Underpitching yeast

[MEB]

I'm going to start a discussion on this.
Because home brewers MASSIVELY UNDERPITCH yeast. Those little bags of dried yeast-for 25L. Load of rubbish. Yes they will ferment out a brewlength of 25L. Eventually. But that isn't brewing, that's leaving things to chance and hoping your sterilising techniques are up to scratch. Which, if you get more than a couple of hours lag, they won't be-SODS law says so. How do you think they brewed with wooden everything years ago? Because they pitched huge amounts of yeasts-the yeasts fermented out the beer and kept nasties at bay. Simple really.
Yeast is cheap, easy to increase and the heart of a brew. Why skimp on the most important part?
So I'm going to do a 'how-to' pitch yeast and how much to use. Your average brewer will not spend the time to get a yeast colony going well enough. That's what your after-a colony. A colony on the verge of war. A colony that is gonna ferment out your wort in a nano second and smash anything that comes close.
Wouldn't you like that? Of course you would.

Why do commercial brewers massively overpitch? Because they can, because they want to brew as much beer as is possible every 365 days. I have the luxury of grabbing a litre or so of yeast straight from the conicals at frings when I need yeast for a brew. There's nothing better than the yeast left after your brew. If you treat it right it can be your best friend you've ever had.

I'll take some pic's and add to this when I can. Don't expect it to be finished in a few days as I'm in NZ and sometimes can't be arsed to sit on here on my own. But pitching of yeast is something that every homebrewer should know and is only found out when you work in a commercial brewery.

Firstly: Your yeast choice..

 

[Aleman]

:hmm: And then sitting on the other side of the fence are the Czech brewers, I have seen them pitch a 25L bucketful of yeast into around 10Hl of 1.048 wort at 4C in open wooden fermenters. . . . and expect a lag time of 48 hours! . . . The beer does not suffer for it at all . . . massively over pitching produces clean beers and prevents any possibility of infections taking hold . . . and fermentation is over rapidly . . . freeing up the fermenting vessel for the next batch of beer . . . the faster the plant is free for the next batch the quicker the brewer gets his ROI . . . . The day has gone when breweries had (Again I've seen this in the Czech Republic) 20, 30 or 40 10Hl fermenting vessels, so that the beer can be left to ferment for as long as it takes when properly pitched.

Why do commercial breweries overpitch . . . so that they can free up the plant and get more beer out of the door without buying new plant. . . .









Ok, so that is not the only reason . . . but it is an important one I do agree though that the majority of home brewers under pitch . . . especially when brewing lagers

 

[Varnish]

Using Mr. Malty's yeast pitching software, and my stir plate I have made what I believe to be an acceptable yeast starter for the lager I'm making tomorrow.

This has just gone into the fridge to settle overnight.

 

[Aleman]

I actually reckon MR Malty underestimates the pitching rate for Lagers by some significant degree . . . although that is for dry yeasts, I wouldn't want to comment on a liquid yeast culture. :whistle:

 

[ano]

There's nothing better than the yeast left after your brew.

I don't know what I'm talking about but I disagree. If you continue to harvest the remnants of a brew you'll be selecting a different strain, one which works well in alcoholic liquids and not so well in hopped wort, this is why some commercial breweries also have labs keeping their strain pure and growing large amounts of that rather than cultivating it from the FV. That's not to say it can't be done at all, and indeed I'd agree there's little better than a bucket of a commercial's yeast cake but you can't keep doing it with your own brews.

 

[MEB]

There's nothing better than the yeast left after your brew.

I don't know what I'm talking about but I disagree. If you continue to harvest the remnants of a brew you'll be selecting a different strain, one which works well in alcoholic liquids and not so well in hopped wort, this is why some commercial breweries also have labs keeping their strain pure and growing large amounts of that rather than cultivating it from the FV. That's not to say it can't be done at all, and indeed I'd agree there's little better than a bucket of a commercial's yeast cake but you can't keep doing it with your own brews.

I have.

 

[evanvine]

Eagerly awaiting your next instalment MEB

 

[Vossy1]

Yeast is cheap, easy to increase and the heart of a brew. Why skimp on the most important part?

Have you seen U.K prices lately M :shock: £2.80 for a 12g US-05 sachet at my local HBS.
If you pitched 2 of them the cost would be almost as much as the grain!

 

[MEB]

Yeast is cheap, easy to increase and the heart of a brew. Why skimp on the most important part?

Have you seen U.K prices lately M :shock: £2.80 for a 12g US-05 sachet at my local HBS.
If you pitched 2 of them the cost would be almost as much as the grain!

Still cheap for what it does. If you pitch the right amount of yeast fermentation is done and dusted in 48hrs. Which for me easily negates the cost. If you were to buy some good liquid yeast, propogate it two or 3 times. Make a good starter out of each of them and you'll have easily enough yeast for 20 x 25L batches. From one smack pack. Which is cheap.

 

[markp]

I've just grown my first 'smack-pack' ......I split it then in to 4, to make new starters with.
The investment in malt extract, and particularly time, money to it properly, and sanitisation/sterilisation cannot be over looked.

I hope my investment will be repaid when I come to pitch one.

 

[MEB]

I've just grown my first 'smack-pack' ......I split it then in to 4, to make new starters with.
The investment in malt extract, and particularly time, money to it properly, and sanitisation/sterilisation cannot be over looked.

I hope my investment will be repaid when I come to pitch one.

I can guarentee you will notice the difference straight away. :thumb:

 

[Bribie]

Yup I'm getting a stir plate together a bit at a time, mate sent me a couple of supermagnets from a scrapped server and they are currently on the fridge door waiting for me to prise them off with a crowbar

However as many brewers use dried saflager and safale products, here's a useful PDF that the company put out regarding yeast 'hints and tips'. They go into pitching rates, rehydrating the product etc and it's a good read. http://www.fermentis.com/FO/pdf/Tips-Tricks.pdf

Edit: OOps - I see that Vossy has beaten me to it with the thread at the top of the page re yeast info. :thumb: