repitching in keg

[bentoni]

Hey Guys,

Brewed up a honey kolsch. I put 1.5lbs of honey in secondary. It really didn't do much fermenting. I have carbed up the beer in the keg. Is it ok to repitch some fresh yeast in the keg to get it to attenuate a little more? If so, will it clear out good? How long should it go in the keg? Is this a bad idea?

Thanks!

 

[magno]

I just started kegging earlier this year, and I would defer to someone with more experience...

That being said, I think I would consider letting it go flat as much as possible, repitching, giving it a way to off-gas, and then being prepared to move it to a new keg when the yeast has done it's thing. Either that or putting it back in a carboy to finish fermenting, and then re-kegging.

 

[bentoni]

Thanks for the thoughts. You think the carbonation would jack with the yeast?

 

[glugglug]

Have you taken a gravity reading? You can pitch yeast in the keg. If you haven't put gas on it, it's already flat. You can let the yeast do it's thing and carbonate, or let it "blowoff". To do the latter, I would use a barbed gas in pin lock or ball lock, with a tube and run that tube into some starsan. If it were me, I would keep it warm until the gravity reading says it's done. If you do the blowoff, watch for suckback of sanitizer.

 

[madscientist451]

There should be plenty of yeast in there, I'd pull a sample, and let the carbonation bubble out then take a gravity reading. How does it taste? Who cares how clear it is, you want it to taste good. I wouldn't add any more yeast.
If you think there's there's some unfermented honey still in there, and the taste doesn't suit you, just bleed the pressure to about 3-5 lbs and let the keg sit at ambient temp for a week, or if you have temp control, you can keep it in the low 60's. You can keep bleeding off Co2 or just leave it alone.
Pull another sample after a week and see if anything changed.
If you like the taste now I wouldn't do anything except start drinking it.

 

[bentoni]

The taste is the problem to me. It's clean, just too sweet. Needs to be dryer. I pitched the honey in the secondary. I want it to have a honey flavor, but it's a little too sweet for me. I had carbed it up so it's a finished beer in the sense that it's ready to serve, I just think that it could attenuate some more.

 

[JordanKnudson]

I think, since you don't like the taste as it is, that you should try repitching. Depending on how much alcohol you already produced in primary, you may have to be more technical than just pitching a new smack pack, since the new yeast will be going straight into a stressful environment. A good way to do this is to make a starter and pitch it in at high krausen. I also don't know if I would use the kolsch yeast for this or not...never had any experience pitching it into such conditions.

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

For some sweetness you'd be better off adding a little honey malt to the grist next time. Honey should completely ferment and help with dryness, which is to style in a Kolsch.

 

[bentoni]

The honey that goes into secondary only ferments a little. It's for flavor. I just put too much of it in secondary.

 

[Dcpcooks]

The addition of honey to secondary should have fermented out, it's a simple sugar. How long was it in secondary? Did you take a pre and post addition gravity sample?

You could try pulling the keg out of the fridge, degassing the co2 and letting it sit warm for a week. You can add more yeast if needed just remember you will have some trub in the keg after it's complete. That can clog your dip tub.

 

[RM-MN]

if you gave your yeast enough time it will consume honey until it kills itself with the high alcohol. If your beer is too sweet you either didn't give the yeast enough time or your recipe included something that adds sweetness. Just for your information, higher amounts of alcohol can be perceived as sweetness too.

Adding more yeast isn't the answer.