Should I add more yeast?

[Birdskull]

So I've got some spare time on my hands, and I think "I'm going to brew a small 10l batch of something." How about a barleywine? Had a recipe that had 1.087 og, 9.2% abv, etc. Standard stuff, I guess. Now, I know my equipment setup in Beersmith 2 isn't exactly spot on, but this little bastard ended up at 7-8 litres (instead of 10 litres) and a whopping 1.120 og!

I rehydrated a pack of Nottingham for this one, but I'm thinking I should just toss in another one right away? I'm fairly certain one pack of Nottingham can't handle all that stuff, right?

 

[fixitoscar]

with a 10l batch a pack will do it but wont do a very good job. adding another rehydrated pack will help and hopefully make it attenuate better.

 

[WoodlandBrew]

Mr. Malty says 9 grams or about two packages (http://www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html) And I believe him. 1.120 is going to create a lot of osmotic pressure, so if you could step up your sugar in the fermenter you might be better off. (adding DME after the initial fermentation has slowed) That could ferment up to nearly 12% ABV. Nottingham can tolerate higher alcohol, but I'm not sure about that high.

 

[Birdskull]

I sorta freaked and tossed another (not rehydrated this time) pack in. It's bubling away, but we'll see how low it gets.. :/

 

[ACbrewer]

A trick from the wine industry is to tap/vibrate your fermentor every 12 hours to help kick the CO2 out faster. Do this until about gravity is about 1/2 OG. This helps reduce the presure on the yeast initially. Tossing in the 2nd pack however also is very wise.

 

[Birdskull]

Alrighty. I'm quite interested in seeing what will come of this. I have no hopes at all of reaching anything even close to estimated FG, but it'll be fun to see what sort of witch brew this'll be.. It's been bubbling away like crazy the last 15-20 hours, but I fear the yeasties will get tired.