I’ve read that you need to add more yeast to a lager at bottling because the yeast will be too dormant to carbonate.
I have an Oktoberfest in primary right now. I’m going to kick it up to 65 next week for a D-rest.
Then we’ll transfer to secondary and lager until September.
Do I need to add more yeast? If so, how much and what kind? We used the Wyeast Bavarian Lager strain…are we supposed to harvest the yeast cake and save some for bottling day? How do you know how much of it to add in?
Thanks!
I think the longest I had a beer in cool/cold secondary and still was able to naturally carb without adding yeast was about 6 weeks. What was the OG of the Festbier, do you know? The higher it is, the worse the yeast’s health will be so that may be a factor as well. The strain of yeast you use for carbing will matter less than the strain you used for fermenting but I’m not sure that you would need it. I think it’s possible that you could just try to kick up a bit of the yeast when you transfer to the bottling bucket and although the carbing process may take a bit longer, I think it would actually carb naturally by itself. If you do decide to add more, you could save some of the 2206 and add just a small amount (less than 50ml?) to the bottling bucket and then rack on top. You don’t need a lot of yeast to prime bottles. But think about that for a second… if you save the 2206 in the fridge until bottling day, what makes that yeast better for priming than the yeast at the bottom of your secondary? Hmm. It’s been so long that I’ve been force-carbing beer that I’m not sure if it’s necessary or not.
The OG was 1.052
It’ll be in secondary in the lager chamber for July, August and most of September.
I suppose there might be a little yeast left at the bottom of the secondary that we could dump into the bottling bucket.
I guess I just…don’t know! I’d hate to bottle and then have a whole batch that’s flat.
[quote=“stompwampa”]The OG was 1.052
It’ll be in secondary in the lager chamber for July, August and most of September.
I suppose there might be a little yeast left at the bottom of the secondary that we could dump into the bottling bucket.
I guess I just…don’t know! I’d hate to bottle and then have a whole batch that’s flat.[/quote]
I had a pilsner in the cooler at 36 for three months that carbed fine without any additional yeast.
My last Ofest(last fall/winter) I didn’t add any extra yeast and it carbonated fine. However I back-to-backed it with a Cascadian Dark Lager and did add 1/2 packet of Munton’s generic yeast when I bottled that. Both lagering times were 6 weeks. The CDL did carbonate maybe a week quicker than the Ofest. It doesn’t hurt to add a little extra yeast if you’re worried, and yes get the cheapest stuff you can find and add 1/4-1/2 of a pack.
Hey there,
Had the same questions when i did my first lager a few months ago. It was a Czech Pils(1.048) that lagered @ 37 deg. for about 2 months. I also was afraid to ruin a batch after ten weeks of time, but listened to these guys & did not add yeast at bottling. At 2 weeks, i bummed when it was flat. 4 weeks after bottling, i tried it again with paranoia, and it was frickin’ beautiful man! It’s almost gone a couple weeks later, but with patience, turned out fantastic. Listen to the experts, be patient, and enjoy!! :cheers:
My preference would be to allow the yeast you used for primary fermentation do the natural carbing for you and I like some of these responses. I know that the one I had in cold secondary for 6-8 weeks visually appeared to be crystal clear but I remember talking with a few brewers saying that there could still be a bunch of yeast available for carbing even though the beer looked filtered. I asked about the OG because if it was a bigger Festbier (7-8%), the yeast could really be fatigued but I don’t think you’re going to have that issue. When you transfer from secondary to bottling bucket, try to rouse up a small amount of the yeast layer (I know we typically try NOT to do that) but just to be safe, get a little bit in there. Please keep us posted & good luck… sounds like a delicious beer.
Thanks, Ken!
Actually, this particular recipe is a mix between the Oktober recipe on your website and the kit from Northern Brewer! I’m really excited to try it!
I know this is an older post, but, I was looking for info. on this same issue. On a whim, here is what I did. After Primary, transfered to secondary. When Secondary finished there was quite a layer of pretty much pure yeast in the bottom. I saved it all, since I reuse yeast two or three times. After Lagering finished I went to bottle and when adding priming sugar I added a half teaspoon of the yeast from the Secondary. I had saved the yeast in boiled water with a small amount of dme added then allowed it to cool, of course. I kept it in the back of the fridge in a mason jar, loosely capped for CO2 to escape. This worked perfectly. There was no cloudiness from the small amount I added. The bottles had minimal trub in the bottoms of the bottles. Barely enough to see. Hope this helps others looking for answers. I did not want to risk failed carbonation after 12 weeks invested.
