Bottle conditioning belgium strong

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Pikeman

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Og:1.o80 Fg:1.005 Spent 1 wk. at 35 to settle old yeast. Shooting for 4 volumes want to know if anybody has bottle conditioned this way? Add 1 pack wyeast and 8.07 oz. of sugar. I have bottle conditioned belgians with this much sugar before but not with fresh yeast.
 
I did something similar, though I used champagne yeast b/c of its high alcohol tolerance. You could probably use a Belgian strain, but the champagne is cheaper and you don't care about the flavor anyways for bottle conditioning.
 
Unless you fermented it for several months there should be plenty of yeast still in suspension to bottle prime, even after cold crashing. If you do add yeast, you only need a tiny bit, not a whole packet. I'd advise against using a wine or champagne yeast in the bottles, because it will not only consume the priming sugar, but will also eat the more complex sugars left behind by the original yeast, and could likely result in bottle bombs. 4 volumes is already pushing the limits of standard bottles, it would only take a little more before you'd have a mess on your hands.
 
Wow you added 8 oz of sugar to a 5 gallon batch???? At 35F no less....

I would put those someplace that you won't take shrapnel damage from exploding bottles.

Also, 4 volumes is HUGE. I carb my saisons to around 3 volumes and that's extremely effervescent.
 
Wow you added 8 oz of sugar to a 5 gallon batch???? At 35F no less....

I would put those someplace that you won't take shrapnel damage from exploding bottles.

Also, 4 volumes is HUGE. I carb my saisons to around 3 volumes and that's extremely effervescent.

I'm guessing that he fermented at 70F and then cold crashed to 35F, since 8.07 oz @ 70F = 4 volumes. I agree that 4 volumes is probably overkill though.
 
I do something very similar, but I use s-05 for bottling, especially with such a strong beer. I also make sure I use heavy bottles for anything more than 3 volumes.
 
Well I might drop the volume down to 3.5 and yes I am using Belgian bottles with corks and cages. Yes I did drop the beer down to 35F for 7 days to settle out old yeast. I am using wyeast bel abbey II smack pack. Just wanted to know if using the whole packet would cause any problems?
 
Just wanted to know if using the whole packet would cause any problems?

Just a lot of sediment in the bottles. If you're worried your yeast isn't up to the task of carbonating, just add 1/4 of the packet to your bottling bucket. It will be more than enough yeast for the job, and will cut down on the sediment in the bottles.
 
I use about 1/4-1/2 packet of Safale US-05 for big Belgians mixed into the bottling bucket. Its cheap, its clean, and won't decrease your FG like champaigne yeast can.
 
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