Bottling with secondary yeast

Whatever you decide I wouldn't use the whole package. I would only use a gram or two per 5 gallons.

 

My personal process for adding yeast during bottling is the rehydrate the yeast and pour it in the bottom of the bottling bucket along with the priming sugar solution and siphon the beer into the bottling bucket.

You may not need the entire contents of the sachet but I add the entire contents since I would just throw out what I didn’t use. Using the entire sachet will not affect anything.

Cheers!

 

Agree, a partial (~20%) package is plenty. I would hydrate the yeast in warm water and then stir the yeast slurry into the beer after transferring the beer to the bottling bucket.

 

I suggested not using the whole package because it is not needed and if you do you end up with a lot more yeast in each bottle. For me this means I end up leaving a bit more beer in each bottle when I pour one out. It may not matter to most people.

 

I always end up with a thin layer (about 1/16 inch) of sediment on the bottom of my bottles whether I add a packet of yeast at bottling or not. When I decant I leave about ¼ inch of fluid left in the bottle.

Message to Mike Charley: if you want to use just a portion of the sachet that will ‘work’. As to whether there will be appreciably more sediment on the bottom of the bottle if you use a whole packet? I have never really noticed that to be the case for my homebrewing practice. Needless to say but YMMV.

Cheers!

 

I also found this quote from OldSock on Babblebelt about amount of yeast to use at bottling.
"I have heard (from Chad Y) that if you use too much yeast (in addition to more sediment in the bottle) you can end up with over-carbonation when the cells autolyze and release trehelose which Brett can ferment."
I have no idea it this is a real concern. It sounds reasonable in theory, but in practice I wonder what amount of excess yeast would be needed to make a noticable difference.

 

Whenever I added yeast at bottling, I usually rehydrate an entire packet and add it the night before bottling. I never had any problem with overcarbonation and, as others here have asked, what do you rest with the rest of the packet if you don't use it all?

 

What is the reason behind adding yeast during bottling? Is it for carbonation purposes? I've never done this but interested.

 

If used in a high alcohol beer or a beer that has aged for a long time where there will not be much healthy yeast left in suspension, it provides fresh yeast to consume the priming sugar for carbonation.

 

there should be no need to add yeast at bottling. unless you have severely filtered your brew, there are plenty of cells to get the job done.

if you do have a reason to add yeast, you might consider a highly flocking yeast to help clearing the brew. US-04 is a good choice as it packs down nicely. in general, adding yeast at bottling is a waste of money and effort.
keep in mind too that the added yeast will only consume the priming sugar and then go dormant, which is exactly what the primary yeast will do. you won't get better results at all. not at all.

a whole package, 11g or less if you want, doesn't matter. rehydrate in water 90-100 works, and dump into your bottling bucket before transferring beer on top. this will provide a good mix. if you use 1/2 package or 4 packs, same difference. it all settles out. the cells that do the work are in suspension.
Cheers

 

Bill, since the OP mentioned “Looking to bottle a sour with s05 tomorrow” I made the assumption that he had an extended secondary (I personally do not brew sours but I assume they involve an extended secondary). The conventional wisdom (is that the proper term?) is that with an extended secondary there may not be sufficient yeast for proper bottle conditioning.

Do you have specific experience here? Have your had extended secondary for sour beers properly carbonated without the need for adding yeast at bottling?

Cheers!

Jack

 

Thank you for that post. It confirms my assumption that you had an extended secondary.

Cheers!

 

very good point Jack.
with an extended secondary in particular I would likely add a bottling yeast (though im a kegger now).
my experience and knowledge tells me that there are always enough yeast to get the job done, but another dose of bottling yeasts is very good insurance.
I don't do sours myself. no patience! maybe soon.

Cheers.

 

I bottled a quad a month ago and it is still trying to carb, not there yet. Hopefully some more time will get it there. I wish I had added some US-05 at bottling.

 

With sours I like to use K1V1 for bottling, as it is very acid tolerant and makes very compact lees

I highly suggest a rehydration before adding to the beer, as its a pretty hostile environment if its sour to just dump dry yeast into

You wont need much yeast either, 1-2g max

 

Being the pants and suspenders type, as well as a penny pincher, I add a little yeast – about 3 grams – rehydrated to the bottling bucket. Since all the yeast is doing at that point is converting simple bottling sugars, I just use supermarket bread yeasts at 50¢ or so a packet. Why waste a packet of US05 for simple sugar conversion.

 

Rehydrate the yeast and use as much as needed, around 3 grams. I personally use dry Champagne yest like Lalvin EC 1118