Bottle priming Jamil's Scottish Heavy 70/-: Any worries?

[CrazyP]

I've got a 3-gallon batch of Jamil's Scottish Heavy 70/- recipe fermenting right now. It was actually my first attempt at an all-grain batch but I nailed all of my numbers from mash temp through O.G. The key to this beer is low attenuation so it finishes sweet, so I'm fermenting at 65 degrees per Jamil's instructions.

My concern is that because the desired attenuation level is much lower than WLP001's full potential, is there any danger in "waking up the yeast" and causing them to further attenuate if I bottle prime? I typically prime at ~74 degrees for a week or two. I don't have kegging setup so bottling is my only option. Still I'd rather drink flat beer than risk explosions. Thoughts?

[Jbug]

How about just keeping a close eye on how the bottle conditioning is going? When you're at the carbonation level you want put them all in the fridge to stop any further fermentation....
You may not have a problem at all bc your yeast are going to munch on the simple sugar you'll use at priming time and not worry as much with the more complex sugars created during your mash... Just speculating here maybe someone with a little more exp. will chime in here soon!

Anyways, How's that recipe taste so far?


Josh

[beltbuckle]

my advice would be not to worry. never try to stop fermentation. you want a complete fermentation to not leave any fermentation byproducts in your beer. the sweetness in that recipe is not from unfermented simple sugars, it's from the complex unfermentable sugars in the grist/mash. let the yeast do what it wants to do and keep it in check with the lower temps but do not restrain it.

[Bruce G]

I brewed the Brewing Classic Styles Scottish 70 and came out with an FG of 1.011, with all ingredients, yeast, and fermentation control by the numbers in the book and bottle conditioning. It gets a low amount of priming sugar to reach the carbonation for style, so it seems like the chance of having bottle bombs because of a high FG is pretty low. It is always worth checking the FG though. If you end up with an FG way high, the potential is there for over carbing, but the yeast is probably pooped out already and may not have enough in it to do the job of carbing at all. Just some thoughts to consider.

Bruce

[BDawg]

I agree with Bruce, let it finish out and carb all the way out. Even though it may finish drier than you might like, it is a flavorful style that will still taste great even if it finishes low. This is much better than trying to force a sweet finish on the beer. I've judged beers like that and they all taste "worty" not sweet. Don't sweat this one as it's your first AG. You are much better suited to be concentrating on hitting temps, not getting stuck, having a smooth sparge, collecting proper volume and gravity, and not getting an astringent beer. Subtle variations such as wort complexity are things that come later as you gain confidence in your system and your ability to repeat at will.

IMHO, you are worrying about hitting the bullseye when you should just be worrying about getting onto the dart board.
This is an intermediate style that requires some finesse in the mash tun to get right. It's not a style that I would recommend as a first AG. That's not to say that it will turn out bad. Just that I would recommend something that doesn't need so much control as a first batch. That you hit all your numbers says to me that it will be an enjoyable beer. Just finish it as you have finished all your prior extract batches and enjoy your success! Whether it will score >45 as a Scottish 70/- is irrelevant. RDWHAHB!

Good luck!

[CrazyP]

Thanks for all the replies! It sounds like I don't have too much to worry about. I brewed this on Monday night and it pretty much finished fermenting a couple days ago. The krausen is now slowly dropping. I'm going to give it another week and then bottle it up. I can't wait to try it.