Publius
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- Joined
- May 5, 2013
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I brewed a 1 gallon batch of barleywine 3 weeks ago, OG 1.125. Pitched a packet of US05, and it churned along steadily at about 62 degrees for the first 10 days or so. When the krausen subsided I raised the temp to 67 and the yeast became active.again for another few days. The gravity seems to have settled now at 1.030, which I believe puts me at about 75% attenuation and 12.5% ABV. So here is my dilemma:
I know I'm right at the limits of my yeast in terms of alcohol tolerance and attenuation, but I like where my beer is right now. The body and residual sweetness are right in line with what I was shooting for. Therefore, I would prefer not to add a higher alcohol tolerance yeast to bottle carb if I can avoid it. Do you think I can get away with just adding some priming sugar and hoping those yeasties are down for one last meal before the alcohol kills em off completely? I was thinking about maybe running a test by drawing out a small amount of wort into a cup, adding some table sugar, and watching for any signs of activity. Does that seem valid?
If I do try to bottle carb with just my existing yeast, would it be prudent to bottle now, as opposed to keeping it in primary longer or racking to secondary? I realize it would probably be better overall for the beer if it were to sit on that yeast cake for awhile longer, but if yeast viability is my foremost concern I feel like I should go ahead and prime/bottle?
Any thoughts / advice will be much appreciated!
I know I'm right at the limits of my yeast in terms of alcohol tolerance and attenuation, but I like where my beer is right now. The body and residual sweetness are right in line with what I was shooting for. Therefore, I would prefer not to add a higher alcohol tolerance yeast to bottle carb if I can avoid it. Do you think I can get away with just adding some priming sugar and hoping those yeasties are down for one last meal before the alcohol kills em off completely? I was thinking about maybe running a test by drawing out a small amount of wort into a cup, adding some table sugar, and watching for any signs of activity. Does that seem valid?
If I do try to bottle carb with just my existing yeast, would it be prudent to bottle now, as opposed to keeping it in primary longer or racking to secondary? I realize it would probably be better overall for the beer if it were to sit on that yeast cake for awhile longer, but if yeast viability is my foremost concern I feel like I should go ahead and prime/bottle?
Any thoughts / advice will be much appreciated!