Adding 1.200 wort and yeast to fermenting wort

Hello All,

I just brewed a barley wine. I have 4 gallons of 1.112 wort that is fermenting right now. I have 1.6gal 1.200 wort in bottles (after I pulled the 4gal that's now fermenting out of the boil, I boiled the remaining wort even longer). I also have WLP099 super high gravity yeast (I did a 6L starter, so I've got plenty).

I'm trying to figure out the best way to add the 1.200 wort and WLP099 yest to my ferment. I was planning on waiting until the 4gal ferment gets down to ~1.060 (this would take 36-48 hours), then pitch the WLP099 along with some of the 1.200 wort. After this, I was planning on adding more of the 1.200 wort every day until either it stopped fermenting or until I ran out of 1.200 wort.

Regarding how much 1.200 wort I would add each time, I was planning on adding enough wort to get the gravity up to between 1.090 and 1.100.

Regarding pitching the WLP099, I was planning on getting it started with a watered-down solution of my 1.200 wort, waiting for it to get to high krausen, then pitching it into the fermenter.

Any tips or tricks or advice?

Thanks!

Interesting. I've never added fermentables to my beer after it started fermenting so I can't help there. But it seems to me your approach was backwards. Maybe I'm wrong but shouldn't you have boiled your first runnings to get that caramelly higher gravity wort and then added the remaining runnings to the kettle with the wort. That way you'd have one fermentation but still have the character of caramelizing that first running.

His approach is correct. High osmotic pressure from high gravity wort is extremely hard on yeast, that's one reason we use bigger starters for higher gravities.
If you stagger your sugar additions, the yeast are much more likely to fully attenuate.
OP, I think you've got a great plan, but you'd benefit from oxygenating the wort when you add your sugars.

maskednegator said:

His approach is correct. High osmotic pressure from high gravity wort is extremely hard on yeast, that's one reason we use bigger starters for higher gravities.
If you stagger your sugar additions, the yeast are much more likely to fully attenuate.
OP, I think you've got a great plan, but you'd benefit from oxygenating the wort when you add your sugars.

Click to expand...

+1.
10char....

Thanks for the input. I will definitely add oxygen too.

Do you think causally pouring the new wort in would oxygenate enough, but not too much?

I have zero experience in this area...just brainstorming/thinking aloud. I personally would fear doing a direct pure O2 injection since there's already a large yeast colony, and staggering additions of 1.200 wort will dilute its gravity a lot...probably won't shock the yeast with osmotic pressure changes. I'd think a splashy pour into the primary would give just enough O2 without causing oxidation.

I don't oxygenate, before or during fermentation. I think you would be fine with a splashy pour so long as your yeast cell counts are high to begin with (starter).

I also have little fear of oxidation during this part of the process. That should be more worried about later when you are storing/aging/serving.

Here's a recipe for a DFH 120min IPA clone that inspired my recipe (except I didn't want to use sugar). He oxygenated some.

http://homebrewchef.com/120minuteIPArecipe.html

That said, I'm now not sure what I'll do...