White Labs Yeast

[foxbat]

So how many slap packs would I need to ferment a 35 gallon batch of wort, and would I need to make up a starter? If so, remind me how to do it - it must be over 50 years ago when I last did that!

Do you really mean gallons? Anyway, to work out the pitch-rate for your brew we need to know the gravity. Then to work out how to breed enough yeast cells to achieve the pitch-rate we need to know how old your yeast pack is because a live pack of liquid yeast starts dying the moment it's packaged. Then it's off to the starter calculator to work out how big your starter needs to be.

 

[CD]

Yes, I really mean gallons, in which I usually pitch just under a pound (weight) of yeast slurry skimmed off the top of a local brewery’s FV. I get this for nothing, so for me to change over to Wyeast just doesn’t make sense.

As I mentioned, the Brewery is currently using a yeast that sinks to the bottom, so my plan is to get my friend there to get some decent top fermenting and cropping yeast.

 

[BlackRegent]

If you're getting free brewery yeast them I agree it makes no sense to switch to a Wyeast alternative, especially if you can source a top cropping yeast from the same brewery.

 

[Hanglow]

You can get commercial sized pitches from places like Murpheys, a 1bbl pitch would be fine for that amount. They can supply any of the NCYC yeasts. Brewlabs and other places might do similar

Otherwise, the cheapest and easiest way would be to do a 1l active starter into a typical homebrew batch size of the beer you are intending to make, then pitch the whole thing into the main batch while it is still active

 

[CD]

Thanks for all the comments. I have decided to stick with whatever yeast the brewery gives me, and not look a gift horse in the mouth!