Barbarian Yeast Pitching Question

1. That looks like fermentation to me. I'd say you did it right. If you're worried that you killed the yeast by letting it get too warm before pitching that's not the case, the yeast will live up to, and maybe beyond 110˚F, not that you'd want to do that to it - that could lead to off-flavors.
2. Secondly, letting it warm up to 80˚F would not have hurt it or led to off-flavors. Nor would pitching it cold. Yeast is a living thing and adapts pretty well.
3. The one thing you did do that was probably not good was adding wort into the can later on and then adding that, that could lead to infection.
4. Good luck!

p.s. - for future brews you might want to look into doing a yeast starter.

 

Why would you think there is a risk of infection with this process?

The folks of Imperial Yeast illustrate this method:

 

Always.

At least with liquid yeast, that is.

 

In answer to Jack, the transfer of chilled wort, and how it's done, clearly offers a chance for something to happen. Additionally, why has all of the chilled wort not been transferred? Maybe I'm just not clear on how it was done... was it done as we're shown in the video, or was it done using a ladel? Was there a funnel involved or was it just poured on top of the can as closely as possible to getting it into the opening. I'm not sure what happened, but I'd say that that step is a possible problem.

 

I have never used this yeast but it looks fine to me from a activity stand point.

I would agree that without more details on how wort was transferred, it seems kind of risky. But with the right amount of care and caution it could be done well.

As to the yeast starter, that is up to you. Not trying to start anything with this but my experiences have been poor with them. Having done three (I know I need to try a couple more before making my full decision on this) but pitching from the package seems the way to go in my book.

 

Yup, just as with all of homebrewing: practice proper sanitation.

Cheers!

 

It is common on these homebrewing threads to have a starter debate.

One aspect of the Imperial Organic Yeast that is worth noting is that these products provide 200 billion yeast cells. The number of yeast cells that is often ascribed to Wyeast/White Labs products is around 100 billion cells. So, the Imperial Organic Yeast products have about double the yeast cell amount in comparison.

Cheers!

 

One thing that wasn't suggested in the video, but would work greatly, is to swirl and gently shake the can while it's still unopened, and then to store it upside down in your fridge, and then flip it every day or so until you're ready - that would get the yeast off of the bottom of the can.

And I've always been for over-pitching. I've heard that it can lead to diacetyl but I've never seen that, and I've had active fermentations going within 15 minutes.

 

I prefer to not overpitch.

Below is something I posted previously:

“David Logsdon (who founded Wyeast Labs) prefers to slightly underpitch since this will result in a beer that is more flavorful and it benefits the yeast health. Below is a quote from an article of Yeast Starters authored by Jamil Zainasheff:

“There is also an upper limit to how much yeast you should add. Logsdon says, “I try to stay within 20 percent of my ideal pitch rate and I prefer to slightly under pitch rather than over pitch. This causes more cell growth, more esters and better yeast health. Over pitching causes other problems with beer flavor, such as a lack of esters.

Changes in the flavor profile are noticeable when the pitch rates are as little as 20 percent over the recommended amount.”

Cheers!

 

He could have said that in a MUCH more direct manner by saying, "More yeast equals less esters. Less yeast equals more esters."

However, that's not the whole story, as esters depend upon other variables, as well, and "yeast health" is MUCH less of a function of pitching rate than it is a function of nutrients (like FAN) and oxygen levels in solution.

 

Seeing as most homebrewers drastically underpitch, I think there's a solid case for making sure you're pitching enough yeast. You get a quicker fermentation which results in your beer being ready to package sooner. I just don't see a downside to that.

Quite the opposite, really. Wondering where you would have heard that? And in reference to which yeast strains? Highly flocculant strains would be the only ones that would be of any concern, but even then, if given enough time and the right techniques, they should be just fine.

 

Agreed, I 100% support over-pitching although I don't think that packaging quicker has anything to do with that. For me a solid ferment means that it's going well and there won't be any side effects that can occur with a sluggish fermentation.

And regarding underpitching, and that leading to diacetyl, I think that's mentioned in Papazian's book, or at least the early homebrew materials, "Making Beer" by William Mares perhaps? Regardless, under-pitching can lead to greater defects than diacetyl that you really need to be concerned with. A quick, solid fermentation is what you want.

 

Over pitching will not result in diacetyl, it would actually make the risk of diacetyl significantly less than under pitching. It would increase the risk of early autolysis, you could get small, immature yeast cells which shouldn't be repitched and could present a problem for the clarity of the beer, it will have less overall esters (no you can't just increase the temperature to make up the difference), it could result in abnormally high attenuation, and the mouthfeel could be lacking

 

Although increasing the temperature of fermentation WILL increase ester formation, it will also increase other, possibly unwanted, byproducts of metabolism. I suppose that's what you meant by this, yes?