EC118 suitable for bottling big imperial stouts?

[BottlesCansCraft]

Hi,

When brewing imperial stouts (around 8-10% strength) in the past I've stuggled with carbonation. Normally I've overpitched with US-05, but I've read that EC118 can help with strong beer carbonation due to its 18% alcohol tolerance. I bottle condition and dont have the ability to keg.

Would EC118 be useful to add to the bottles for conditioning, or to even replace the US-05 with initially?

Thanks,

 

[mickthetrick]

nottingham will ferment to that kind of strength too as another option.

 

[Sadfield]

Yes, as a bottling yeast with priming sugar.

No, or possibly not, to using it as primary yeast instead of us05, if that is what you're asking. As a wine yeast it might not ferment the maltotiose portion of the wort.

 

[Subtle Duck]

I've just had a problem using 1214 and bottle conditioning and from the lovely replies on here have been suggested to use ec118 to help with carbing. I will let you know in a week or so if this has worked.
As mickthetrick suggested above, notty will definitely cope with +11%. I've brewed a few imps with it and never seem to have a problem, even if leaving in the barrel for 3+ weeks.

 

[Subtle Duck]

Sorry, when I say notty, I mean wilcos finest gervin ale yeast but from what I gather they are one and the same.

 

[Northern_Brewer]

Would EC118 be useful to add to the bottles for conditioning, or to even replace the US-05 with initially?

As others have said, in general wine yeast don't cope well with barley wort as most can only ferment simple sugars. Other factors to consider are that almost all of them are POF+ (produce phenolics, like "Belgian" beer yeast) and almost all of them produce killer factors to which almost all beer yeast are susceptible.

If your US-05 is starting to struggle then a lot of ordinary beer yeast will struggle, it's more than just a question of ABV but other factors that are stressing the yeast. One yeast you might want to consider next time is WLP540 Abbey IV which despite its name is an English yeast that has adapted to high ABVs, allegedly at Rochefort - White Labs claim "10-15%".

This presentation has lots of tips for happy high-ABV fermentations :

https://quaff.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/HighGravityFermentation-1.ppt