Bottling Old High Alcohol Beer

[boise_brewer]

Ive got a beer that is about 14% and has been aging for about a year and a half in the carboy now. I dont want to keg it as I have put brett in it and I don't want that getting into my keg lines. I was planning on just repitching some regualar ale yeast from a fermention I have going now with the sugar and bottling it all up. Will the yeast ferment in the high alcohol of this beer or do I need to get some champagne yeast? Will any yeast work, I will keg and force carb if I have too, but I would really like to bottle condition this one to make it kind of traditional.

Thanks,
Boise_Brewer

[phrieken2]

I would think that you would almost have to use champagne yeast on this batch to bottle, due to the high alcohol content. Aren't most ale yeasts nontolerant of really high (10%+) alcohol beers. I do know that white labs makes a high gravity ale yest that might help with this, but other than that I would stick to champagne. Full disclosure though, I have never played with Brett or left anything (let alone 14%) in the carboy for that long. At this point I dare say that your likely best bet on this turning out how you want it after having waited on it for a year and a half is to sacrifice the beer lines, and force carbonate, then counterpressure fill. It'd be a real shame to overcarbonate this unintentionally after waiting on it for so long. And you can always really thoroughly clean the beer lines and the keg. Just my two cents man. Hope all goes well and someone can weigh in on the ale yeast thing taking off again at 14% .

[ziggy]

I agree that using champagne yeast would be the best idea. It has the alcohol tolerance you need. I would under prime it a little bit because with big beers like that there can be some residual fermentation although that probably wouldn't be a problem as you have left it in the carboy for such a long time. I attempted a doppelbock using a yeast that I found out could not handle the alcohol while it was in the carboy so I pitched champagne yeast. I then overprimed it I think and it was really carbonated before I left and probably will be quite fizzy when I get back from new zealand in a year.