Fermenting w/ champaign yeast

Will the fermentation typically take longer? I am doing an imperial and am just curious.

I doubt that Champaign yeast would make a good beer. It is highly attenuative and has a high alcohol tolerance, but not really the best of flavors.

I've heard of people brewing high gravity beers with a regular ale yeast, then pitching Champaign yeast after primary fermentation conks out to get the gravity down a little further. There is some disagreement as to whether this really helps, though: others say you can get just as good a result using an alcohol tolerant ale yeast as long as you treat it right.

Champagne yeast will not ferment complex malt sugars, the result of a beer fermented only with champagne yeast will be a very sweet beer with low alchoholic content. Champagne yeast can be used at the end of fermentation to eek a few more gravity points out as stated above, but as soon as you pitch the champagne yeast, it will go to work killing the beer yeast. There is an episode of the jamil show about it. Look it up.

Just wonderful. I was told at the local store to pitch them together.

petep1980 said:

Just wonderful. I was told at the local store to pitch them together.

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Hahaha, this beer will be a disaster. 1.090 to 1.030 in 4 days.

remember, no such thing as a mistake, just a limited edition special.

petep1980 said:

Just wonderful. I was told at the local store to pitch them together.

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Sorry if you already stated this, but I didn't see it. It sounds like they sold you ale yeast AND champagne yeast? If this is the case you should be fine. Fermenting a beer with champagne yeast alone would be a mistake.

Edcculus said:

Sorry if you already stated this, but I didn't see it. It sounds like they sold you ale yeast AND champagne yeast? If this is the case you should be fine. Fermenting a beer with champagne yeast alone would be a mistake.

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Correct, ale & champaign yeast for the high gravity.

Maybe they meant pitch the ale yeast; when it stalls pitch the champagne yeast. The bubbly yeast would be batting cleanup in this scenario. I don't think I'd recommend it but I can't make sense of it any other way.

Do this! As the supply store recommended. There's a nice high gravity beer that I have replicated (prior to this spring's wyeast specialty strains) and I found the champagne dried it out, gave me a few more points and made fine bubbles. Don't filter it!

Good luck, sounds yummy.

Just wonderful. I was told at the local store to pitch them together.

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This is correct. Since it is a slow-fermenting yeast, pitching it with the ale yeast gave it time to start working.

Waiting until the ale yeast gives out is also correct.

Waiting until the ale yeast gives out, racking it to a secondary & pitching the champagne yeast is ALSO correct.