Is sediment yeast too much for bottling a lager?

[BrewBlender]

I know that after lagering for a long time at low temps, you need to re-introduce yeast at bottling time. But if I want to use the yeast sediment from a 'just finished fermenting' ale, is it ok to just pour all the sludge from the bottom of the carboy into the priming bucket? Will it be too much?

In the past, I have just added a Wyeast pack or a White Labs vial in with the corn sugar and the results were great. Will the sediment yeast from a carboy be too much yeast for bottling?? Can I just pour some of it? How much is enough?

[Dr Scott]

I know that after lagering for a long time at low temps, you need to re-introduce yeast at bottling time. But if I want to use the yeast sediment from a 'just finished fermenting' ale, is it ok to just pour all the sludge from the bottom of the carboy into the priming bucket? Will it be too much?

In the past, I have just added a Wyeast pack or a White Labs vial in with the corn sugar and the results were great. Will the sediment yeast from a carboy be too much yeast for bottling?? Can I just pour some of it? How much is enough?

There should be enough yeast left in solution to get the job done w/o adding a "smack pack" again, or adding back that much spent yeast. You will also get some from the fermenter bottom as you rack it to the bucket.

[BrewBlender]

The problem is I've been lagering in a secondary carboy at 32-35 degrees for 5 weeks and most of the yeast has settled out...it can't be used to carbonate, right? If I am going to "re-introduce" yeast, can I use 'new' spent yeast from the primary of a different brew? And if so, how much? Can I just pour the bottom slurry of the primary carboy into the primimg bucket with the sugar? Is it possible to add too much slurry to a priming bucket? What are the implications?


================
Dr. Scott:

There should be enough yeast left in solution to get the job done w/o adding a "smack pack" again, or adding back that much spent yeast. You will also get some from the fermenter bottom as you rack it to the bucket.[/quote]

[Dr Scott]

The problem is I've been lagering in a secondary carboy at 32-35 degrees for 5 weeks and most of the yeast has settled out...it can't be used to carbonate, right? If I am going to "re-introduce" yeast, can I use 'new' spent yeast from the primary of a different brew? And if so, how much? Can I just pour the bottom slurry of the primary carboy into the primimg bucket with the sugar? Is it possible to add too much slurry to a priming bucket? What are the implications?


================
Dr. Scott:

There should be enough yeast left in solution to get the job done w/o adding a "smack pack" again, or adding back that much spent yeast. You will also get some from the fermenter bottom as you rack it to the bucket.

[/quote]

Yes, you can use the slurry from a fresh batch. This yeast will be happy and healthy (much more than the yeast at 35F) unless the "fresh" slurry is from a high gravity batch, then the yeast would be too stressed. The amount isn't too critical, but don't over do it. (ie. don't pitch the whole cake) The amount that comes in the Whites labs vial should be more than enough for 5gals.

[bub]

For carbonation 1/4 pack of whitelabs is more than adequate, you probably even have enough still in solution even with the lagering, but it dosen't hurt to be safe. 1 tablespoon of slurry would be more than adequate to do bottle conditioning.
BUB

[BrewBlender]

Thanks for all the advice...really appreciated.

So, a tablespoon of the slurry from a new batch should work, right?

I'm still new to brewing so I just want to verify that I am still adding 3/4 cup of corn sugar to the priming bucket as well?? The reason I ask is...

Because I'm grabbing yeast from the new batch, will this bring over some of the sugars leftover (into the priming bucket) and cause bottles to explode because I'm adding corn sugar also??

ALSO, in the future if I decide to bottle a lager and I'm using a dry yeast to be safe, do I need to start it or hydrate it prior to adding it to the bucket or can I just pour the dry yeast into the fermented beer and corn sugar solution??

THANKS AGAIN for everyone's help.

[bub]

Prime with what the recipe calls for, usually that is 3/4 cup or so.
1 tablespoon of slurry will be more than adequate for priming, if you think about it a whitelabs tube has probably 1-1.5 oz of slurry plus some liquid. With 3T per oz you are pitching quite a bit to ferment only 3/4 cup of sugar. (You can successfully pitch 1 tube to ferment ~1 gallon / 8 lbs of undiluted liquid extract)
If I were to do dry yeast I think that proofing would not be necessary.
Whatever you do be sure to mix thouroughly without introducing air to the beer.
BUB

[bub]

Prime with what the recipe calls for, usually that is 3/4 cup or so.
1 tablespoon of slurry will be more than adequate for priming, if you think about it a whitelabs tube has probably 1-1.5 oz of slurry plus some liquid. With 3T per oz you are pitching quite a bit to ferment only 3/4 cup of sugar. (You can successfully pitch 1 tube to ferment ~1 gallon / 8 lbs of undiluted liquid extract)
If I were to do dry yeast I think that proofing would not be necessary.
Whatever you do be sure to mix thouroughly without introducing air to the beer.
BUB