Did I pitch enough yeast?

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by Liberatiscioli, Oct 4, 2016.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. Liberatiscioli

    Liberatiscioli Initiate (0) Oct 3, 2013 Pennsylvania

    Brewed what I consider my first BIG BEER. Big deep dark stout OG 1.083( all first running's). I pitched 3 sachets of safale 04, and 2 wyeast thames valley. Ideally I want to hit 1.01 or lower. And yes I was too lazy to make a starter.

    Did I pitch enough yeast?

    For a beer this high i wanted to keep the temp low for the first 1-2 days (50 F and let it work its way up) to decrease phenolic flavors in the beer. So settling around 68-72 finally for probably a month or more. Swirling the fermentor once weekly to rouse up the yeast.

    Any input for improvement?
     
    #1 Liberatiscioli, Oct 4, 2016
  2. JackHorzempa

    JackHorzempa Grand Pooh-Bah (3,375) Dec 15, 2005 Pennsylvania
    Society Pooh-Bah

    Boy did you ever (assuming a 5 gallon batch!!

    If you are a believer in online yeast calculators the Mr. Malty yeast calculator yields an ‘answer’ that for a 1.083 OG ale you only need 1.4 packs of 11.5 gram dry yeast packs.

    http://www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html

    You pitched waaaay more than that.

    Cheers!
     
    #2 JackHorzempa, Oct 4, 2016
    SFACRKnight and DrMindbender like this.
  3. DrMindbender

    DrMindbender Initiate (0) Jul 13, 2014 South Carolina

    1. There is no need to make a starter with dry yeast...but you can rehydrate it before you pitch to supposedly improve activity (I have had no problems direct pitching for almost a decade).

    2. Did you add some completely fermentable sugars into the wort or are you hoping to reach an FG of 1.010 simply from your runnings? If you didn't add any additional sugars, then you shouldn't expect to reach an attenuation of 87%, which 04 or Wyeast 1275 usually doesn't attenuate to that point normally. Adding more yeast wont make the FG drop if the sugars in your wort aren't more fermentable than most sugars converted from your grains. Most sugars converted from grain, attenuate to around 75% or so on average, so 87% is a little far fetched unless you added some simple sugars or honey. I'd expect this batch to end with an FG around 1.020 and 8.27% ABV, if you didn't add any sugars/honey.

    3. You may experience off flavors from the overpitching by WAY too much. In the future, there is no need to pitch that much yeast...you would have been fine with 1 pack of 04 and 1 pack of 1275 and still had 3 packs of yeast for future batches.
     
    #3 DrMindbender, Oct 4, 2016
    Last edited: Oct 4, 2016
    PapaGoose03 and JackHorzempa like this.
  4. Liberatiscioli

    Liberatiscioli Initiate (0) Oct 3, 2013 Pennsylvania


    Ugh not what I wanted to hear but only way to improve is to screw up a little bit. Yes first runnings only (154 x 75 min mash) pre boil 1.072 about 5.25 gal. Post boil 1.082 4.15 gal.

    Did make second runnings porter though as well 4 gal ended up 1.052. Pitched 2 packs safale 04.

    Not sure if I want to mess with the first runnings but would adding something like honey or brown sugar to the fermentor be suitable?

    I may post my brew cipher recipe sheet when i get home. Had me add 8.78 gal h20 to 24 lbs grain to make around 10.5-11% beer. But water addition values for sparging were negative and temps said to heat h20 to something crazy like 430 degrees. (Completely confused). Might be the nature of the beer but I'll post it in a little bit.
     
    #4 Liberatiscioli, Oct 4, 2016
  5. mikehartigan

    mikehartigan Maven (1,421) Apr 9, 2007 Illinois

    Let the flames begin! :grimacing:
    My experience suggests overpitching results in a flabby beer. Not really off flavors like you might expect from underpitching. It's not ideal, but it won't be a disaster. The money wasted probably hurts more than any negative impact to the beer.
     
    #5 mikehartigan, Oct 5, 2016
  6. Liberatiscioli

    Liberatiscioli Initiate (0) Oct 3, 2013 Pennsylvania

    I guess I didn't plan this to well and need to do more reading. With the 24lb grain bill for 4.5 gal in the fermentor had a predicted OG of around 1.10. Was thinking this was gonna be a huge first runnings hopefully 10.5-11% beer. Mashed at 15 x 75 min collected those runnings then proceeded to make a porter after that like a normal beer(IPA) Maybe try a decoction mash. for the first time next time.
     
    #6 Liberatiscioli, Oct 5, 2016
  7. JackHorzempa

    JackHorzempa Grand Pooh-Bah (3,375) Dec 15, 2005 Pennsylvania
    Society Pooh-Bah

    Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!?!:confused:

    Cheers!
     
    #7 JackHorzempa, Oct 5, 2016
    GormBrewhouse likes this.
  8. GormBrewhouse

    GormBrewhouse Pooh-Bah (2,111) Jun 24, 2015 Vermont
    Pooh-Bah

    Don't worry, it will be fine. I would recommend secondarying as soon as the ferment is done. I am betting you will have a huge yeast cake. Part of that will make another beer
     
    #8 GormBrewhouse, Oct 5, 2016
    Liberatiscioli likes this.
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.