I have a 3.1-gallon batch of English barleywine I made for next Christmas clocking in at a little over 11% ABV and clearing up nicely. When I bottle it in several more weeks, I assume I should add a little yeast. The original yeast was a starter made from WLP007.
How much yeast? Half a packet (dry), rehydrated?
What kind? (Safale 4?)
I doubt this matters, but I will be using 187-ml bottles.
(I started from this recipe but changed the hops schedule to get to the target IBUs Site Not Found)
Yes, I think a half a pack of dry yeast should be fine for a 3.1 gallon batch. I would rehydrate it if only to make sure you get good mixing. The kind of yeast doesn’t matter that much, whatever clean strain you have on hand should be fine.
Thanks!
Recent discussion here:
http://www.homebrewersassociation.org/forum/index.php?topic=6177.0
Fred makes a good point there about kegging, force carbing, and bottling
He does ( http://www.homebrewersassociation.org/forum/index.php?topic=6177.msg78348#msg78348 ). I’m halfway looking for an excuse to keg, but tying up my first keg til Xmas doesn’t sound fun.
Thanks again for the help; that long thread was very useful, but the question of how much yeast, what kind, and whether to hydrate got a little buried.
How much: 1/4, 1/3, 1/2? As long as there is some. You can put in 2 packs but if there isn’t any thing for them to eat it won’t matter. Split the difference and use a 1/2.
What kind: Some say use the same you fermented with. Some say use a neutral wine yeast like champagne. All you are trying to do here is carbonate. Brewer’s choice. Force carbonating will eliminate this stress in your life.
Hydrate: Start a new thread and after 10 or 15 pages of different options you still won’t have a definite answer. ;D
Fred has a good argument, or at least a good approach to kegging big beers. However, big beers can benefit from aging. If doing so, naturally carbonating in the bottle is the best way to go. As you’ve probably figure out from other threads, I’m a big proponent of aging or cellaring, and there’s no question that is best done with bottle conditioning. So … if drinking up relatively soon go ahead & keg it. If you have the patience & self control for aging, you could be in for a treat if you bottle condition.
I used a half pack of US-05 per 5 gallons of my last Barleywine. That worked out pretty good. It was rehydrated.
Hah! True! Though for brewing, I am of the “just sprinkle” crowd, but that’s because I’m then going to whisk the wort for at least five minutes. For bottling, hydrated yeast would appear to be easiest to gently incorporate. Or half a tube of liquid yeast, and use the other half for a starter for one of my small batches.
I bought a pot roast today, and I thought, are there people who spend this much time talking about pot roast? Then again, no one’s ever asked me to bring my pot roast to a party…