question about bottling year old beer

[sorefingers23]

i brewed a batch of old ale on march 1 2013, and would like to bottle it today, and dont know if i would need to add yeast at bottling, or will it be fine the way it is?

 

[Chadwick]

Wow, that is really old. Has been setting on the yeast cake in the primary this whole time?

Also, when you open that up. Please take some pictures. I really want to see what this looks like.

BTW, I would add yeast for bottle conditioning. Assuming that its all still good to go.

 

[sorefingers23]

No it hasn't been on the yeast cake, it's been in secondary for most of the time. I can't get any pics at the moment but it's in a glass Carboy and looks fine

 

[Chadwick]

If it looks fine and a sample tastes good, I would think that it should bottle up without any issue. I would add a dash of yeast to the bottling bucket for insurance. It may or may not need it, but I always prefer to play it safe. I don't see how adding yeast would hurt anything.

 

[sorefingers23]

Should I add the same yeast as the recipe or any yeast will do, I've got lots of extra wine yeast I don't need. Will the yeast affect the flavour at all?

 

[adiochiro3]

Assuming you have maintained a good airlock/sanitation, the beer should be fine -- if not fantastic -- depending on the style. I've bulk conditioned a dopplebock and a wee heavy for nearly that long, and I added champagne yeast (1/2 a packet/ 5 gal. batch, it beleieve) along with the priming sugar to ensure good carbonation. Those puppies still took 6 weeks to carb because they were big beers.

I would add the champagne yeast just to be sure your bottles will carbonate. As I recall, champagne yeast is used for 2 reasons: it can stand a high alcohol environment and it will not add/alter the flavor of your brew.

 

[Cyclman]

I would definitely add yeast. The yeast should have a similar attenuation to the original (don't want it to dry out the beer) but it adds no discernable flavor, so other than attenuation and alcohol tolerance what yeast you use doesn't matter much. I try to use dry to save $.

 

[passedpawn]

Yes, add yeast. S-04 is a good choice as it floccs hard and will sit nicely on the bottom of the bottles. A half packet of it is plenty for a 5g batch. I'd rehydrate it first, to make sure it's well dissolved, then stir it well into the bottling bucket.