[EVANGABE]

A couple of years ago I bottled a barleywine. It did not carbonate as much as I would like. I now have an imperial stout that's been in the secondary for a couple of months and I want to bottle it. I'm concerned about There not being enough yeast remaining in order to carbonate the beer. I would like some recommendations as how to ensure that I have a decent carbonation level. I used White Labs 001 for the fermentation n I thought maybe about dehydrating a Safale 005 n adding it to the beer before bottling. Thanks. Jeff from Rehoboth Beach.

[Bob357]

A few granules of US-05 per bottle works great. Not much worry about contamination with the high alcohol level. Just wash and rinse your hands well, dip them in Starsan and let them air dry before distributing a pinch of yeast into several bottles. 3 or 4 -------- 6 to 8 granules, doesn't make a bunch of difference.

[dmtaylor]

I've been bottling every batch for 19 years.  A little fresh yeast is all that needed.  Don't even need a whole pack.  I wouldn't add some to every bottle, just a little to the whole batch.  A day or two before bottling, I would add like 1/4 pack of yeast per 5 gallons directly to the fermenter, no rehydration necessary.  Then monitor to ensure fermentation doesn't take off again -- if it does, you'll want to leave it alone until inactive again.  If all seems calm, then go ahead and bottle.  This will be enough yeast to carbonate your bottles for you.

[James K]

I have a similar question to this process because I have only repitched yeast once for a bottling run.

The carbonation you get is more a function of how much sugar is present in the beer?

I don’t want yeasty beer because I repitched yeast, but a few grains seems more ideal than not repitching (or using a whole pack of bottle conditioning yeart). I’ve had low gravity beers come out under/uncarbed (Brett’s and sours) because they sat in secondary for 6 months.

So even a little yeast is better than none I guess is my answer. And just keep the sugar the same?

[klickitat jim]

I'm having great luck leg conditioning and beerguning to bottles

[dmtaylor]

I have a similar question to this process because I have only repitched yeast once for a bottling run.

The carbonation you get is more a function of how much sugar is present in the beer?

I don’t want yeasty beer because I repitched yeast, but a few grains seems more ideal than not repitching (or using a whole pack of bottle conditioning yeart). I’ve had low gravity beers come out under/uncarbed (Brett’s and sours) because they sat in secondary for 6 months.

So even a little yeast is better than none I guess is my answer. And just keep the sugar the same?

Yes and yes.

[reverseapachemaster]

Reyeasting beer is an easy way to get healthy yeast back into the beer for carbonation. You can add yeast in the bottling bucket as you're siphoning so the cells mix into the beer or you can add a little to each bottle. On a bottle-by-bottle addition you really only need a few (literally like five) granules of dry yeast per bottle. They will find your sugar and do their thing.

If you have slurry from a recent batch you can add a little to the bottling bucket instead of buying dry yeast. This is a situation where doing the old yeast rinsing process might be useful if you have a lot of trub mixed in with the yeast. But again, you need very little. A teaspoon of slurry is more than enough.

The important consideration is that the yeast you add are viable and capable of fermenting in that beer. With high gravity beers you need to use a yeast that has alcohol tolerance above the ABV of your beer. Many yeast easily go above manufacturer tolerance listings but I always try to stay within the listed tolerance for bottle conditioning. You're adding yeast to a hostile environment rather than dropping them off in a giant buffet of sugar. If the ABV is particularly high consider a champagne yeast for bottling. They will consume the available simple sugars without flavor contribution and have a high alcohol tolerance.

[denny]

I have a similar question to this process because I have only repitched yeast once for a bottling run.

The carbonation you get is more a function of how much sugar is present in the beer?

I don’t want yeasty beer because I repitched yeast, but a few grains seems more ideal than not repitching (or using a whole pack of bottle conditioning yeart). I’ve had low gravity beers come out under/uncarbed (Brett’s and sours) because they sat in secondary for 6 months.

So even a little yeast is better than none I guess is my answer. And just keep the sugar the same?

I put 1/2-1 tsp. of dry yeast in the bottling bucket for high grav beers.  And yes, keep the sugar the same.