The title says it all. I am going to bottle an alt that has been lagering in the fridge for 6 weeks. Do I need to add some yeast to bottle, or can I just rouse some yeast sitting on the bottom (I obviously did a secondary in glass to lager)?
I’ve never found it necessary to add more yeast in that situation. But it might not hurt, either.
I’m with Denny, unless you sorbated, which I doubt, you should be fine
it doesn’t take very many of those buggers
i had a vienna lagering for about 8 weeks. got worried too much yeast would be gone. i had saved a little slurry from the primary and added 1 tablespoon. then bottled. at end of bottling the tablespoon of yeast was still in a clump on the bottom. still carbonated very well. (problem with this batch was the formaldehyde/medicinal taste that i haven’t tracked down to chlorinated water, sanitation, or poor temperature control with the sanfrancisco lager yeast)
so, probably not needed to re-add yeast.
Another vote for:
Don’t bother.
I brew mostly lagers since I have my fermenting freezer and temp control. Like Weithman5, I use slurry saved from the primary. I lager for 3-4 weeks @ 32* and use about 1/2 tsp. of slurry gently stirred into the bottling bucket with the priming sugar or DME mixture. I read about this method some where, I can’t remember where. I have never had any problem with conditioning, but I have never done it without the extra yeast so I may very well be wasting my time and adding extra yeast. I guess for now I will continue to error on the side of caution as I don’t see too much problem with the small amount of extra yeast staying in the bottles unless I plan to keep the beer around for an extended period (I have too many taste testers to let that happen).
I’d say, if you do re-pitch, use the same yeast that you used for your primary/secondary fermentation. I had the same question for my first lager that I’d had lagering for 6 weeks. I brewed it with fresh MN Snow for my water source so I didn’t want to mess it up during bottling. I ended up using nottingham dry yeast per my LHBS’s suggestion. I wish I would’ve used Bohemian Lager yeast. I think that the nottingham gave it a fruity flavor that wasn’t present before bottling. Still a tasty beer, but my suggestion is, don’t re-pitch with yeast. If you do, use the same yeast as in primary/secondary!
Cheers…and please anyone correct me if I’m off base.
Seems like the general advice is not to add. Personally, I have had enough issues with carbonation in bottles that I add 1/2 pack of dry lager yeast before bottling, if I am brewing a lager or high-gravity beer. It is cheap insurance. I typically rehydrate it in the priming solution and then mix it in as I normally would. you will likely have good carbonation in one week with this method.
My first lager, a maerzen, was lagered for 8 weeks. I tried bottle conditioning without re-yeasting and the bottles did eventually carbonate…8 weeks later.
What temperature do you bottle condition in? I typically bottle condition where I ferment, which is colder than ideal for generating carbonation, but I don’t have a great alternative place to use, so I have had to learn patience the hard way… flat beer is typically not what your looking for. My stocks are so high now, it really doesn’t matter though! Happy brewing!