I have been a big fan of Imperial Darkness for awhile. I use it for pretty much every dark-ish to dark beer that I brew. It starts and finishes pretty quick (?) and attenuates well.
Here's my problem. I have had a few bottle conditioned/aged brews in the past year that ended up over-carbed. The one thing they all had in common was that I used Darkness. I mostly keg, but still bottle when I am out of space in the keezer, when I want to age beer or when I brew something I don't want taking up a tap. I brewed a Scottish Ale back in September that was fantastic after a couple of months in the bottle, but I chilled and drank one today and it was over-carbed. Not a gusher, just over-carbed. I had the same thing happen with an imperial stout recently as well. They still tasted fantastic, just over-carbed. Milk stout....same thing. Most of the other brews I have made with Darkness were kegged....so obviously no issues there.
My first thought was sanitation, but I'm always mindful of that, and with no off flavors and the fact that it doesn't happen with other yeast (like the Barleywine I did last year or the stupid pumpkin spice beer I did because someone asked me to...and never drank it. Both with US-05), I have all but ruled out sanitation. I've been brewing and bottling for years, and have always had perfectly carbed beers. Just in case there are questions, I use a bottling bucket and prime accordingly. Storage temp is always consistent. Fermentation is temp controlled and within the yeast's recommended range. Literally everything is the same except for this yeast.
For heavier beers, I normally let it ride for about three weeks before bottling. It seems to be attenuating as expected (right on the money for the Scottish Ale and porters, slightly less for the stouts) but I am wondering if maybe it's lagging at some point and then coming back to finish consuming additional sugars while bottle conditioning.
Anyone ever experience this with Darkness?
Here's my problem. I have had a few bottle conditioned/aged brews in the past year that ended up over-carbed. The one thing they all had in common was that I used Darkness. I mostly keg, but still bottle when I am out of space in the keezer, when I want to age beer or when I brew something I don't want taking up a tap. I brewed a Scottish Ale back in September that was fantastic after a couple of months in the bottle, but I chilled and drank one today and it was over-carbed. Not a gusher, just over-carbed. I had the same thing happen with an imperial stout recently as well. They still tasted fantastic, just over-carbed. Milk stout....same thing. Most of the other brews I have made with Darkness were kegged....so obviously no issues there.
My first thought was sanitation, but I'm always mindful of that, and with no off flavors and the fact that it doesn't happen with other yeast (like the Barleywine I did last year or the stupid pumpkin spice beer I did because someone asked me to...and never drank it. Both with US-05), I have all but ruled out sanitation. I've been brewing and bottling for years, and have always had perfectly carbed beers. Just in case there are questions, I use a bottling bucket and prime accordingly. Storage temp is always consistent. Fermentation is temp controlled and within the yeast's recommended range. Literally everything is the same except for this yeast.
For heavier beers, I normally let it ride for about three weeks before bottling. It seems to be attenuating as expected (right on the money for the Scottish Ale and porters, slightly less for the stouts) but I am wondering if maybe it's lagging at some point and then coming back to finish consuming additional sugars while bottle conditioning.
Anyone ever experience this with Darkness?