Amount of yeast for bottle conditioning

Wed Feb 02, 2011 7:12 am

Brewing a bunch of big belgian beers soon. All will be a minimum OG of 1.100 with my max at 1.135. All sould ferment out to a TG 1.020 to 1.012 or lower depending the batch. All batches will be in primary for about a month, then a secondary(brite) for a minimum of 6-10 weeks. They will finally be cold crashed at 32 with gelatin for a week then bottled. Does anyone have experience with bottle conditioning and if so how do I proceed?
1) Based on the high ABV what yeast should I use?
2) How much yeast should I use and do I need to make a starter?(i.e. 1 tube wlp002 with a 250 ml starter)

I really want to use the minimum amount to get the job done so I don't have a huge amoumt of yeast in a beer I am taking so much time to conditioning and clearing. Oh...and no I don't want to keg it :)

Any help is apprecialted. I have come a long way in a short amoutn of time with my brewing thanks to Doc, Tasty, Jamil, Palmer, JP and even that infected tool Justin. Not to mention my fellow :asshat: ' s in the chat and forum.
Belgian Inspired
 
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Re: Amount of yeast for bottle conditioning

Wed Feb 02, 2011 12:59 pm

Pitch healthy active yeast, Pitch healthy active yeast, Pitch healthy active yeast, Pitch healthy active yeast, Pitch healthy active yeast, Pitch healthy active yeast. If you don't you will have a flat beer. Beers with such high gravity will kill the yeast, so I can't stress enough to Pitch healthy active yeast. :aaron

You need about 1/4 of a WL tube of yeast per 5 gallon. You might want to do a bit more just because of how high the gravity is.

Westco
Westco
 
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Re: Amount of yeast for bottle conditioning

Thu Feb 03, 2011 7:30 am

I am also looking into bottle conditioning some big beers down the road once I aquire more carboys. I take it you would add yeast to the bottling bucket? And would it be advisable to make a starter with the yeast that will be used to bottle so it is active going in?
On Deck: Something Belgian
Primary: Pumpkin Patch Ale
Secondary: Sanitizer
Bottled: Belgian Muscle, Brown Out, Irish Red
Kegged: Fresh Hop Pale, Da'Wit
Capt. Kirkles
 
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Re: Amount of yeast for bottle conditioning

Thu Feb 03, 2011 7:52 am

I show my yeast lots of love so they will be happy and healthy. Should I go with the white WLP099 the super high gravity and if so, should I take a 1/4 tube and make about a 500ml starter, decant and pitch into my bottling bucket?
Belgian Inspired
 
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Re: Amount of yeast for bottle conditioning

Thu Feb 03, 2011 7:59 am

For bottle conditioning big beers, champagne yeast works very well and is a lot cheaper than a tube of white labs. I used a half pack (rehydrated) to condition an 11.6% imperial stout and it was carbonated in less than two weeks. Next time I'll only use half as much though cause there's a more yeast in the bottle than I'd like now.
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Travisty
 
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Re: Amount of yeast for bottle conditioning

Thu Feb 03, 2011 8:12 am

Nice...thanks......so I will try a 1/4 pack of champ. Yeast and hope for the best. How long was your RIS in primary and secondar?
Belgian Inspired
 
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Re: Amount of yeast for bottle conditioning

Thu Feb 03, 2011 8:26 am

It was in primary until it was done fermenting and cleaning up after itself so maybe a couple weeks (I used WLP007 and a lot of it!) and then I cold crashed it in the primary for a couple days before bottling.
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Travisty
 
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