kanzimonson
Well-Known Member
I've heard a lot of people say they've used champagne yeasts to attempt to fix stuck fermentations and for other reasons. I've never used it before, but my basic, shoddy logic and instincts tell me this isn't the best choice.
When we're talking about a stuck fermentation, we're usually talking about unhealthy yeast that have given up after they mostly ate the simplest sugars in a wort. So at the time of the stuck fermentation, you're looking at a wort with less than simple sugars, right? Probably a lot of di and tri-saccharides and less single sugars?
While I'm sure that various wine yeasts have various abilities to ferment some of these higher sugars, I feel like it's worth noting that grape must is mostly (entirely?) simple sugars - fructose and glucose. So I'm guessing these yeasts aren't particularly adapted to fermenting the diverse sugars found in wort?
I know it's tempting when you see the "up to 18%ABV" on the champagne pack, but surely alcohol tolerance isn't the most important factor when it comes to a thorough fermentation.
It seems like lager yeasts are some of the best choices for stuck fermentations, or finishing off a big beer so it has a low FG. Don't lager strains have a better ability to ferment more complex sugars?
Thoughts on any of this?
When we're talking about a stuck fermentation, we're usually talking about unhealthy yeast that have given up after they mostly ate the simplest sugars in a wort. So at the time of the stuck fermentation, you're looking at a wort with less than simple sugars, right? Probably a lot of di and tri-saccharides and less single sugars?
While I'm sure that various wine yeasts have various abilities to ferment some of these higher sugars, I feel like it's worth noting that grape must is mostly (entirely?) simple sugars - fructose and glucose. So I'm guessing these yeasts aren't particularly adapted to fermenting the diverse sugars found in wort?
I know it's tempting when you see the "up to 18%ABV" on the champagne pack, but surely alcohol tolerance isn't the most important factor when it comes to a thorough fermentation.
It seems like lager yeasts are some of the best choices for stuck fermentations, or finishing off a big beer so it has a low FG. Don't lager strains have a better ability to ferment more complex sugars?
Thoughts on any of this?