My Stout Has Gone Flat

[agroholden]

G'day
every year at the end of winter i make stout for the next winter
last year i made 2 batches one was coopers stout and the other was blackrock stout
i made both of them with 1kg Dark liquid malt and 1kg of dextrose which is what i have done for a few years now
tested them on XMAS day and they were perfect, had lot's of head and good head retention and nice flavour
now it is winter i have started drinking them so they are about 8 months old
but i am now a bit depressed as every bottle i open is dead flat
still taste and smell fine, doesn't smell like it has gone off or anything and the caps are well and truelly sealed
the only thing i can see is little spots of what looks like sediment on the inside of the bottle
just below the neck line and below the level of the beer.
has anyone got an idea as to what might have happened
last night i gave the bottles a bit of a shake and put them close to the garage door to get a bit of warmth into them
but not sure what has happened as they were perfect after 2 months but now they are crap
if they don't come good i will be putting them in my keg and gas them that way
any help would be good


it's all about the beer

 

[Tyred]

The only thing I can think of is that the seal wasn't as good as you think. If there is a small leak, then it could, over a period of six months, slowly lose carbonation. A leak that would be that small would be hard to notice as well.

 

[peas_and_corn]

That's certainly possible- what type of bottle did you use?

 

[agroholden]

i only use crown seals
i would have thought only a couple might have been stuffed not the whole 2 batches
and i use the bench mounted capper so they should be tightly sealed

rang my brother whom i gave a couple of samples to last night and he said when opening they give off a little pssst sound but it's like pooring flat coke

That's certainly possible- what type of bottle did you use?

 

[peas_and_corn]

Do you batch prime or individually prime? How much sugar did you use?

 

[agroholden]

individual and i use 2 carbonation drops in each longneck
i have always used these and i have had beer for 2 yrs and still good

is there much i can do or should i just put it in a keg and gas it

 

[MVZOOM]

individual and i use 2 carbonation drops in each longneck
i have always used these and i have had beer for 2 yrs and still good

is there much i can do or should i just put it in a keg and gas it

Nothing much you can do, I'd think, apart from re-prime and re-bottle. I'd certainly wack em into a keg and gas it, assuming they taste ok, this is a great way to fix!

Cheers - Mike