So I've been a little lazy...

I have a bunch of beers and some apfelwein sitting in carboys. They need to go into bottles like woah!

I have a Dubbel in the primary that was brewed on New Years Day.
Apefelwein that's probably a year old
and some newer stuff

Is there anything I should be worried about to make sure these carb or what?

IIWY, I would take an entire packet of dry yeast (s-05 or notty for the dubbel, montrachet for the apfelwein) rehydrate in 85º water, and mix that in along with the priming sugar at bottling. To be sure the yeast has dissolved, rehydrate well before bottling, and give the jar a swirl every few hours or so, until you see no more little solids sitting on the bottom. Then, when you add it to the beer, etc., be damn sure to stir it a whole lot. Gentle stirring, of course, to avoid oxidation. This will hopefully ensure that you have enough yeast for bottle carbing.

+1 with what Evan! said...

BUT to add to it, if you're going to go ahead and add more yeast along w/your priming sugar you might as well krausen with it. Let the yeast start fermenting your priming sugar THEN bottle it. It's still important to gently stir so that it's evenly distributed but it'll be carbed up in no time!

jeez.....I wish I had all of that nicely aged and stock piled up.

So basically do a second fermentation on it huh?

I have the montrachet yeast, I'll have to get ahold of some other dry yeast

Is there a rule of thumb for how long beer can sit in secondary (or primary) before one should consider adding additional yeast? 3 months? 6? 12? is that time limit shorter when lagering?

I never assumed all the yeast could settle out over time, but i guess it makes sense.

I could shake them up and resuspend it

98EXL said:

I could shake them up and resuspend it

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Dude, after a year, I'm not sure how much of that yeast down in the bottom of the carboys is viable.

yeah, I really didn't think about that....I'll just mix up some yeast and some water and get them fermenting again for a few days....you think that will work?

98EXL said:

yeah, I really didn't think about that....I'll just mix up some yeast and some water and get them fermenting again for a few days....you think that will work?

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If it were me, I wouldn't worry about krausening it first. I don't really see the point, and it adds in the problem of having to increase your priming sugar amounts to account for any CO2 lost into the air during the krausening period.

As long as your sugar and your yeast cells are sufficiently mixed into the solution (I always re-stir during bottling, every 6-8 bottles or so), then it shouldn't be necessary...fermentation is fermentation is fermentation...whether it's in a bucket or inside a bunch of little bottles.

Yeah, that's true. I guess I'm going to bottle tomorrow...god that will be hell

I have 4 batches to do...and a mystery batch because I got lazy and didn't write it down......

98EXL said:

Yeah, that's true. I guess I'm going to bottle tomorrow...god that will be hell

I have 4 batches to do...and a mystery batch because I got lazy and didn't write it down......

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Get your woman to do it for ya in exchange for oral pleasures.

Hm, mystery batch, eh? How's it taste? When are you gonna get around to kegging?

Evan! said:

Get your woman to do it for ya in exchange for oral pleasures.

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Shooooot Tha's how I'did get purmissun ta brew all tha'likker!

Maybe my friends are just chemistry geeks that jump at any opportunity to do something "nerdy" or maybe they're just thirsty college students. Either way, I "recruited" 3 of them to come over and help bottle in exchange for beer. They were plenty (too) excited about the idea. By the end of the day, I had 20 gallons in bottles and all I'd done was connect the hose and start the siphon. Maybe you should go to the college of science at the nearest university and hold up a sign that says "FREE BEER".

EDIT: 4 months later, not a single bottle bomb, not a soured bottle

Evan! said:

Get your woman to do it for ya in exchange for oral pleasures.

Hm, mystery batch, eh? How's it taste? When are you gonna get around to kegging?

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One flaw in that...I'd do that anyway for her...I have to bribe her with claybaring and waxing her cars for her to actually do all of the bottling. All she wants is homebrew in return for her help. Oh, did I mention she's taking me to Dogfish Head on Friday!?!?!?!? [leet]My SWMBO is teh best evar!!!! [/leet]

Kegging....hmmm, well, here's the thing, I've got all the time in the world since I'm unemployeed, but I'm trying to keep all the cash I have. I already have a stack of projects, which BTW I am clearing out, one by one, so that's good. I'm just going to have to wait for now...plus the garage has aquired more stuff...nowhere for keezer just yet.

My mystery beer, haven't tasted it yet. I got 2 projects (has taken over 6 months so far) done today, so I didn't do that, because I have another busy day tomorrow so we can go to the beaches in Delaware and Maryland this weekend, then come back for some parties. Probably no beer stuff tomorrow either because I have more work on the damn lawnmower to do plus cut the freaking grass...it's going to be a long day. I should setup the lights and cut my grass now, you think the neighbors would care?