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Bottling Barleywine

Northern Brewer General
#1

I brewed the NB barley wine last fall and it has been sitting in secondary since Nov 15 2013. My plan is to bottle on Thursday May 15th after giving the beer 6 months to condition in secondary as recommended in the instructions. My question is should I add some more yeast at bottling to ensure I get carbonation since the beer as been in secondary for so long.

I brewed the imperial stout last fall and let it condition for 4 months before bottling and added the Danstar cask conditioning yeast when I bottled it. Everything is great but I think its a little too carbonated for a stout. I was thinking about using a champagne yeast this time around as I’ve drank a few commercial stouts that say they were refermented with it and they were good. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

In case you are wondering the process I used last time was to boil the priming sugar in two cups of water for 10 minutes, cool to 70 degrees, add the yeast and let it rest for 30 minutes. I then pour it into the bottling bucket while I"m siphoning the beer in and gently stir with the siphon when finished to ensure proper mixing.

#2

It really depends on the ABV of the beer and the yeast strain used, but to be safe, adding a little dry yeast at bottling time is a good idea. It won’t hurt and why risk uncarbed bottles? You don’t need much yeast and it’s as easy as sprinkling a little in your bucket before bottling.

#3

Dobe,
Thanks for the reply. How much yeast would you use? The last time I did this I used the entire 11g packet so that may be why the stout is over carbonated. Also the last time I checked the barley wine is at 9.5 percent.

#4

The amount of yeast you use won’t have any effect on the level of carbonation. The amount of sugar will. Since you used a Norther Brewer kit, I’d use their calculator to decide.

http://www.northernbrewer.com/priming-sugar-calculator/

As for the amount of yeast, not much. Maybe a few grams if you have any dry yeast laying around. Or if you have anything else fermenting, you could always scoop a little bit off the yeast cake. Again, you really don’t need much. The key is to make sure it’s mixed well and to get the priming sugar correct.

#5

Agree with dobe. A couple grams of dry should do it. Rehydrating may help mixing in.

#6

Yeah, about 3-5 grams worked for me. I’ve used the whole pack before. It won’t overcarb, but you end up with more sediment in the bottle.

I haven’t bottled in a while, but I think I used Nottingham. It was cheap and settled into a tight layer.

#7

Don’t rehydrate the yeast in the sugar syrup - much too concentrated for proper yeast health. Either add it dry and let it rehydrate in the beer or rehydrate in sterile, warm water.

#8

I am so glad this tread popped up!

I am about to bottle my first barley wine and have been unsure on how to bottle it with enough carbonation.

From what I have just read all I need, besides the proper amount of sugar for desired carbonation, is a teaspoon of champagne yeast to ensure carbonation does in fact happen?

#9

I ordered the Barley Wine Kit from NB and will be bottling sometime in December. I see you recommend using dry yeast… will this matter if I am pitching liquid wyeast? Does the yeast have to be the same kind at pitch vs right before you bottle?

#10

won’t matter if you pitch with liquid yeast, but if you haven’t brewed already, make sure you use a big, beefy starter. when you add the yeast on bottling day, it doesn’t need to be the same brand, but try a neutral strain (04, 05, or even champagne). or, you can do the easy thing and buy a keg setup. you won’t regret it.

#11

The keg setup is so very tempting… and I will eventual get there.

But my never ending attempt to procure enough bottles has been a fairly convenient story to explain to the wife why I need more beer!

#12

I will be bottling my barleywine in a couple of days. An experienced home brewer told me that adding additional yeast for bottling will cause the bottles to explode. I used the Northern Brewer Barleywine extract kit and it calls for the yeast at bottling. Will adding yeast at bottling cause bottle bombs?

#13

Only if the beer was not completely finished fermenting.

#14

Thanks for the reply Rookie L A,

I feel confident now, the barleywine has been in the secondary for 6months so I believe all fermentation has stopped.

#15

Only if the beer was not completely finished fermenting.[/quote]

Correct, additional yeast will only consume available sugar. Unfinished fermentation or excessive priming sugar will cause bottle bombs.

#16

With big beers, I tend to do two to three yeast additions. T-58 has become my main priming beer. I’ll often pour some T-58 into the seconday about a week before bottling. I check for any fermentation in a day or two. At bottling, I’ll pitch the rest of the T-58 to prime.

#17

[quote=“BostonBrewins”]The keg setup is so very tempting… and I will eventual get there.

But my never ending attempt to procure enough bottles has been a fairly convenient story to explain to the wife why I need more beer![/quote]

I rarely keg something strong like a barley wine. They often take a while to age, which ties up a keg for a while. Drinking barley wines isn’t something I do on a daily basis.

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