i tried searching for any posts or threads about this but didn’t find any.
is it advisable to say, take a pack of liquid yeast with a cell count of say 80 to 100 million, add it directly to 4 gallons of chilled ~1.03 gravity wort, wait until 24 hours after a good krausen then add 1 gallon of concentrated and chilled wort that makes the total gravity say ~1.08 or higher.
why? i dont want to make a huge yeast starter for a very strong beer, this seems potentially easier as well as my time is limited. high OG 2nd addition will be made from LME, so add LME, quick 15 min boil, chill and add.
issues: 1. accurate hopping/bitterness issues (i would plan on doing all hop additions to the initial 4 gallons) - anyone have experience with this?
2. yeast cell count/viability/? issues? my hope is
pros: 1. it could be a time/effort efficient way to get a very viable, adequately sized yeast going for a very high gravity beer (sorry, but this has always been an issue of mine, that hinders me from making big beers)
2. reduces amount of yeast needed to brew larger quantities of beer, more brews or bigger ones.
Many breweries do something similar. but without the concentrated wort addition. They combine 2 batches of the same wort using that procedure. I’d be hesitant to add a highly concentrated wort into a fermentation in progress for fear that the yeast might react in a negative way. Why not just double batch like breweries do and not take the chance of screwing up a brew?
Maybe a small batch to see how it works.
I always am hesitant to “answer” an OP with a suggestion to do something other than what was asked about but I can’t help but mention that making a batch of smaller beer first then adding the wort to the yeast cake works great. I just did a 1.060 Rye Porter followed by a 1.085 RIS.
I have the same concern as Bob about adding the high gravity wort: but no experience, so don’t let that stop you.
I get where you’re going with this. I’ve had a similar idea in the past but always ended up going the route Pete mentioned (brewing a batch of smaller beer as a big starter). My gut says your plan should work. I would definitely hit it with a shot of oxygen when you add the concentrated wort. Give it a try and let us know how it works.
I agree with Eric that this should technically work and honestly, for selfish and lazy reasons, would like you to try it and report back.
What I do wonder about though is the effect of adding that high gravity wort made from lme. I think the attenuation might be not enough and the beer ends up being too sweet. Maybe a portion is sugar?
Here’s a crazy idea: set aside the first runnings and add back later? I know, your not looking for more work and you would have to find a way to keep them from getting infected.
Not sure what style this is for, but I imagine you’d want to hop both additions if doing this with a hoppy style due to solubility limits of certain hop compounds.
uh so yeah, 4 litres of water hypersaturated with LME and sugar turns into at least 8 litres in volume of liquid, that when boiling , foams over many times higher than a typical boilover and cleaning up liquid candy burning on your stove top is not fun. just something to consider.
it also seems to be taking a lot longer to cool down. Something I didn’t consider before starting this and definitely two big negatives already.