Adding fresh yeast for bottling

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beerisyummy

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I love telling stories on myself. So... I made a Cream Ale, and I forgot to throw in the Whirlfloc. Partly because of that, and partly from the recipe I think, it was SUUUper cloudy. So I got me some gelatin, and according to standard practice, dissolved the yeast and tossed it in, having first chilled the carboy from room temp. down to 40°F. Then I realized, oh whoops, I bet I just punched out the yeast. So just to be sure my bottles go "pfft" I'm going to add some dry yeast along with priming sugar to the bottling bucket. My question is, how much to add? The guy at my LHBS said I should consider making a starter, and that really seems like overkill. Surfing around different threads, I've seen evidence of folks only using a few ounces.

So whaddya think. Should I:
1. rehydrate just a few ounces of dry yeast,
2. rehydrate the whole 12 oz packet, or
3. make a small (1 L ?) starter for the yeast?
 
My question is, how much to add? The guy at my LHBS said I should consider making a starter, and that really seems like overkill.

Another LHBS guy that needs a swift kick to the ***sack. JK, but seriously.

So whaddya think. Should I:
1. rehydrate just a few ounces of dry yeast,
2. rehydrate the whole 12 oz packet, or
3. make a small (1 L ?) starter for the yeast?

A few grams is the answer you're looking for (not ounces). Dry yeast typically comes in 10-15 gram packages. A quarter of that would be more than enough. Just make sure to use the same strain as you fermented with or one that is less attenuative. CBC-1 is a safe choice if in doubt.

I have to add though that I bet your beer would carbonate just fine without adding yeast. Gelatin doesn't remove it all.
 
Each dry yeast pack (11g) is less than half an ounce. Yeast calculators usually put it at 1.9 grams per 5 gallons of bottled beer. If you DO re-yeast, you can just add it to your priming sugar solution (after cooling) to rehydrate before adding it to your bottling bucket. There's nothing wrong with adding the yeast to the bottling bucket separately, but I've found it doesn't mix/dissolve with the beer very well and sometimes just sinks to the bottom of the bucket and not getting into the bottles (thus completely negating the point).

Usually you only need to re-yeast at bottling when you've done long-term storage or your environment is crazy nasty (very low pH (sour) or very high gravity). Otherwise, you should still have plenty in solution to sufficiently carb up.
 
Another LHBS guy that needs a swift kick to the ***sack. JK, but seriously.



A few grams is the answer you're looking for (not ounces). Dry yeast typically comes in 10-15 gram packages. A quarter of that would be more than enough. Just make sure to use the same strain as you fermented with or one that is less attenuative. CBC-1 is a safe choice if in doubt.

I have to add though that I bet your beer would carbonate just fine without adding yeast. Gelatin doesn't remove it all.
Oh you're right. The package is 12 GRAMS. Duh.
As far as the viability of the yeast, I was really more worried about the effect of cold crashing from room temp to 40 degrees, than the gelatin.
 
As far as the viability of the yeast, I was really more worried about the effect of cold crashing from room temp to 40 degrees, than the gelatin.

Also not usually an issue. "Clear" beer, unless filtered, still has quite a bit of yeast in it. But obviously it's you beer, your potential risk, and your choice.
 
Thanks everyone. Since I went ahead and got the dry yeast I will try adding a couple GRAMS with the priming sugar. And while I don't think I'll kick the LHBS guy in the ***sack, definitely NOT making a starter. :no:😂
 
I wouldn't add more yeast. It'll be fine. I've lagered beer at 30°F for MONTHS and it still carbonates perfectly fine. There are million of yeast cells in each drop of beer, you're not getting everything out just by cold crashing or fining. That's why commercial breweries microfilter their beer.
 
I wouldn't add more yeast. It'll be fine. I've lagered beer at 30°F for MONTHS and it still carbonates perfectly fine. There are million of yeast cells in each drop of beer, you're not getting everything out just by cold crashing or fining. That's why commercial breweries microfilter their beer.
I've had a wild brett with Nottingham beer carbonate after one year in the fermenter. Was a bit slow, but after 4 weeks it was fully carbed.

I guess that stuff without high abv is generally fine to bottle without any additional yeast... On the other hand it won't do any harm to add some. I wouldn't do it though :D
 
I bottled a 12.5% RIS and added 4g of CBC-1 yeast to the bottling keg along with the priming sugar. That's double the recommended 2g, but I decided to add 4g because it was high ABV. I just opened a bottle after 5 weeks and it was nicely carbed. That is the first high ABV beer I have ever carbonated. All before were as flat as a tack even after months at room temperature. So I'll be adding yeast at bottling to all my big beers from now on.
 
Liquid yeast is stored in the fridge. Cold crashing didn't harm your yeast.
Haha that's a great point, and an obvious one! I should just clarify (hah) my concern was about crashing ALE yeast from room temp to 40° .... but lotsa folks seem to be telling me to not worry (and have a home-brew)
 
The bigger issue is having temp drop shut down activity if you're not completely done with fermentation. However, cold will put them dormant and heat & sugar will send them back to work when needing to bottle condition.
 
Haha that's a great point, and an obvious one! I should just clarify (hah) my concern was about crashing ALE yeast from room temp to 40° .... but lotsa folks seem to be telling me to not worry (and have a home-brew)

I store my liquid ale yeast in the fridge too. Yeast doesn't die at fridge temps, it will go dormant. Given a long period of time (approaching a year or so), may cause more to drop off, but that would most likely only impact how long it took to bottle condition.

Many people cold crash and then bottle condition. Not a big deal.
 
I store my liquid ale yeast in the fridge too. Yeast doesn't die at fridge temps, it will go dormant.

Yeast do die at fridge temps. But they die more slowly.
 
OK, technically, yes. Yeast, in the absence of food, die at any temp. The point is that fridge temps don't kill yeast. Is that accurate enough for you?

Since you ask, just about. They also die when there's food present. But again, more slowly.
 
I read somewhere that some people, when adding bottling yeast in their ales, uses lager yeast, so that it is happy at low temp.
 
I read somewhere that some people, when adding bottling yeast in their ales, uses lager yeast, so that it is happy at low temp.

This would make sense, if the plan is to actually carbonate at lower temps. But if doing this, I'd recommend choosing a lager strain that's less attenuative than the primary strain. (I'd say that lager strains are, on average, more attenuative than ale strains, on average.)
 
Just circling back to say, there be bubbles! I did not add the yeast. I just jiggled the bottles a couple times, which is what I do with lagers. Thanks for the discussion.
 
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