Do I need to add yeast at bottle time?

[arnobg]

I aged a bourbon barrel porter, but not for an absurd amount of time. It spent 2 weeks in primary and at bottle time it will have been 4 weeks in secondary, so 6 weeks total.

Am I going to have any issues with the bottles carbonating? I have read it can definitely take longer for high gravity beers but I am more worried about not enough yeast to do the job.

I also planned on doing a 2-3 day cold crash prior to bottling which may affect this as well.

 

[eluterio]

Have you bottled yet? Im confused so bare with me.

If you haven't bottled and its still sitting in the carboy don't bother cold crashing it. Its been sitting for 6 weeks most of the yeast has already fell out of suspension. I would just rack into your bottling bucket us yeast or priming sugar bottle let sit for another 2 weeks then chill a bottle and see if there is co2. If not let them sit longer I say.

 

[TheMadKing]

+1 ^, there's plenty of yeast, just bottle as normal and it will be fine.

 

[ACbrewer]

What is your OG and FG?

My highest OG I think was about at 1.070. I can't recall. I do recall that I let it sit in the bottle for 8 weeks before I felt it had carbonated sufficiently. So give it time on the carbonating side.

 

[arnobg]

Have you bottled yet? Im confused so bare with me.

If you haven't bottled and its still sitting in the carboy don't bother cold crashing it. Its been sitting for 6 weeks most of the yeast has already fell out of suspension. I would just rack into your bottling bucket us yeast or priming sugar bottle let sit for another 2 weeks then chill a bottle and see if there is co2. If not let them sit longer I say.

Haven't bottled yet.

What is your OG and FG?

My highest OG I think was about at 1.070. I can't recall. I do recall that I let it sit in the bottle for 8 weeks before I felt it had carbonated sufficiently. So give it time on the carbonating side.

OG: 1.066 FG: 1.019 give or take, hard to measure since 12 oz of bourbon was added.

 

[GHBWNY]

My understanding is that while there is no hard and fast rule, adding yeast at bottling is generally not necessary for "normal" (upwards of 6 - 7+%) beers. There is plenty present to restart @ bottling as is. But if it's a > 1.090 OG tripel that's been sitting in secondary for months longer than you had planned, or you used a highly flocculant yeast or one not known for alcohol tolerance, then pitching a small amount (~1/2 pack) at bottling is not a bad investment. Just be sure to use the same yeast you fermented with.

 

[eluterio]

Haven't bottled yet.



OG: 1.066 FG: 1.019 give or take, hard to measure since 12 oz of bourbon was added.

Keg it, carb it, bottle it! sorry, im being a jerk im sure if you had kegs you would have already don't this.

I think you have some sound advice all else fails add some yeast like suggest and just chill a bottle every other week to see co2 levels until your satisfied.

Good luck and I only wish I can taste that beer!

Cheers

 

[m00ps]

FWIW, Ive had beers that have gone months before bottling and they always carb up OK. May take a tiny bit longer, but its better than adding more yeast and risking the new yeast attenuating further in the bottle

 

[philipCT]

Agreed you can cold crash that beer and then bottle it without any additional yeast and as long as the bottles are stored at 70-75F for 2-3 weeks you'll be good.

I recently bottled a 9.6% ABV Imperial Stout that had bulk conditioned for 4 months. Due to high ABV and age, I added 11g of rehydrated yeast before bottling. It was somewhat overcarbonated and it definitely lost some flavor and picked up too much flavor from the bottling yeast (Nottingham, per recommendation of LHBS) and it dryed out too much. It was a really great stout so I was really disappointed.

If I was doing that again, I would use half that much yeast or less, and use a different yeast, maybe CBC-1. I really don't like Nottingham.