Bottling a Russian Imperial Stout

So, I brewed a Russian Imperial Stout on November 21st, 2015 that has been sitting in the secondary for 5-6 weeks. I've been kegging this past year, but this one I plan to bottle since this batch will get drank pretty slow. My question is about the yeast. Do you think the yeast at the bottom might still be viable enough to carbonate my beer after that long? Am I best just to make another starter and pitch it to my bottling bucket along with my priming sugar?

Thanks,
Mike

I don't have much experience with this, but I helped a buddy bottle a barrel aged quad. We added a package of dry champagne yeast along with the priming solution to the bottling bucket before racking the beer onto it. I've yet to open a bottle yet, but he has had success in the past with this method.

hanuswalrus said:

I don't have much experience with this, but I helped a buddy bottle a barrel aged quad. We added a package of dry champagne yeast along with the priming solution to the bottling bucket before racking the beer onto it. I've yet to open a bottle yet, but he has had success in the past with this method.

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I'm not much on the idea of adding champagne yeast. I don't want to dry it out. I was honestly hoping to not need to add nothing more at all, but I just don't want to get it all into bottles and then learn there's nothing there to carbonate it anymore. Maybe it would just take an extra few weeks?

there is enough suspended yeast still in the beer to carb it. You do not need to add yeast. My sours go months and still carb up just fine without adding anything

You didn't mention using adjuncts, so I wonder why you transferred to secondary... With that said, you still should have plenty of yeast to carbonate your brew. As I am sure you already know, it will take a bit of time to bottle carbonate a big beer like yours is, but since it will be in the bottle a long time before you taste one carbonation should be a non-issue.

Should have enough, especially if there's any cake in secondary and you give it a shot or two on racking to a bottling bucket. And then it should carb over time just fine!




...unless it's like my last BC vanilla rye imp stout clone attempt, where you could still see yeast sediment in the bottom of the bottles, but absolutely no carb after 6 months...

You do not need to add yeast, there is still enough in suspension. I fermented an RIS for 8 weeks and it carbed up in 3 weeks. You don't want to rush drinking an imperial stout so even if it is carbed you should bottle condition at least a couple months before it's really good and mellowed out.

mjrinkenbaugh said:

I'm not much on the idea of adding champagne yeast. I don't want to dry it out. I was honestly hoping to not need to add nothing more at all, but I just don't want to get it all into bottles and then learn there's nothing there to carbonate it anymore. Maybe it would just take an extra few weeks?

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The yeast won't dry it out. I had problems with a quad once (12%), and now I usually add yeast just to be safe. You may not need it, but it won't hurt.

I'm going to go against the grain and suggest adding more yeast. Five to six weeks of bulk aging what is likely an 8-10%+ beer means the yeast in there are likely very stressed at best. It's good insurance. After all, you don't want to find after 8 weeks that your bottles aren't carbing. That's a royal pain.

Any alcohol tolerant ale yeast, or even a champagne yeast, would do just fine. The champagne yeast won't dry it out.

If anything, I would suggest adding the same yeast strain that you fermented with. Mix it in when you mix in your priming sugar.

The yeast won't dry it out. I had problems with a quad once (12%), and now I usually add yeast just to be safe. You may not need it, but it won't hurt.

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Agreed

I'm going to go against the grain and suggest adding more yeast. Five to six weeks of bulk aging what is likely an 8-10%+ beer means the yeast in there are likely very stressed at best. It's good insurance. After all, you don't want to find after 8 weeks that your bottles aren't carbing. That's a royal pain.

Any alcohol tolerant ale yeast, or even a champagne yeast, would do just fine. The champagne yeast won't dry it out.

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Agreed

If anything, I would suggest adding the same yeast strain that you fermented with. Mix it in when you mix in your priming sugar.

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Might not work. The high alcohol level may kill off the same strain. Champagne yeast will not dry it out and is cheap insurance. Lalvin EC-1118 - 1/2 pack for 5 to 6 gallons.

mblanks2 said:

Lalvin EC-1118 - 1/2 pack for 5 to 6 gallons

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Just for information's sake, and a follow-up to my response about my last imp stout not carbing...I did add a full packet of EC-1118 probably a couple weeks before bottling, in _hopes_ of it eating a bit / drying things out. I'd have to check my notes, but I believe it may have eaten one point down from 1.043 to 1.042.


It also in my case did not lend to any carb.


I think my case may have been extreme, but I would think the advice of using EC-1118 at bottling for an imperial stout is sound.

blizz81 said:

Just for information's sake, and a follow-up to my response about my last imp stout not carbing...I did add a full packet of EC-1118 probably a couple weeks before bottling, in _hopes_ of it eating a bit / drying things out. I'd have to check my notes, but I believe it may have eaten one point down from 1.043 to 1.042.


It also in my case did not lend to any carb.


I think my case may have been extreme, but I would think the advice of using EC-1118 at bottling for an imperial stout is sound.

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Add the yeast at bottling with the priming solution.

blizz81 said:

It also in my case did not lend to any carb.

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I wouldn't know for sure, but I'd strongly suspect adding the yeast weeks before bottling was the reason. Yeast don't live and reproduce forever until a magical amount of alcohol hits, at which point they all die, any more than a full pot of water completely evaporates as soon as the temp gits 212. Like adding more heat to the pot of water causes the water to boil off faster, increasing alcohol percentage causes yeast to die off faster. The advertised tolerance percentages are largely arbitrary numbers that are chosen to represent a concentration of alcohol beyond which a given yeast will tend to die off too quickly for it to be useful for brewing/vinting purposes.

Most any brewer's yeast will not live too long in any reasonable quantity in the double digit range. Very alcohol tolerant wine and distiller's yeasts will last longer, but still not forever.

mblanks2 said:

Add the yeast at bottling with the priming solution.

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This is the best way to approach bottling big beers.