Am I ok??

since you're shooting for a barley wine i imagine you understand that the variety of yeast is pretty important. a yeast being able to thrive in a "higher-than-ale" alcohol environment is the key here. white labs' WLP008 should do an okay job if pitched in sufficient quantity. while it's not quite "to style" it's better than mixing in the additional dry yeast you've got on hand.

who knows? you might end up with exactly what you were aiming for!

happy trails, dan

The original BW recipe called for English Ale WLP 002---which I used in my IPA--could run to the homebrew store(40 miles) in the morn and get a tube of the "right" yeast and postpone brewing for a week---or maybe just give it a try----beer still will be better than what I can buy(Ihope)

Buzz

Right to that last. Yeast is a living organism, it will probably adapt to the higher than normal sugar/alcohol, and you will probably adapt to the beer.

Post your results?

yup, pitch big and enjoy the results. it'll be drinkable, no doubt, and possibly your signature brew in the future.

No problem with VIGOROUS fermentation---blowoff tube is definetly necessary--now the question is should I throw a champagne yeast in the mix when I transfer it to secondary in a couple weeks?? OG 1.120

thanks Buzz

Is the fermentation tapering off now? I don't know if I'd plan on adding another yeast. What is the theory for using champagne yeast at this stage?

If it were me, I'd be maintaining the temperature closely and just let it sit.

Two weeks in primary sounds like a long time even for that much sugar, but the fermentation will tell you when it should rack.

Have you tasted it? It will probably be fine without any more tweaking - beer happens.

The brew is chugging like a steam engine throught the hose--probably blown off a quart of krausen-recipe says to fermenmtation may last three weeks--this kit recomends champagne yeast in the secondary to ensure complete fermentation----it seems most of my brews(this is the 4th) spend 2 weeks in primary then a couple more in secondary b4 bottling---although the BW recipesays to leave in secondary for a couple months

thanks

Buzz

Interesting. I hadn't thought of using another yeast for secondary.

Rethinking . . . you may want to pitch the champagne yeast. The yeast you substituted originally has a lower attenuation than the one the recipe called for. That wouldn't be much of a concern, but for the quantity of extract used.

How long do you intend to keep this one in the secondary?

How is your temperature control?

I've only gone as high as 10 lbs of extract (4-7 is my usual range) and found that I had to keep it in secondary for three weeks.

I'll be brewing today. No fresh yeast on hand - a couple of packets of Doric dry that expired in '02. If the starter/proofing dies the choices are pitch with what is in the secondary I'm bottling today or use bread yeast. Should prove interesting. No particular recipe, but dark ale. Not worried - only bad batch was my first >14 years ago. Beer happens - good beer at that.

On Tue, 8 Mar 2005 19:26:11 -0600, "2fatbbq" wrote: My ambient temperature is all over the place so I added heaters to the carboys and a controller. Works very well.

With all the discussion about bread yeast and beer I had to try it. It does make decent beer. The batch is only 3 weeks in the bottle and my storage room is cold. So far it is a little under carbonated, but if there's a significant difference between Nottingham dry yeast and baker's yeast I don't taste it. Maybe a little more yeast taste or odor, but I don't trust my subjective judgement.

When it is better carbonated, I'll try it on an unsuspecting guinea pig see if they comment on it.

I forget what brand of yeast I have - it is in the fridge and in a quart jar.

Flocculation was good and I'd say it was "top fermenting." I only used 4 lbs of DME and it seems to be very dry. I quit using hydrometer readings.

This is a damn fine hobby . . .

boy that says alot!!!

Buzz