Too much Yeast

[FatGaz]

I sometimes do 17L brews, but still chuck in a full packet of yeast (11.5g). Would this give the beer a yeasty taste? Should I lower the amount of yeast I put in accordingly?

[barney]

Most dry yeasts are underpitched, most likely you are still slightly underpitching even in 17ltr.

With that pitching rate you will achieve higher attenuation(resulting in dryer beer) and faster fermentation, provided that temperature etc is reasonably well maintained and that OG is not stupidly high.

All good news!

[DerbyshireNick]

I have been playing with the beersmith demo while deciding if I think its worth the cash and if I had it setup right it seemed to think you needed 3 tubes of wlp001 for a 21L batch to get the "correct" yeast count. I think I need to use the wheelybin for my starters (joke)

In short, as a homebrewer its unlikely you will ever over pitch.

[DerbyshireNick]

looking at it again, it does tell me I needed a 3L starter for one I have just done. Crazy horses

[gregorach]

That doesn't sound right at all.

[Bribie]

It's all to do with temperature. The liquid yeast mobs often suggest using more than one package if you are going to pitch directly at, say 10 degrees for a lager. They would love you to do that However you can breed up your own big starter for a few days and chuck that in, or in the case of an ale that you are going to pitch at say 22 degrees, then one vial or smack pack should do the trick.

I have two bob each way and with an ale I breed up my smack pack (Wyeast Activator) ale yeasts for 24 hours with some saved wort, then pitch that. I usually get a good vigorous ferment going within a further 24 hours.

The other thing you can do with a lager is to pitch the one pack at around 20 degrees, let it multiply for a while (the "lag" phase) then when there are signs of activity, and therefore a good cell count, drop gradually to your 10 or 11 degrees.

[DerbyshireNick]

That doesn't sound right at all.

My thoughts exactly, its not the most user friendly and clear bit of software so maybe I have missed something.

[coatesg]

It's all to do with temperature.

...and volume and starting gravity and the age of the vial, which brings us onto...

in the case of an ale that you are going to pitch at say 22 degrees, then one vial or smack pack should do the trick.

I wouldn't recommend this for UK brewers. The vials are rarely fresh enough, and sometimes it takes a day for a vial to get going for me in a starter, let alone in a large batch. Pitch a proper sized starter and you should have no trouble, and I often get visible fermentation within 12 hours.

The other thing you can do with a lager is to pitch the one pack at around 20 degrees, let it multiply for a while (the "lag" phase) then when there are signs of activity, and therefore a good cell count, drop gradually to your 10 or 11 degrees.

If you do this you won't get as clean a result and you absolutely need to do a diacetyl rest later on which may not be as necessary for a cold pitch with larger cell counts. (though this is somewhat strain dependent).

[coatesg]

That doesn't sound right at all.

My thoughts exactly, its not the most user friendly and clear bit of software so maybe I have missed something.

What OG and volume? Ale, lager or hybrid?

[DerbyshireNick]

That doesn't sound right at all.

My thoughts exactly, its not the most user friendly and clear bit of software so maybe I have missed something.

What OG and volume? Ale, lager or hybrid?

Its a 1.050 (ish) pale ale at 21L.

I had a fresh WLP0001 tube which I made into a 1L starter. It seemed happy enough so I have no idea why beersmith (I filled it all in post brew to see how it matched my own calculations) felt the way it did.

[coatesg]

Using a month old tube, Mr Malty says:

Viability: ~70%
Simple Starter: 2.7L
Shaken starter: 1.5L
Stir plate: 1L

I probably would have done a stir plated 1.2L starter I reckon. More if the tube was older.

[PureGuiness]

It gives several values in Brewsmith and you need to edit the yest - especially using liquid yeast - to provide the manufacture date which defines the viability.

Dry yeast would give:



With liquid yeast I change the date on the yeast and it corrects the viability:



EDIT: Should have mentioned that before setting the date on the yeast the viability was at 5% and it was suggesting 33 packs!

Hope that helps.

I find Brewsmith isn't the easiest software that exists but it does alot and there is alot of decent help online for it. I think it's worth the small fee.

[DerbyshireNick]

Using a month old tube, Mr Malty says:

Viability: ~70%
Simple Starter: 2.7L
Shaken starter: 1.5L
Stir plate: 1L

I probably would have done a stir plated 1.2L starter I reckon. More if the tube was older.

Is a shaken starter simply one that you have shaken allot to get air into it? if so this is what I do anyway.

[coatesg]

Yes, and then re-shaken on a regular basis. If you just shake at the start it's more like a simple starter.

[DerbyshireNick]

cheers, no I am very much a shaker. Makes me happy though as my 1L shaken starter isnt as far off the mark as I was worried it has been.