Russian Imperial Stout Carbonation Levels?

[196osh]

My RIS is like 7%abv and has an FG of around 1040 (couldn't get the bugger any lower).

What sort of carbonation levels should I be looking at?

[OldSpeckledBadger]

I think the simple answer is whatever you prefer.

[196osh]

Yeah, I know I have never had an FG anywhere near that high.

So I am not sure what would be better to work with that FG.

[mysterio]

Just keg it and add a little CO2 at a time until it tastes right. A really fizzy,sweet RIS doesn't sound very nice to me, I think you'll be serving small snifters of it with a relatively low carbonation. Have you been repitching active yeast? Maybe go in with some amalyse enzyme?

[196osh]

Just keg it and add a little CO2 at a time until it tastes right. A really fizzy,sweet RIS doesn't sound very nice to me, I think you'll be serving small snifters of it with a relatively low carbonation. Have you been repitching active yeast? Maybe go in with some amalyse enzyme?

I have both repitched active yeast once and repitched onto a yeast cake.

Unfortunantly I don't have the ability to keg and force carb yet (oh I can't wait to be able to), so I have to prime it the yeast is plenty alive so I am not worried about its ability to metabolise the sugar.

I am wary of amalyse, have you ever used it? I wouldn't mind getting it down a bit more but I don't want to go the other way and end up with something very thin.

[mysterio]

Nah i've never used it, i'm wary of it like you, but who knows it might just do the job

I'm worried the yeast won't even metabolise the priming sugar - why would they if they can't ferment the rest of the 1.040. If the problem is unfermentable sugars, then an enzyme might be useful.

I virtually never brew beers above 1.065 so wait for someone more knowledgeable to come along

[196osh]

The yeast is plenty active. I took a small sample of the yeast cake before I put the RIS on it and dumped it in a sugar soloution and it went nuts fermenting.

So your probably right the issue is unfermentable sugars for some reason. Don't want to end up with 14% abv and an FG of 999 or something with the enzyme.

Think I might end up going for 1.5 vols of C02. Just pretty much the lowest end of the scale.

[mysterio]

Or maybe the amount of alcohol is too toxic an environment for the yeast to ferment ? Maybe you should try a more alcohol tolerant yeast like a Champagne yeast?

[196osh]

Or maybe the amount of alcohol is too toxic an environment for the yeast to ferment ? Maybe you should try a more alcohol tolerant yeast like a Champagne yeast?

Its not that either mate unfortunantly. its onlt at 7%. My IIPA was 9.6% and US-05 handeled it easy. I think US-05s alcohol tolerance is rated as "high" which is something like 10%+. And I have pitched a small starter with wine yeast in it which is tolerant to 15% or so.

Good idea though. just bottling it. Hopefully it'll be fine.

[pantsmachine]

I bottle my higher gravity beers using approx 2grmms per bottle(500ml bottles) and have never had a problem with the yeast in suspension during bottling converting the sugar i use to co2. The high gravity finish is the unfermentable sugars left from the grain bill and i'm sure the yeast will continue to work on them slowly as time passes. At 2 grmms per bottle i get a nice head but not a fizzy beer. None of the bottles have blown up either over time!

[196osh]

Mines will be closer to .9 grams per 330ml bottle.

Hopefully it will be a ok. Next high gravity brew i make will have so much yeast and o2 if it doesnt ferment out I will eat my hat!

[pantsmachine]

My last IRS was 1.077 to 1.023 on a repitched 3 pack batch of Nottingham. Stopped dead at 1.023. Carb volumes are not that different sure you'll get a nice head on it oo-er.