Yeast Problem

[Shortstraw]

I was looking at doing a barley wine so I grabbed a recipe online. The problem is I took a look at the OG and FG the recipe listed and it would reach about 11.7% alcohol but the yeast used is listed as only having a tolerance of 10%. Is it going to carbonate in the bottles or should I ignore the recipe and use a different yeast?

Wyeast 1056 American Ale
Origin:
Flocculation: Medium-Low
Attenuation: 73-77%
Temperature Range: 60-72F, 15-22C
Alcohol Tolerance: 10% ABV

 

[newguy]

There's no hard and fast rules to getting a heavy beer to carbonate. Sometimes the yeast will do a good job on its own but that's quite rare in my experience. Some things to try:

- Add a fresh yeast starter at bottling time along with the priming sugar. A couple of tsp of yeast nutrient dissolved in a little boiling water can't hurt either.
- Once bottled, gently invert & swirl each bottle 1-2x per day for 2 weeks.
- Once bottled, put the bottles in an esky filled with water. Install an aquarium heater to keep the works warm (~25C) for 2 weeks.

There are probably other tips but I can't think of any right now. I've personally done all 3 and they've all been able to salvage a flat batch for me. I've since moved on to an even more foolproof method: keg, force carbonate, then bottle.

 

[Dingo1961]

You could always bottle with a bit of champagne yeast added. That kind of beer is typically not very carbonated anyway.

 

[Shortstraw]

I thought about that but if I bottle it with Champagne yeast and there is still 1.7% alc worth of fermentables in the carboy then I get bottle bombs.....

 

[kenlock]

If you are looking to do a Barleywine which is above 10%, I wouldn't have thought 1056 would be the yeast you're looking to use.

Maybe try an Irish or an English Ale .

Cheers Ken

 

[Stuster]

I think you'll be fine with that level of alcohol and 1056. I've only used the dried version but it's certainly a very hardy yeast and I've got it to carbonate an 11% beer just fine.

I think that you've got to treat the yeast well though. I would definitely make a smaller beer first and use some of the slurry for this barleywine. And oxygenate the wort well. Even give it more oxygen after it's started. And rousing can be a good idea. Make sure temps are fairly controllable as the temps can run away with all that yeast in a big beer.

Have you made any big beers before? What's the recipe you have?