Wee heavy question

[Dee74]

I am getting ready to brew up this Wee Heavy kit from Northern Brewer https://www.northernbrewer.com/products/scottish-wee-heavy-extract-kit

I know I am a few months away but will I need to add more yeast when I bottle this beer? I will be using 2 packs of Safale S-04. I plan on letting it sit in the primary for 1 month and using a secondary to let this age for 2 more months and then bottle.

 

[shoengine]

My opinion, just use your bottles as the secondary. No real need to let it all age together off the trub unless you are force carbing it. It'll probably age faster in bottle too.

Two full packs may be an over-pitch, but I am not great with dry yeast.

Good luck. We love Wee Heavies around my house.

 

[Dee74]

We love wee heavy also. I am new at this so I never thought of using the bottles for a secondary. I may go that route, saves another step. The two packs of yeast is recommended from Northern Brewer.

 

[davidabcd]

I am getting ready to brew up this Wee Heavy kit from Northern Brewer https://www.northernbrewer.com/products/scottish-wee-heavy-extract-kit

I know I am a few months away but will I need to add more yeast when I bottle this beer? I will be using 2 packs of Safale S-04. I plan on letting it sit in the primary for 1 month and using a secondary to let this age for 2 more months and then bottle.

That one looks really good. I'll have to try that.
I agree with above, go from primary into the bottle, maybe do three weeks, as an example. US-04 is a good one.
,

 

[Pappers_]

Nothing like muddy-ing the waters, but I'd do a secondary and cold crash it, not for two months but for at least a week. That's my modus operandi, though.

You'll likely have enough yeast left, the issue will be if the environment is too toxic (alcoholic) for them to function. There's no harm in adding yeast to your bottling bucket and it does remove one variable, I guess.

In either case, bottle conditioning may take longer than a 5% beer, like a month or two.

 

[davidabcd]

You'll likely have enough yeast left, the issue will be if the environment is too toxic (alcoholic) for them to function. There's no harm in adding yeast to your bottling bucket and it does remove one variable, I guess.

So you cold crash ales and lagers? That's cool (Ha! I just realized I said "cool.").
I don't have the means to do that. I'm on the minimalist side so I probably wouldn't anyway but I hear good things about it.
Since I do the same thing for each batch I make, I never run into bottle conditioning problems--all the beer I make carbonates fully sooner or later depending on the usual factors.
Would you mind answering a question?
If after three weeks, FG is constant, and I add the calculated amount of priming sugar, this will carbonate, I know, because there is healthy yeast in suspension.
BUT, if I added yeast (though unnecessary) at this same time, will I get the same level of carbonation because the beer is already fermented and the only thing that can be fermented is the X amount of priming sugar I added?
I appreciate it.

 

[Pappers_]

BUT, if I added yeast (though unnecessary) at this same time, will I get the same level of carbonation because the beer is already fermented and the only thing that can be fermented is the X amount of priming sugar I added?
I appreciate it.

Yes, adding yeast shouldn't impact how effervescent your beer is - assuming your yeast in suspension is viable and working. Adding yeast only matters if you think your yeast in suspension is not viable and working. The variable that impacts amount of carbonation (assuming viable yeast) is the amount of sugar in your priming solution.

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

May I add for clarification, if you were to add yeast at bottling because your ABV is high enough for the yeast to stop fermenting, you would need a different strain of yeast to add, one with higher alcohol tolerance.

 

[davidabcd]

May I add for clarification, if you were to add yeast at bottling because your ABV is high enough for the yeast to stop fermenting, you would need a different strain of yeast to add, one with higher alcohol tolerance.

What you mention is one of the finer points of bottling that I have yet to experience. Is the following accurate: the high ABV beer "wears out" the original yeast during fermentation and so it stops but it isn't finished because that yeast wasn't able to fully ferment the batch? Wouldn't adding a high-powered yeast, now, at bottling over carbonate because it's handling the priming sugar and the remaining, unfermented beer?
If this is all basic stuff, maybe save some time and just point me in the proper direction. Thank you.

 

[davidabcd]

Yes, adding yeast shouldn't impact how effervescent your beer is - assuming your yeast in suspension is viable and working. Adding yeast only matters if you think your yeast in suspension is not viable and working. The variable that impacts amount of carbonation (assuming viable yeast) is the amount of sugar in your priming solution.

Great. Also, one can leave bottles at room temperature as long as they want, right? Once the priming sugar is "eaten," it's eaten? "Drink fresh" beers not included.

 

[Pappers_]

Great. Also, one can leave bottles at room temperature as long as they want, right? Once the priming sugar is "eaten," it's eaten? "Drink fresh" beers not included.

Exactly!

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

What you mention is one of the finer points of bottling that I have yet to experience. Is the following accurate: the high ABV beer "wears out" the original yeast during fermentation and so it stops but it isn't finished because that yeast wasn't able to fully ferment the batch? Wouldn't adding a high-powered yeast, now, at bottling over carbonate because it's handling the priming sugar and the remaining, unfermented beer?
If this is all basic stuff, maybe save some time and just point me in the proper direction. Thank you.

If you have fermentables left then yes, however a nice malty wee heavy would have some higher mash temps that leave some unfermentable malt sugar behind. So using cask yeast and adding priming sugar will give you carbonation, but isn't necessary if the yeast hasn't yet hit the wall. I have done this with a 11.5 quad I brewed last year after it was stuck. BTW, the cask yeast did not alter the flavor of the brew.

 

[Pappers_]

So using cask yeast and adding priming sugar will give you carbonation, but isn't necessary if the yeast hasn't yet hit the wall.

What do you mean by 'cask yeast'? Haven't heard that term before.

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

What do you mean by 'cask yeast'? Haven't heard that term before.

CBC 1 (cask and bottle conditioning) thanks for asking, Pappers, I have a half pack in the fridge, but I'd rather share the link than get up and look, lol. http://www.lallemandbrewing.com/product-details/301/

 

[YankeeBrewer09]

http://boomchugalug.com/product/wee-olde-lizzie-scotch-ale/ Packs a wallop though!

 

[Dee74]

Well just to add an update. After 16 hours this brew is fermenting well. My O.G. WAS 1.085. I really focused on the little details of my process this time and boiled as much water as I could in a 5 gallon pot. I had to stay on top of this.one, it kept wanting to boil over. I am looking forward to seeing how this tastes in a few months.