Adding yeast to lager before bottling

[tgolanos]

I have a Czech lager that's been lagering since the middle of April. I'm hoping to bottle it this weekend or early next week. Usually, I don't add yeast to my beers when priming, but since this has been sitting so long, I figure it's probably worth a shot. My question is which yeast to use. The beer was fermented with WLP802 (Czech Budojovice).

I found a packet of S23 in the fridge. Would I be OK using this or should I use a yeast that's more similar to the original yeast? The last thing I would want is some weird flavor from adding a new yeast.

If it helps/matters:
FG: 1.050
OG: 1.010
Fermentation Temp: 12°C
D-Rest Temp: 18°C
Lager Temp: +/- 10°C (since mid-April)

 

[Silver_Is_Money]

If you inoculate your prime with a yeast that attenuates noticeably more so than did the original fermentation yeast you may experience a somewhat higher level of carbonation than you are shooting for.

There is not likely to be much (if any) flavor impact. The new yeast will not remove the esters and higher order alcohols etc... formed by the initial yeast. And since priming sugar is such a small player in the overall sugar content picture the new yeasts added esters, etc... should be trivial.

The main thing to avoid in my opinion would be to ferment with a yeast that is incapable of consuming Maltotriose and then prime/inoculate at bottling with a yeast that will proceed to consume at least some portion of it. Maltotriose sugar can be present at levels ranging from roughly 10 to 15% (from memory). That would certainly raise at least the potential for pressure concerns.