Maximum ABV Yeast Chart?

[ILurvTheWhiskey]

I'm looking at brewing a New Year 2009 Barley Wine at about 9 percent ABV and letting it set until, well, New Year's Eve 2009. I usually use Nottingham dry yeast for most of my beers but am looking at spreading out a wee bit and trying some different yeasts, starting with this beer. This brings up to 3 questions:

First: Does anybody know where I can find a chart with the maximum ABV tolerance of most commercial yeasts (I'm not talking about Turbo Yeast, just regular beer yeast, either dry or wet)? I know there's probably some fancy word that I can't think of, but I hope I'm making since. I'll, of course, make a big nice starter and aerate the heck out of it.

Second: If no chart's available, anybody know where Nottingham poops out at? I'm hoping it could make it to around 9%, but figured it wouldn't hurt to ask.

Third: Anybody got any other good suggestions for a yeast I should use? My LBS is kinda limited in their selection.

Cheers and happy New Year!

 

[eriktlupus]

your best bet is to check the websites of the main yeast suppliers.

erik

 

[CBBaron]

Nottingham will definitely get you to 10% and probably can be pushed to 12% ABV.
I used US-05 in my barleywine and it took an OG of 1.119 to 1.025 for about 12.75%. I think that strain is rated for 12%.
Most beer strains are good for 10-12%, a few will push to 14% and WhiteLabs Super High Gravity yeast can be babied to 22+%.

If you want to do an American style Barleywine then US-05, Wyeast 1056 or WLP001 is a good choice. For English style Barleywines Nottingham, Wyeast 1028, or WLP007 are pretty good.

The manufacturers usually give ranges of alcohol tolerance for the yeast but the ranges tend to be pretty loose. The fermentation conditions can play a big factor in the tolerance.

Craig

 

[ILurvTheWhiskey]

Thanks for the idea. I've already done a lot of checking, using as many different search terms I could think of, and have searched through about every nook and cranny of some of the major yeast manufacturer's sites and haven't found anything. I was hoping it would be easily available, haha. If I can't find anything, I might make one.

 

[dontman]

If I'm putting so much time and effort into a particular beer I usually spring for a yeast specific to the style. WL or Wyeast.

I save the Notty and 05 and 04 for my everyday beers.

 

[brewt00l]

White Labs lists Alch tolerance on their strains:

Notes on alcohol tolerance:
Very High: Over 15%
High: 10-15%
Medium-High: 8-12%
Medium: 5-10%
Low: 2-5%
White Labs

Wyeast lists the tolerance for each strain in the description too
Wyeast Laboratories : Home Enthusiasts : Brewers : Yeast Strain Guide

 

[ILurvTheWhiskey]

Oh wow. Both White Labs and Wyeast's sites blow Danstar's away. Now to compile all this. Thanks!

 

[daedelus902]

I have a Thomas Hardy style Barleywine racked in secondary that was pitched onto a new cake of US-05. The OG was 1.104 and the US-05 tore into it. After just 7 days at 64F it was down to 1.021. On gentle oxygenation it started back up at almost 10.7 ABV. After 2 more weeks in secondary I suspect it will be right on 12% ABV without re-pitching additional higher attenuating yeasts. The US-05 esters also compliment the high final gravity heavy ales.