Bottling with champagne yeast

[Stupidsexyflanders]

I brewed the northly quad from northern brewer. Most reviews say bottle with champagne yeast. I have tried to find a good how to on the technique, but can't find anything. It seems really simple, but I feel like I am missing something. Can anybody please point me in the right direction.

 

[william_shakes_beer]

I have never used a separate yeast strain to bottle. I always used the yeast that remains when I rack from fermenter to bottling bucket. What are you trying to accomplish?

I know that some commercial breweries use a separatre yeast to bottle, to protect their fermentation strain. They filter out the fermenting yeast and use something different for bottling.

I know some brewers inoculate with a separate yeast if the brew has been in the fermenter for a prolonged period of time (a year) and they fear the yeast may be dead.

I know some brewers use a separate strain on a really big beer if the fermenting strain does not have the alcohol tolerance to operate in the bottle.

Assuming one of these situations applies to you, the process should be fairly straightforward. Prepare a starter, let it ferment out, add the appropriate bottling solution to the bucket, add the yeast, rack over top of it and bottle as usual.

Be careful if you choose to add champagne yeast. It has a high alcohol tolerance. Take precautions against bottle bombs.

 

[Yooper]

The easy way is to make your priming solution, cool it, and stir in a package of champagne yeast. The packages are 6 grams, I believe. Then rack the beer into it and bottle.

The idea is that champagne yeast has a high alcohol tolerance, and will ferment simple sugars so that you will get bottle carbonation.

 

[Stupidsexyflanders]

I have never used a separate yeast strain to bottle. I always used the yeast that remains when I rack from fermenter to bottling bucket. What are you trying to accomplish?

I know that some commercial breweries use a separatre yeast to bottle, to protect their fermentation strain. They filter out the fermenting yeast and use something different for bottling.

I know some brewers inoculate with a separate yeast if the brew has been in the fermenter for a prolonged period of time (a year) and they fear the yeast may be dead.

I know some brewers use a separate strain on a really big beer if the fermenting strain does not have the alcohol tolerance to operate in the bottle.

Assuming one of these situations applies to you, the process should be fairly straightforward. Prepare a starter, let it ferment out, add the appropriate bottling solution to the bucket, add the yeast, rack over top of it and bottle as usual.

Be careful if you choose to add champagne yeast. It has a high alcohol tolerance. Take precautions against bottle bombs.

It has been in the fermentor for 4 months and it's high abv. I am worried all the yeast is dead.

I am very worried about bottle bombs!!

 

[Stupidsexyflanders]

The easy way is to make your priming solution, cool it, and stir in a package of champagne yeast. The packages are 6 grams, I believe. Then rack the beer into it and bottle.

The idea is that champagne yeast has a high alcohol tolerance, and will ferment simple sugars so that you will get bottle carbonation.

I have some of the fast pitch yeast starter, would that work?

 

[Yooper]

I have some of the fast pitch yeast starter, would that work?

I'm sorry, I have no idea what that is.

I use sugar, water, and dry champagne yeast that is 79 cents. I don't know of any product that replaces that.

 

[william_shakes_beer]

It has been in the fermentor for 4 months and it's high abv. I am worried all the yeast is dead.

I am very worried about bottle bombs!!

After you bottle, place the bottles in a rubbermaid tote with a lid. If a bottle or 2 pops, the tote will contain the glass shards. You just have to carefully wipe the sticky, glass soaked mess off each bottle.

 

[Peruvian802]

You could bottle in champagne bottles as they are generally stronger than beer bottles. I think you will need corks and cages though.

I know Brooklyn Brewing bottles their Sorachi Ace with champagne yeast and bottle in champagne bottles.

 

[Bartalker]

I've been taught that you add champagne yeast in order to make sure that your priming sugar gets fermented as quickly as possible, absorbing as much oxygen which was introduced while bottling as possible. I wouldn't worry too much about bottle bombs as the champagne yeast can only eat simple sugars, which should all or mostly have been fermented by now. In case you don't find champagne yeast, you could also use a yeast with a low attenuation rate such as T-58.
I re-hydrate my champagne yeast which I then add together with the priming solution to the bottling bucket.