Pitch new yeast?

Question

I've been carbouy aging my beer for 2 months.  Should I pitch some new yeast into it when I prime it, or will there be enough left alive to reactivate?thanksZack

JS · Accepted Answer

You don't need to pitch new yeast. It may take a little longer to carbonate, but the sediment in the bottles will be minimal. The only time it seems to be recommended to add fresh yeast is in the case of a several month long lagering period. Al Korzonas, however, in his Homebrewing Vol. 1, observed that he had left brew in secondary for a year without adding yeast, and the carbonation took hold regardless.

Tom Lampman · Answer

I've taken sediment from my secondary, washed it to get rid of the trub andcapped some in a beer bottle and put into the frig. 4 months later, Irehydrated some Munton's spray dried malt and added the bottle of yeast andafter 48 hours had fermentation start.I wouldn't reccommend this as a standard procedure, but it does demonstratehow resilient those little critters can be.I regularly lager my beer for 1 to 3 months and have never had to pitch newyeast. However, I normally use liquid yeast and not packaged stuff. Thebottling procedure should aerate the beer enough to give the yeast a boost.Uncle tommy

wild · Answer

there beIn my favorite recipe book "BeerCaptured" most of the recipes containthe following statement:"Prime the beerin the second stage with another dose of the samestrain of fresh yeast 3 daysbefore bottling."So I don't see why it wouldn't hurt.Wild

Pitch new yeast?

Join the Discussion

Didn't find your answer?