Champagne yeast

Does anyone know anything about using champagne yeast for a second fermentation? Is it neutral? Are all champagne yeasts the same, or are some better for beers? Will it increase my alcohol content? Should I re-rack it again, or just let it sit in the secondary for a while and then bottle?

I believe david_42 is the resident expert of all things champagne yeastie. I would only note that secondary "fermentation" is somewhat of a misnomer as 99% of the fermentation has occured in the primary and time in the secondary is for flavor development/merging and clarification more than any actual fermentation.

I thought champagne yeast could ferment some types of sugar that ale yeast can't.

Read this: http://byo.com/mrwizard/763.html

rewster451 said:

I thought champagne yeast could ferment some types of sugar that ale yeast can't.

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That isn't entirely true. Champagne yeast is more tolerant of the alcohol that the beer yeast already produced, so the champagne yeast will stick around and survive longer than the beer yeast that got killed by the high alc. %.

Gravity numbers would help us in this case. A good long secondary fermentation (and a swirl of the old fermenter once in a while) will help attenuate it further.
You really don't need champagne yeast unless your alc. content is high. A normal beer (I'd say 1.070 or less) is probably not going to need champagne yeast.

Secondary should do the trick unless it is a stuck ferment, but you'd want to re-pitch beer yeast first, if that was the case..

Thanks for the link HB. I still haven't decided if my imperial stout will benefit from champagne yeast added in the secondary, (O.G. 1.087) but this information will help.

OK, I've found champagne yeasts to be very good in finishing high ABV ales. They will ferment some of the sugars that your primary yeast didn't, but their main pluses are high alcohol tolerance and the really fine, nitro-like, head they provide. They can handle 14% plus, so anything available for fermentation will ferment. Although there are differences between the various types, when used to dry out an imperial, it doesn't matter.

Should I pull it off the secondary after the second fermentation and let it re-settle, or just keep it in the same carboy until I bottle?

We have a member here who made an all-grain with champagne yeast. Came out to 21%. He calls it the cause of death, and the label is a guy in the mourge, on a slab, with a toe tag that reads C.O.D. 21% ABV. How cool is that? He had an english magazine pick up the article and publish it. As soon as it is published, I will ask to add it here....Man is it a good beer. The alc doesnt hit you till it hits bottom. Then a warm pleasant feeling. Pretty malty too. I like it. In moderation.

Let's get the recipe...

homebrewer_99 said:

Read this: http://byo.com/mrwizard/763.html

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I think the link homebrewer_99 means has moved here (for the time being): http://byo.com/component/k2/item/42...lines-on-using-yeast-in-high-gravity-brewing?