Conditioning for two months.. Do I need to add yeast?

[yasureyoubetcha]

I have had a Porter racked in secondary for two months, and am planning to bottle relatively soon in order to have a few bottles ready by Christmas. Airlock activity has all but stopped, it does appear the airlock liquid moves day to day, but... Anyway, do I need to add more yeast when I add the priming solution..? and if so how much?

Thanks!

[Denny]

Probably not. What was the OG?

[Conroe]

I'd just sprinkle 2 grams of dry yeast into the bottling bucket. Sure you might not need it but what harm could it do? I've done it many times and it works great for me.

[Shadetree]

You can probably get away with not adding yeast, but why risk it? And why make yourself crazy waiting 4+ weeks for it to carb (if the majority of the yeast dropped out), drinking one beer a week and hoping it'll finally get there?

As Conroe said, add 2-3 grams of yeast (I like to rehydrate, nicer to the yeast I think) to the bottles and you'll pretty much guarantee enough yeast. I find it worth the tiny amount of time and the $1 in yeast to have fully-carbed beer in a week.

[coypoo]

what kind of yeast do you usually use to bottle carb?

[Denny]

what kind of yeast do you usually use to bottle carb?

Anything. I usually use US05.

[Shadetree]

what kind of yeast do you usually use to bottle carb?

Anything. I usually use US05.

+1, but I've been going with S-04 recently and am struck by how fast it carbs and how clear it drops out. Plus, it forms a very hard cake on the bottom of the bottle, allowing for a better pour. YMMV, of course.

[Conroe]

I use T-58 because it sticks to the bottom of the bottle. Fermentis recommends it and S-33. Nottingham works very well too. Fermentis' PDF shows 2.5 g/hl to 5.0 g/hl for bottle-conditioning. I think that converts to .5-1 gram for a five gallon batch. I never weigh it, I just pepper the suffice as the bucket fills then stir it well before bottling. My last 8% cold conditioned IPA too about 10 days to fully carbonate.

[ynotbrusum]

Not to hijack this thread, but I have a June Barleywine that will be my Yuletide gifts to my beer friends.... If I bottle in mid-November should I add priming sugar and some Safale US-05 or Nottingham to the bottling bucket?

Great to have this as a resource.

[MDunne]

Not to hijack this thread, but I have a June Barleywine that will be my Yuletide gifts to my beer friends.... If I bottle in mid-November should I add priming sugar and some Safale US-05 or Nottingham to the bottling bucket?

I sure would. I do this for all my bigger beers that have been sitting for over a month or so.

[Geoff Henderson]

I like regular old Munton's Ale Yeast (not the gold) for bottle conditioning. It really sticks to the bottom and is only $0.50 a pack! With US-05 prices rising, you can't beat Munton's! I probably shouldn't post this or those prices will soar as well! I had US-05 dry out a Belgian Dubbel in the bottle and that kind of pissed me off! It was still good brew, just not what I intended.

[Shadetree]

I had US-05 dry out a Belgian Dubbel in the bottle and that kind of pissed me off! It was still good brew, just not what I intended.

It's possible, but seems improbable - the common Belgian yeasts used for dubbels shouldn't have left much of anything for the US-05 to munch on. And I'd think that the yeast would preferentially consume the priming sugar, the pressure would rise, and it would go dormant before it had a chance to start working on any complex wort sugars left in the beer.

I've used US-05 for priming 1000s of bottles of beer and never had one dry out on me.

[Geoff Henderson]

The Dubbel was a 10 gallon batch that got split. Half went to keg after secondary (something I only do for high gravity brews) and the other half went to bottles. I let the keg sit in my basement for a few weeks before chilling and putting on draft and the bottles stayed in the basement. I tasted side by side and there was a discernible difference between the two.

[1vertical]

I use T-58 because it sticks to the bottom of the bottle. Fermentis recommends it and S-33. Nottingham works very well too. Fermentis' PDF shows 2.5 g/hl to 5.0 g/hl for bottle-conditioning. I think that converts to .5-1 gram for a five gallon batch. I never weigh it, I just pepper the suffice as the bucket fills then stir it well before bottling. My last 8% cold conditioned IPA too about 10 days to fully carbonate.

I brewed with that yeast and believe the T is for "trappist" and IMO it was NOT a neutral flavor profile...I'm just sayin....

[Conroe]

The few points needed for carbonation have no noticeable impact on the flavor profile IMO. I do think that for carbonation levels of 4 volumes or more the sugar starts to noticeably impact the body of the beer.