Pitching yeast when bottling

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RatBait

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I'm getting ready to bottle my first Belgian Quad. Many sources say to add some more yeast along with the bottling sugar for a Quad. However, I can't find anything that tells me how much yeast to add. My plan is to add 5 oz of dextrose to a 5 gallon keg and some more yeast, then bottle from the keg. But, how much yeast. A whole wyeast package seems excessive?
 
But, how much yeast. A whole wyeast package seems excessive?
A number of beer yeast labs make a "bottle conditioning" yeast (e.g. Lallemand CBC-1, Ferments F-2). Pitch rate for a 5 gal is in the product information.

A number of online stores (e.g. Williams, Label Peelers, ...) stock CBC-1. Others have mentioned that Label Peelers will ship individual sachets of yeast via USPS at no additional cost.
 
I think the usual rate for bottling yeast is about 1 gram per 10 litres. If you reseal the bag it comes in you'll have yeast for years to come.
 
I don't usually bother adding more yeast at bottling unless the beer has sat for longer than a couple of months. In that case I would only use like 1 gram, just a tiny amount, that is all that is needed.
 
I think the usual rate for bottling yeast is about 1 gram per 10 litres. If you reseal the bag it comes in you'll have yeast for years to come.
But please put it in the freezer afterwards. Otherwise it's gambling. Could work, but doesn't have to.
 
The CBC-1 TDS recommends vacuum sealing the open sachet and storing the sachet cool/cold. It also includes 'shelf life' guidance for open sachets.

FWIW, over the past couple of years, I've used a number of open sachets of CBC-1 (closed tightly with a rubber band then stored in the fridge) for up to 4 months after initial opening.

With 2.5 gal batches and a cool basement (especially in the winter), I use CBC-1 and place the bottles in a 75F water bath - carbonation is completed in a little less than a week. I'll let the bottles sit at ambient temperate for additional 'conditioning'.
 
But please put it in the freezer afterwards. Otherwise it's gambling. Could work, but doesn't have to.
Yes, storing the dry yeast in freezer is best. Kept inside the original bag/pouch, inside a ziplock bag, or best, vacuum sealed.
It's imperative to keep the granules dry. If they get damp/wet chances are the yeast won't survive.
 
I can't find anything that tells me how much yeast to add.
UK commercial brewers will typically add 0.5-1bn cells per litre - towards the lower end for bottles where you're more worried about avoiding "sediment", higher for casks where it's less critical. Given that a quad has much higher alcohol than the kind of beer typical in the UK, and conditions at home may be less precisely controlled, I'd go for 2-3x that. Given that a fresh pack of dried yeast will typically have around 20bn viable cells/g (depending on cell size and response to freezing), you're looking at 1-2g in 20l/5 US gallons.
But please put it in the freezer afterwards.
Personally I wouldn't. Remember these are not hops but living cells, and the great enemy of life is ice crystals. Yes in theory dried yeast should be pretty resilient to freezing, but there's not a massive gain in life in going from fridge temperature to freezer temps, and given the risks associated with the vagaries of home freezers in the real world, I prefer to keep my yeast at home in the fridge rather than freezer, unless as glyerols.
 
Thanks for the comments. I should have explained in my original post that I am trying to avoid using Cask / Bottling yeast in this beer. The use of those yeast have the ability to dry out the beer too far. So, I wanted to re-pitch some of the original yeast (Wyeast #1762)
 
I should have explained in my original post that I am trying to avoid using Cask / Bottling yeast in this beer. The use of those yeast have the ability to dry out the beer too far.
Where did you get that idea? The only way that you can dry out your beer during bottle conditioning is by using a bottling yeast that can ferment more kinds of sugar than the yeast you used for primary fermentation. And if you did that, dry beer would be the least of your problems. As mentioned above, bottling yeasts like CBC-1 (and wine yeast in general) ferment fewer kinds of sugar than ale yeasts.

Anyway, I use CBC-1 when I bottle condition quads and imperial stouts. Follow the manufacturer's instructions on rehydration and dosing. Works every time.
 
UK commercial brewers will typically add 0.5-1bn cells per litre - towards the lower end for bottles where you're more worried about avoiding "sediment", higher for casks where it's less critical. Given that a quad has much higher alcohol than the kind of beer typical in the UK, and conditions at home may be less precisely controlled, I'd go for 2-3x that. Given that a fresh pack of dried yeast will typically have around 20bn viable cells/g (depending on cell size and response to freezing), you're looking at 1-2g in 20l/5 US gallons.

Personally I wouldn't. Remember these are not hops but living cells, and the great enemy of life is ice crystals. Yes in theory dried yeast should be pretty resilient to freezing, but there's not a massive gain in life in going from fridge temperature to freezer temps, and given the risks associated with the vagaries of home freezers in the real world, I prefer to keep my yeast at home in the fridge rather than freezer, unless as glyerols.
I agree, unless the pack has been opened. Then h2o has been introduced and this has to be frozen to not slowly do damage to the yeast. I've had opened packs fail me after months but never when being frozen.
 
Thanks for the comments. I should have explained in my original post that I am trying to avoid using Cask / Bottling yeast in this beer. The use of those yeast have the ability to dry out the beer too far. So, I wanted to re-pitch some of the original yeast (Wyeast #1762)
Bottling yeast is called bottling yeast because it does not do exactly that.
 
I agree, unless the pack has been opened. Then h2o has been introduced and this has to be frozen to not slowly do damage to the yeast. I've had opened packs fail me after months but never when being frozen.
Its the frozen water crystals that destroy the yeast. I think it's more likely that you froze your yeast before any / many water molecules got into the sachet.
BUT. I'm a great believer in doing what works rather than doing what's suppose to work.
 
On the "side topic" of storing open sachets,, and for those who brew less than 5 gal batches, this topic (link) over at Brewers Friend forum has an anecdotal related to saving open sachets for more than "a few months".

With partial sachets, it may be that a RDWHAAB approach to open sachets is the combination of
1) avoiding moisture,
2) storing open sachets in the fridge, and
3) using the open sachet within "a couple" of months.

And maybe the time frame is strain specific.

As I mentioned above, I've successfully bottle conditioned "normal/IPA" strength beers with sachets of of CBC-1 that were opened 3 to 4 months ago. OTOH, for primary fermentation, I tend to use open sachets within a month or two.
 
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