Safale US-04 alcohol tolerance?

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zach1288

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I'm making an imperial stout this weekend that will be around 11% ABV. Can Safale US-04 survive and work well at this percent?
 
I wouldn't hold my breath for that one to happen. A lot of yeast can't get up that high. I would start with it but then expect that you are going to have to do something to dry it out a bit. In the past I've done champ yeast then rack it/put in gelatin once you hit your numbers. But start with the saf 04 see what happens.
 
it sure can, but pitch big. 2-3 packets, rehydrate/starter or pitch onto an existing S-04 cake.

imperial and 2 packets of s-04 means a large blow off tube is a necessity.
S-04 is an angry yeast.

champagne yeast can help if the simple sugars are left. but s-04 will go to 12% its just takes time
 
i did RIS with us-04, OG 1.1 FG 1.020 in 3 weeks, i used 3 cups of the cake from previous beer
 
I think it is stated to have a tolerance of 10%. I did an 11% ABV barleywine with it last year. But that seemed to be pushing its limits and it had some difficulty carbonating. I pitched multiple packets at fermentation following Mr. Malty.
 
I'm very late to this thread/party, but wanted to chime in that s 04 managed to get a barleywine of mine up to 11%. OG 1.098 down to 1.022 in about 3 weeks (only took a final, not sure how long it really took). I pitched onto a big yeast cake from a 1.065ish beer.

Now the beer is in bottles and I'm going to try and wait 2 months before opening one up. The hydro sample was delicious! I was concerned because the airlock put out a strong banana smell but didn't really notice that in my hydro sample. Maybe I'll try this yeast out for a RIS.
 
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