I have an oktoberfest that has been lagerring for 2 months. I’m ready to bottle it but I have some questions. A lot of places I see talk about adding yeast but don’t talk about how much to add to the bottling bucket. I used saf 34/60 for the fermentation and have an extra packet that can be used for bottling. Should I use 1/3 of a packet or a weigh a certain amount out? I have 5 gallons to bottle.
Also I’ve been laggering at 35 F. Do I need to bring the temp up higher for the yeast to survive or will the cold temp of the beer shock the yeast to much and it won’t carbonate? Is there a certain temp I should bring it up to before I bottle?
I’ve brewed many a lager with 34/70. I’ve lagered 4 months and still had enough yeast to do the carbonating job. That said, it wouldn’t hurt to add 1/3 of the pack into the bottling bucket for good measure. I bottle cold but let the bottles warm up to room temp for carbonation. Yeast get temp shock going down in temp. They don’t mind getting warmer.
[quote=“mvsawyer”]I’ve brewed many a lager with 34/70. I’ve lagered 4 months and still had enough yeast to do the carbonating job. That said, it wouldn’t hurt to add 1/3 of the pack into the bottling bucket for good measure. I bottle cold but let the bottles warm up to room temp for carbonation. Yeast get temp shock going down in temp. They don’t mind getting warmer.
:cheers: [/quote]
+1.
I’ve gone about 6 weeks at 35° and there was still plenty of active yeast for carbonation. I don’t bottle much anymore but I have never added yeast back to the bottling bucket. I could see it if it was a super-high gravity beer where the yeast might be stressed or dead. Also, go ahead and bottle cold as mvsawyer mentioned but know that you will have to warm up the bottles for natural carb to form. Once the carb level is good, feel free to move some or all of the bottles to a cooler spot. Good luck Lagerman!
