Lallemand LalBrew CBC-1 Cask & Bottle Conditioning Yeast

This is a specialized yeast designed primarily for refermentation in bottles or casks. It’s clean, highly flocculent, and has excellent alcohol tolerance, making it a reliable choice for naturally carbonating big beers without adding unwanted character.

Best For

Bottle conditioning strong ales, barleywines, imperial stouts, and any beer where you want natural carbonation without the yeast throwing extra esters or phenols. It can also be used as a primary fermenter for high-gravity or fruit beers when you want something very clean and fast-settling.

Hard Specs

• Attenuation: 65–75% (when used for conditioning)
• Flocculation: Very High
• Temperature Range: 59–77°F (ideal 64–72°F)
• Alcohol Tolerance: Up to 14% ABV
• More tech specs

Flavor & Behavior

CBC-1 is intentionally neutral. It produces very low levels of esters and phenols, which is exactly what you want when you’re adding it at bottling time. It just gets the job of refermentation done cleanly and drops out fast and hard, leaving the beer bright with minimal sediment.

In Practice

This is the yeast most people reach for when they want to naturally carbonate big, strong beers without risking off-flavors from the conditioning yeast itself. Many brewers use it specifically for bottle conditioning barleywines, imperial stouts, and other high-alcohol beers where a clean refermentation is critical. It can also serve as a primary fermenter if you want something very clean and highly flocculent for big or fruit beers, though that’s a secondary use.

Pitching & Rehydration

For bottle conditioning: Use approximately 2 grams per 5 gallons (roughly ½ teaspoon). Rehydrate in 86–95°F water for 15–30 minutes before adding to the beer at bottling time. For primary fermentation, treat it like a normal dry yeast pitch (one 11g sachet per 5 gallons).