How much yeast?

[Chris in Lancs]

Hi all.

Just stumbled across the forum and it's nice to find somewhere that is quite active (the other one I use you are lucky to get a reply in a week!) as well as having lots of advice and recipes.

I have only been homebrewing for a few months and have used a few kits to date but in the last week started to try making a few wines from scratch.

However, one thing I haven't been able to find any advice on is how much yeast to use in mixutres. The two books I have only ever state 'one packet of yeast' for the 1 gallon recipes but all the packets of yeast that I buy are for 5 gallons.

Is it a simple case of just dividing the packet weight by 5 or do people just use the whole packet?

I know it probably sounds stupid but I really don't want to wait 6 months to find out it's all gone pear-shaped because I haven't used the correct amount of yeast.

Thanks
Chris

 

[31bb3]

i use the whole packet

 

[Dieseljockey]

I have a tub of yeast that states....1 teaspoon per Gallon....and I use the 11gram packets that are good for 23lts

 

[Samarith]

Buy something like Young's Super Wine Yeast Compound, its less than £2 a tub and you use 1 tsp per brew (1 or 5 gallon) so it does 15 or more brews.

 

[Barkie]

Yeast multiplies itself so you don't need a huge amount to start with. I use Young's super wine yeast compound at 5ml teaspoon per demijohn this contains nutrient as well as yeast and if I'm using a '5 gallon' sachet I split it into four - I use half to do two gallons and save the other half in the sachet in a plastic bag in the fridge.

 

[Fally over oops]

i'm sure somebody will correct me if i'm wrong, but i think that the idea of using more yeast is to ensure that the yeast you added gets a headstart and doesn't get overrun by wild yeast or bacteria. 1 tsp per gallon seems to be the recommended amount, (i've used 2 tsp for a 5 gallon brew which worked out fine).

i did read something on the web which i can't find now.... it said that yeast typically multiply every 120 minutes, while bacteria at the start of fermentation multiply in ideal conditions every 20 minutes, can anybody confirm if that's true?

 

[Barkie]

i'm sure somebody will correct me if i'm wrong, but i think that the idea of using more yeast is to ensure that the yeast you added gets a headstart and doesn't get overrun by wild yeast or bacteria. 1 tsp per gallon seems to be the recommended amount, (i've used 2 tsp for a 5 gallon brew which worked out fine).

i did read something on the web which i can't find now.... it said that yeast typically multiply every 120 minutes, while bacteria at the start of fermentation multiply in ideal conditions every 20 minutes, can anybody confirm if that's true?

Jack Keller's website has a section on this.
http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/yeast.asp

basically have enough viable Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast to begin with and also give it the conditions that favour its growth rather than those that are ideal for the organisms we don't want.