Prepping yeast for high gravity stout

[beerisking]

So I'm making a 5 gallon bourbon aged stout this weekend with an estimated OG of 1.113. I have never made a beer this strong and have been doing a lot of reading on it and the last question mark I think I have is on how to properly get the yeast ready for this. My plan, after reading what a lot of posts seemed to say,was to dump 2 packets of 1056 into a 2L starter (OG-1.060) and let that stir for 2 days. Then, I was going to throw the 2L into the fridge to crash it for a day. On brew day, I was going to decant in the morning and allow to warm up to room temperature while I made a fresh 500mL wort (OG-1.060) to re suspend and activate the yeast starter before I pitch it.
So, my questions are does this seem reasonable for a beer this big? I plan on oxygenating with a carb stone before pitching, but read some people do a second oxygenation the following day. Is this recommended? Finally, I saw a recipe that added champagne yeast when they transferred to the secondary. This seems like it would make the beer to boozy and less sweet than is desired. Thoughts on any or all of this? Thanks for the advice.

 

[z-bob]

(this is a guess) Won't adding champagne yeast kill the beer yeast? And then the champagne yeast won't be able to ferment the complex sugars. The beer yeast already got all the simple sugars first...

I would only add champagne yeast at bottling time if you think the beer yeast is too exhausted to carbonate.

 

[FirstAidBrewing]

Convention says that a starter should have a gravity of 1.040. Not sure about the second brew day starter but I think at least the first starter should stick to that rule of thumb. Other than that I see nothing wrong with your plan

 

[beerisking]

My normal starters are 1.040. I was thinking of trying a higher OG to condition the yeast for a high sugar/alcohol environment than normal and it also boosts the number of yeast cells compared to a lower OG starter,at least according to yeast calculator.co

 

[FirstAidBrewing]

The yeast might have trouble getting started in that sort of environment. I would stick with a normal gravity starter

 

[mrdauber64]

Brew a 1.040 Dry Stout or something similar then pitch on top of the yeast cake of that beer. This will give you a ton of healthy yeast to work with. I brew one RIS every year that is about that strength and pitch on top of a yeast cake. I get good attenuation and the beer takes off right away.

 

[Calder]

Brew a small beer and use the cake, or just use 3 packs (or whatever the calculators recommend). Dry yeast has some advantages in big beers (sterols in with the yeast) which you negate when you make a starter.

Do not add chanpahne yeast until you have reached the final gravity you want to be at. It is a 'killer' yeast (inhibits sacc), so if you need to use something else to help finish the beer, you will have just made it more difficult. The champagne yeast does not ferment the complex sugars and is just added to help with carbonation at bottling time.

 

[BigFloyd]

Brew a 1.040 Dry Stout or something similar then pitch on top of the yeast cake of that beer. This will give you a ton of healthy yeast to work with. I brew one RIS every year that is about that strength and pitch on top of a yeast cake. I get good attenuation and the beer takes off right away.

This^^^^^^ is the route I prefer for that big of an ale or for a 1.070+ lager.

Sprinkling two packs of dry yeast into a 2L starter isn't going to net you any more cells than rehydrating those two packs due to the cell loss (up to 50%) experienced pitching dry yeast straight into wort.

 

[WoodlandBrew]

If the last step of propagation is using a 1.060 starter (or beer) the yeast will be better prepared for the high gravity beer. The mitochondrial DNA, enzyme distribution, and cell membrane construction will be better suited for processing the high gravity wort.

If you are priming the beer for carbonation with cane or corn sugar, or want a little extra malt backbone, then champagne yeast is good for bottling.

 

[beerisking]

So,I agree with using the cake from a smaller Stout,but unfortunately that wasn't an option . My brother is in town for the weekend and expressed interest in making a big bourbon aged stout that we will age till Christmas. I do have porter going in my secondary that I considered bottling early and using that cake but wasn't sure the cake from the secondary would be sufficient. It also was Irish yeast and not American yeast.

Either way, I went with 2 packs of Wyeast 1056 and started it last night in 2L of 1.060 wort. I hope this works fine,seems like I should have enough yeast as per the calculator. Next time I will plan better and brew a dry Stout a week or 2 ahead of time. Thanks for the feedback.

 

[JonM]

Touching on one of your other questions, yes - hit it with another dose of O2 about 12-15 or so hours after pitching

 

[beerisking]

Thanks,I will plan on doing that. And this will be bottle carbonated /conditioned, so yes to the champagne yeast at bottling time? Do I need to add the yeast and let it ferment for a week before bottling? I imagine I would have bottle bombs if I didn't.

 

[JonM]

Last time I did a big beer with a lot of bulk conditioning, I used us-05 at bottling and it works fine. I don't think I'd want to bottle with champagne yeast.

 

[beerisking]

That works better for me as I always have that on hand and may have a packet that is nearing is best by date which would be good to dump in that when the time comes. How soon do you add it prior to bottling and do you add a whole packet? I don't think with this style I want the FG to dip too low and I'm afraid with 05 that I may get that with the fermentable sugars still left.