Can you use Champagne Yeast for Making Beer?

Hi i just recently made an aggressive Imperial Stout with an OG of 1.120!! Well being afraid that the yeast i was going to pitch (WY 1028) would 'poop out' before finish fermenting, i added a package of (Red Star Champagne) yeast with the (WY 1028). Does anyone with experience know if this was a mistake or if i can brew this with desirable results? Thank you.

Many brewers will add champagne yeast later in the fermentation of high grav brews. They usually add it after it appears that fermentation has run down, to drive the beer further. It looks like you added it at the same time.

I don't see why adding it at the same time you added the primary beers train would be any different. You should be fine.

Thanks, my only concern was either an 'off' flavor, or a complete fermentation of all the sugars leaving the stout 'too dry'.

Really revvy... not stalking you... just hitting the new posts list hard....


you ever seen anyone do a beer on ALL champagne yeast... I have 4 packs with nothing to use it for... unless you have a suggestion?

Dont ask me... (wait wrong thread....!!)

chefmike said:

you ever seen anyone do a beer on ALL champagne yeast... I have 4 packs with nothing to use it for... unless you have a suggestion?

Dont ask me... (wait wrong thread....!!)

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Actually I was just thinking the same thing. I wonder what it would be like. I think it would be best if one were shooting for a dry beer...But what?

Champagne yeast strikes me as being very clean and dry....so that rules out things that are yeast driven like Belgians...but what about doing a very complex grainbill with a lot of flavors..but high grave. Huge...but taken down very low and dry?

Got me thinking.

How about something big with alot of RYE?!

I bought a sack and have some to spare...

just saying!

chefmike said:

How about something big with alot of RYE?!

I bought a sack and have some to spare...

just saying!

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I just tried my first Rye beer last saturday at teach a neighbor to homebrew day at my LHBS...Talk about dry. You're right, I think rye would be a great candidate for a champagne yeast beer.

OK, but have you heard of brewers using this for Stouts?

HHH23 said:

OK, but have you heard of brewers using this for Stouts?

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Honestly, no.....

But that doesn't mean anything...just that you will have to let us know how it turns out.

Ya, i deffinetly will do. I brewed and pitched it yesterday, so it may be awhile before i do. But i think it will be important for future inquiries to know the results.

Until Then Anyone out there ever Brewed a Stout with Champagne yeast?

I have a big recipe... 12 lbs of rye and some roasted rye ( 10 lbs 2row and crystal) to hit 1.127 at 15 SRM and 100 IBUS (all c hops... cascade, cent, columbus) on champagne yeast

I am too tired to go further tonight.

I need to do this.

i would be very interested to know how either/both of these recipes come out. super high gravity stouts FTW! if nothing else, could both of you post those recipes for a learning noob?


BTW, what dang time zone is this forum set on???? 0630 here and the website is set at 1230. got me all messed up!! lol

FYI: Red Star Pastuer Champagne yeast will max out at about 12%. Lalvin EC-1118 Champagne yeast will reach 18%.

Forrest

How do I share an xml file of the recipe?

If someone wants to grab this and post it... I don't feel like retyping it. Again. I need to buy beersmith I guess! This is exported from brewtarget (the open source one someone here did)

http://lastcatchseafood.com/ryerecipe

I put it in at around 11% with 60 IBUS and 20 SRM... I did a hop spread like an IPA. No clue why. I was thinking it would be good with the rye and dry.

Maybe that will be the name of this recipe: Rye and Dry

My experiences with Champagne yeasts is they are rather slow in dealing with complex malt sugars. They'll do the job, but Nottingham, Munton's Gold or a similar dry yeast will do the same job faster.

Thanks forrest for the info on the red star yeast, my potential alcohol reading was %15 so if it poops out at %12 that should leave me with some delicous malty flavor, and hopefully therefor not 'too dry'.

for anyone interested this stout recipe, her it is:

Imperial Stout

Amber Malt Extract Liquid - 11.5Lbs
Molasses - 1 cup
Licorice - 2-5in piece

NW 2 row pale malt - 0.5lbs
Black Malt - 1.0lbs
Black Barley - 1.0lbs
Malted Wheat - 3.2ounces
Roasted Barley - 1.0lbs
Biscuit Malt - 0.5lbs

Millenium Hops - 2 ounces (Boiling)
Chinook Hiops - 1.5ounces (Finishing)

English Ale Yeast (WY1028)

-Add the "Crushed malts" to 4 quarts of 150 F water a mix well. Add heat if necessary and hold the temperature at about 133 F for 30 Minutes.

-Then add 2 quarts of boiling water to this mash. Hold Temperature at 149-155 F for 45 Minutes, stirring occasionally.

-Complete conversion by raising the temperatrue to 158 F and holding for 10 to 20 Minutes.

-Then add more heat to raise the temperature to 167 F, And then sparge with 2 gallons of hot water at 170 F.

-Bring the wort to a boil and add "Malt extract", "Molasses" and "Boiling hops" and boil for 60 min.

-Add "Finishing hops" and "Licorice" and boil for 30 min.

-Add "Spanish moss" and boil for another 10 min.

-Cool immediatly, remove hops and transfer to 1.5gl of cold water in the fermentor. Top off with additional water to make 5gl.

-Add the "Yeast" when cool and ferment to completion.

**REMEMBER THE THING I DID DIFFERENT WAS ADDING THE RED STAR CHAMPAGNE YEAST WITH THE WY1028. **

david_42 said:

My experiences with Champagne yeasts is they are rather slow in dealing with complex malt sugars. They'll do the job, but Nottingham, Munton's Gold or a similar dry yeast will do the same job faster.

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Would there be a different complexity of flavor because of that slowness or the same end product?

I trust your word, as I know you are into the barley wine thing... didn't you just kill a keg that was 6 years old? Or did it finally oxidize?

how did that imperial turn out? What did you get the FG down to?

So that stout is finished, and the FG was .044. Alittle thicker than i was expecting, but it turned out pretty good. Def a heavy rich beer, but not too much. I had a lot of unfermentables in the batch so i was wondering if that could have added to the density, throwing off the gravity reading. In any case whether the Wyease or the champagne yeast did it, im not sure but it worked out.

HHH23 said:

So that stout is finished, and the FG was .044. Alittle thicker than i was expecting, but it turned out pretty good. Def a heavy rich beer, but not too much. I had a lot of unfermentables in the batch so i was wondering if that could have added to the density, throwing off the gravity reading. In any case whether the Wyease or the champagne yeast did it, im not sure but it worked out.

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1.044 was the target final gravity??
Sounds like a milkshake.

Yeah, a 10% ABV milkshake. I'd order one of those!!