Bottle conditioning a 2 year old wild ale

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by mattbk, Nov 25, 2015.

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  1. mattbk

    mattbk Savant (1,099) Dec 12, 2011 New York

    Hiho there gang!

    So, it's been 2+ years since we made this:

    http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/wild-homebrew-demo.97173/#post-1425937

    and it turned out pretty good. We made 2 x 5 gallon batches. One turned out very brett forward with moderate lactic sourness, one turned very, very lactic. We are going to blend 1:1 in a 1/2 keg then bottle off the keg. I'd like to carb to about 2.7-2.8 vols. We'll probably drink one after carbonation and store the rest of them. I'm going to bottle in 16oz higher pressure belgian bottles, crown, and probably wax coat as well. Hoping to get 60 or so bottles.

    My one question is: if I naturally carbonate, will there be enough active yeast in solution, or do I absolutely need to pitch fresh yeast?

    I love that this batch is made from naturally occurring yeast, and would hate to have to add lab yeast, but I also don't want to serve this beer flat. Any experience bottle conditioning wild ales that have 2+ years on them?

    I suppose I could also carb in a keg and beer gun, but that just doesn't seem right for a beer like this, plus I assume I would lose a lot to foaming, and this beer is so precious I don't want to waste any.

    thanks as always! :grinning:
     
  2. Seacoastbrewer

    Seacoastbrewer Initiate (0) Jun 5, 2012 New Hampshire

    I have personally bottled beer after bulk aging for 1.5 years without adding yeast. Carbonation still occurred after 10 days or so (sometimes longer depending on the batches). No doubt there is risk involved. You could always just bottle a couple and see what happens if you want peace of mind for such a large time investment. Probably a pain to do, but if you're willing to let beer age for two years, it would be worthwhile in my estimation.
     
  3. JackHorzempa

    JackHorzempa Grand Pooh-Bah (3,181) Dec 15, 2005 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah Society

    Matt, I appreciate why you would prefer to not force carbonate this beer but this may the most prudent course of action since you will be assured of a properly carbonated beer. Based upon my BA thread readings you can mitigate foaming during bottling by dialing back the CO2 pressure prior to bottling with the beer gun.

    Good luck with whatever process you finally decide on.

    Cheers!

    Jack
     
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  4. RashyGrillCook

    RashyGrillCook Initiate (0) Apr 30, 2011 Florida

    Could you pull a bit out to put in a mason jar and then add a small amount of priming sugar to see if the yeast and bugs are still viable or come back to life?
    That's not something I've done before, but I can't think of a reason why it would be a bad idea.
     
  5. GeoSteve

    GeoSteve Initiate (0) Aug 11, 2014 Maryland

    I agree with you, a beer like this shouldn't be force carbed. If you've had the same Belgian Gueuze from a keg and a bottle, there's no comparison IMO. Personally I've never bottled a beer this old, but my feeling is it will carb up. I would probably try and get a bit of yeast from the cake into the bottling bucket/keg. Also might be good to give it a couple of months in the bottle in case it gets ropy or takes a while to fully carb. Good luck!
     
  6. Brew_Betty

    Brew_Betty Initiate (0) Jan 5, 2015 Wisconsin

    Try to carb one bottle. A plastic soda bottle works well for this test. The bottle will get hard if the beer carbs. Remember there is no residual co2 left in your beer. Priming calculators assume a certain amount of co2 is still in the beer, so you will need more sugar than the calculator specifies.
     
  7. secondbase

    secondbase Initiate (0) Jun 3, 2015 Tennessee

    The brett will still likely be viable. I've had issues with brett producing THP (that mousey/cheerios flavor) when I don't re-pitch sacch at bottling long-term sours. For this reason, I generally re-pitch some yeast at bottling. I get a quicker conditioning time when I do it this way.
     
    mattbk likes this.
  8. mattbk

    mattbk Savant (1,099) Dec 12, 2011 New York

    I think the safest bet is going to be to pitch some lab yeast for this. I'd hate to ruin it by skipping this one step, and I can explain it to myself (and others) that we had to repitch some yeast to achieve proper carbonation, flavor and mouthfeel. Thanks as always.
     
  9. bgjohnston

    bgjohnston Initiate (0) Jan 14, 2009 Connecticut

    I bottled a 3-year old wild ale with no trouble and no additional yeast added at bottling. Hell, it carbonated even more quickly than a re-yeasted "clean" beer that had an extended aging period.
     
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