've used carbonation drops successfully but have recently been using a priming calculator (http://www.brewersfriend.com/beer-priming-calculator/) to prepare a priming solution which I add to the fermented wort prior to bottling. There are some drawbacks: another vessel is generally needed as it's best to add the wort to the priming solution to ensure complete mixing before bottling, and it requires at least one additional transfer of the wort before bottling at a time when you generally want to limit exposure to oxygen.

[Mark Weusten]

Thanks for the info Tadd