Pitching multiple yeast strains

[NYShooterGuy]

I have an Imperial Stout brewed 12 days prior with an OG of 1.112 Pitched 40 oz. slurry of Wyeast London ESB. Measured today at 1.028. I'm fairly confident that the gravity won't drop any more and that most (if not, all) of the yeast is dead due to the 11.15% ABV environment.

How do I prime when the yeast is dead and in such a toxic environment?

I was told MANY different solutions:
1.) Add the same strain of yeast to drop the FG to below 1.020, then prime as normal...
2.) Add a similar yeast (Danstar Notingham), but only about half a packet, at bottling time with priming sugar
3.) Add Champagne yeast to drop the gravity and then prime as normal.
4.) DWRAHAHB (which doesn't solve my problem since this is only my second High OG beer and I have 48 bottles of flat Imperial IPA because the yeast died and couldn't prime the bottles).

I don't want yet another 5 gallons of expensive beer that will be flat yet again, nor do I want the opposite of bottle bombs.

 

[zoomzilla]

I'm by no means an expert but I had almost this exact scenario. Similar OG scotch ale that died at the same place. I had initially pitched a pack of us05. I then pitched a pack of champaign yeast that brought it down to about 1018. It was a great beer.

 

[sandyeggoxj]

11% isn't that high. Most yeast strains will survive through that. Something that can tolerate high ABV will be good too. You could make a 2l starter of 099 and pitch at high krausen to try and drop the gravity and then let it ride for a while. Then pull a small sample and force ferment to see what it does. See how much the forced ferment drops.

On a side note you should try the alternate ABV formula for higher ABV beers. The alternate calculates to 12.5%abv which still isn't bad. You could use a strain like 099 or the like to drop it a bit more assuming the fermentables are there and such.

 

[danath34]

I'm a fan of using a champagne yeast for bottling. It's high ABV tolerant, and will eat up the simple sugars you give it, but leaving behind more of the malt sugars, keeping the malt flavor a little more intact.

 

[NYShooterGuy]

I'm a fan of using a champagne yeast for bottling. It's high ABV tolerant, and will eat up the simple sugars you give it, but leaving behind more of the malt sugars, keeping the malt flavor a little more intact.

After recording the gravity reading today, I tasted the sample. Characteristic coffee and toffee flavor as one would expect with a stout, with a slight sulfur nose. I assume that all the maltose sugars that could have been broken down were done so by the Wyeast London ESB yeast. From what I understand, champagne yeast won't break down the maltose and as such, shouldn't take away from the coffee and toffee flavor. I'm hoping that it will convert the priming sugar after I pitch many weeks prior in the primary, but a higher ABV without effecting the malt flavor is always a plus. I just hope that the beer won't be too dry as I've heard that is often a result from using champagne yeast.

*I've had this sulfur nose in almost every beer I've tasted this early in the process. By the time both secondary carboy and bottle conditioning have ended, the smell is gone so I'm not concerned at this point.

 

[NYShooterGuy]

11% isn't that high. Most yeast strains will survive through that. Something that can tolerate high ABV will be good too. You could make a 2l starter of 099 and pitch at high krausen to try and drop the gravity and then let it ride for a while. Then pull a small sample and force ferment to see what it does. See how much the forced ferment drops.

On a side note you should try the alternate ABV formula for higher ABV beers. The alternate calculates to 12.5%abv which still isn't bad. You could use a strain like 099 or the like to drop it a bit more assuming the fermentables are there and such.

Just ordered Red Star Champagne Yeast to do my "experiment".

I want to harvest the Wyeast London ESB yeast for use in another batch, so I will rack from the primary to either another bucket, or the Big Mouth Bubbler plastic carboy and harvest the yeast from the primary. I'm going to hydrate the Champagne yeast, then use it to eat through the rest of the sugars and (hopefully) attenuate enough in the secondary for when I then rack to the bottling bucket I will have some left over yeast for carbonation.

This way, I'll have a single strain harvested, and no fears of fermentation occurring in the bottle (other then the priming sugar) and no potential bottle bombs.

So will a single packet of Red Star Champagne yeast be too much' too little, or just right?

 

[brewinchef_fairfax]

Holy thread resurrection Batman...

What were the results with your Red Star Champagne yeast experiment?

 

[NYShooterGuy]

I pitched into the secondary and let it sit for 7 days. No sign of secondary fermentation (gravity stayed the same) so I'm glad it didn't eat any maltose. Tasted like an imperial stout should at bottling time, but I haven't even touhed the bottles since bottling day. I figured I'd wait until October/November to taste. We're getting out of Stiut weather anyway and the 6 months of conditioning will only help.

In a side note: the IPA that never carb'd up is now showing signs of carbonation. A nice head when poured and some residual carbonation in the glass. It only took 4 months to get there.