Yeast at Bottling

[BarrowBoy]

I was talking to a micro-brewer yesterday that sells bottle conditioned ale. He told me that when they bottle and add priming sugar they also mix in a portion of yeast (I noticed, in fact, that it was Safale SO4). You have to get the balance absolutely right (otherwise the things would just explode) but his argument was that the original yeast has done its job and in bottle it needs the introduction of a separate strain just for the purpose.

Does anyone do this at home? I confess that I just prime with 1/2 tsp glucose and leave it at that.

[Jim]

I'm aware that some commercial beers use a different yeast in the bottle from the one used for primary fermentation.

Not all do, though, so it's not absolutely essential. It may depend on the characteristics of the primiary yeast. If it's not a good settler, it may be unsuitable for bottle conditioning. Most homebrew yeasts settle quite well, but if you use obscure strains you may find they produce an unstable sediment in the bottle, resulting in cloudy beer when you pour carelessly.

[iowalad]

I just prime and cap. Seems to work just fine.

[oblivious]

For big beer 10%+ sometimes people throw in a packet of dry yeast, something neutral at bottling. As the high alcohol concentration can have pooped out the yeast.

[kinnockthecat]

I drop the beer into secondary for bottling, add a small amount of finings and then prime each bottle with a teaspoon of sugar before capping

Beer is pretty well carbonated after 3 weeks or so.