Repitch when bottling with Eng. Yeasts???

[LostBoy]

I bottle condition all my beers right now, as I don't have the space for kegs, and have noticed that several of my brews that I use a variety of English-style ale yeast (like burton ale, london ale, etc) tend to never carbonate like I'd like them too. Should I repitch some more yeast at the time of bottling? Is this because the yeast in the ferementer have flocculated more than other strains tend too? Do they just need to sit longer in the bottle at warmer temps? My most recent brown was bottled, but then had to sit for 2 weeks at about 50F. They have now sat for another 2 weeks at around 65-70F, but still seem rather flat. It seems this beer would benefit greatly from having proper carbonation, though drinkable with it low, but I want more than just drinkable. In general with my other brews, my experience is there is carbonation after 1 week, and is pretty much set to drink after 2-3 weeks at room temp (68F). Any thoughts?

[TheDarkSide]

When you moved them to the 65-70F area, did you rouse them a little? When I bottled and had to move them, I would turn each bottle upside down and back a couple times to get the yeast in suspension. Even with the more focculent strains, there should be enough yeast in there to carbonate.

How much priming sugar did you add as well? Same as the other recipes?

[LostBoy]

i did not rouse, they have been sitting in my 'finished beer closet' since bottling... I was afraid that if I did that, I would get oxygenation problems? I carbed with 3.6oz corn sugar for 5 gallons, which, according to BeerSmith would give me 2.3 volumes.

[TheDarkSide]

Since their sealed up, any oxygen in there is going to be eaten by the yeast anyways. You don't need a lot to get it suspended. Like I said, just invert them a couple times and hold at 68-72F. Hopefully they will carb up.

[brewinhard]

I think you might be seeing some issues b/c you let the beers sit at 50F for 2 weeks before warming them up. That could have slowed the already flocculent english yeast into a crawl. Try to keep them warm (70F) right from the get go so you don't experience this. I bet they will carbonate up just fine, but might need a bit more time after bringing them to warmer area. You can also suck up a bit of yeast from the bottom of your fermenter when racking over to your bottling bucket just to ensure a proper and timely carbonation.

[LostBoy]

Thanks. I roused the bottles, and will check again in another week or two... I understand about the temp at 50, but it was a risk, as I live in a small apartment and my brewing takes up half of my available space, so I thought being out of town for xmas, I'd set my thermostat down to 50 and give a go at temp controlled lagers. (Which are now lagering in my refrigerator, leaving one small shelf for food). I appreciate the feedback. This is my 3rd attempt at a brown ale since I started brewing a little over a year and a half ago, and it seems everytime with the style something doesn't turn out right.

[Afterlab]

On a scale of 1 to 10 how well/evenly would you say you mixed the priming sugar solution into the entire batch of the beer? I know a lot of homebrewers start out probably not mixing their priming solution as well as they should be simply in fear of adding oxygen to their beer. The result of that is they have some beers that are under carbonated and some that are over carbonated.

Also like you mentioned, once that English yeast drops out to the bottom of the carboy, keg, bottle, etc.., the chances of you waking that yeast up and convincing it to be real active like a Cal Ale or less flocculant strain is an uphill battle. Like brewinhard said, keep that newly bottled beer at 70 for weeks so it can both carbonate and clean up any diacetyl. The English strains will have no problem flocculating out even at those temps.

[mtyquinn]

On a scale of 1 to 10 how well/evenly would you say you mixed the priming sugar solution into the entire batch of the beer? I know a lot of homebrewers start out probably not mixing their priming solution as well as they should be simply in fear of adding oxygen to their beer. The result of that is they have some beers that are under carbonated and some that are over carbonated.

Also like you mentioned, once that English yeast drops out to the bottom of the carboy, keg, bottle, etc.., the chances of you waking that yeast up and convincing it to be real active like a Cal Ale or less flocculant strain is an uphill battle. Like brewinhard said, keep that newly bottled beer at 70 for weeks so it can both carbonate and clean up any diacetyl. The English strains will have no problem flocculating out even at those temps.

I think Afterlab is spot on.