brewing ale with brewferm ale yeast

[cwrw]

Hi,
I've had some brewferm diablo and Abbey conditioning for apround 6-7 months now - will the yeast in these be viable to brew a belgian clone as Duvel or a red Chimay in a couple of months? :hmm:
Cwrw

 

[phettebs]

Pardon my ignorance but is Brewferm Diablo a kit? If so, what was the OG? I assume you mean you've bottled it and the bottles have been conditioning for 6-7 months. When you bottled, did you add new yeast or use what was in suspension after primary fermentation? If you re-yeasted at bottling, then it will be in much better shape than if it were the original fermentation yeast. In general, after that many months, and especially if it was a higher OG beer, the yeast is pretty much spent at that point. If it were me, I'd use new yeast.

However, if you are dead set on doing it, I'd propagate the yeast from a few bottles and make a starter with it to build it back up to proper pitching volume. But bear in mind, this yeast has already been through a lot.

Hope that helps,
Barry