• Please visit and share your knowledge at our sister communities:
  • If you have not, please join our official Homebrewing Facebook Group!

    Homebrewing Facebook Group

Repitching at Bottling - Did I mess up here?

Homebrew Talk

Help Support Homebrew Talk:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Joined
May 6, 2007
Messages
7
Reaction score
1
About 9 months ago I made an imperial stout with a 1.098 OG (1.030 FG - chewy :)). Due to the size and style, I elected to let this sit in a carboy and mellow out a bit before bottling time.

Tonight I bottled this brew, and repitched it with Danstar Nottingham dry yeast. I rehydrated the yeast and brought it to temperature, and then poured it in my beer in the bottling bucket. I am starting to think maybe I should have made a starter to ensure that A) there is enough yeast for bottling, B) there is a relatively even distribution of yeast in the bottles.

Am I right to be concerned here, or should I just RDWHAHB?
 
No need for concern. You only actually need maybe 1/3 of a pack of yeast to carbonate those bottles. I usually just sprinkle the yeast into my bottling bucket before I rack to it. It get's mixed up enough so it'll evenly distribute.
 
Warning! Noob question! :)

Why would you need to repitch before bottling? I'm guessing it's due to the long fermentation time and the "heavy" nature of the brew. Thanks for humoring a newbie!
 
Warning! Noob question! :)

Why would you need to repitch before bottling? I'm guessing it's due to the long fermentation time and the "heavy" nature of the brew. Thanks for humoring a newbie!

I only repitch when the the beer has been in secondary for more than 3 months. Even at 3 months, it's not completely necessary. You'll stir up enough yeast while racking to the bottling bucket to be able to carbonate, it'll just take longer. I've had beers take a few months to become fully carbonated after a long fermentation. Adding yeast at bottling time is just to be safe.
 
Thanks! I thought that might be the answer, but thought I would ask just in case I was missing something. Thanks again!
 
Back
Top