Calling all yeast experts!

Okay, so here's my dilemma...
I made a careless typo calculating my starter today and used the last of my DME, and don't have time to get more before they close...here's where I'm at...



Moved my grain mill to my buddy's garage where were brewing already, so I can't just Biab with some grains & get a bigger starter.

I know I could get my wyeast 1272 tomorrow, but hate the idea of paying for more yeast I already have, since I top crop and propagate all the strains I have used...
Since I was pushing the alcohol tolerance already on the 1272, I thought maybe the best move would be to do a 2 strain fermentation, pick out a new yeast to add to my arsenal to finish up the beer after my ~334b cells do the best they can? I'd love some advice on this.... Or any other creative solutions someone might have?? I really wanna brew tomorrow, it's taken 3 weeks to finally get a day me and my buddy both could be off, and without other obligations!

Someone please help!!


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What was the typo? Screen one shows an over pitch of 492 billion cells.

I had entered the of as 1.031 instead of 1.103.
The top screen says I need 508 billion cells - I didn't actually fill in my correct slurry amt on that section, just used it to determine target pitching rate, the lower calculation shows what I'm actually workin with.


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So you are pitching 330 billion instead of 500 billion? 30% low? That's not too bad. If you were only pitching half of the recommended cells you might notice a difference in the final product. As it is, it might start a little slower, but the final gravity isn't going to be effect that much. (I've done some work on this, but can't remember what I caked the blog post or if it is just in my book). If you come up short on your attention there are a number of things to try.

If you are worried and have some slurry in the fridge you must might consider adding that. Typical cell density of settled slurry is 1billon per ml.

Did you make a 1.063 OG starter? Egad, that's strong. Bad move. Not good for yeast health/viability.

I'd just get another pack to add to this. Sure, it's a bit of an expense, but it's cheap insurance against risking everything else you've spent on this batch. Make sure you oxygenate well, too. And stop making 1.060+ OG starters.

I thought it's good to do a higher og starter when doing a higher ABV beer like this??


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zhubbell said:

I thought it's good to do a higher og starter when doing a higher ABV beer like this??

Click to expand...

Quite the opposite. Keep all your starters around 1.034-1.040 OG for best results.

No the purpose of a starter is to propagate yeast and keep them stress free and healthy so that you have the proper amount of HEALTHY yeast to pitch into your wort. A low gravity starter will make approximately the same amount of yeast as a high gravity starter and does not stress your yeast. Keep your starters around 1.035ish.

It is the same idea as why you should not reuse a yeast cake from a high gravity beer.

When you are working with old, old yeast your starter should be in the range of 1.010 to prevent stress.

Heavywalker said:

A low gravity starter will make approximately the same amount of yeast as a high gravity starter and does not stress your yeast.

Click to expand...

While I agree that using the tried and true 1.035 to 1.040 starter is a good idea, it has been my experience that the number of cells produced are directly related to the amount of sugar in the starter up to 15 degrees Plato (1.060). So a 1.060 starter will produce twice as many cells per volume as a 1.030 starter if allowed to run to completion.

see here for details:
http://www.woodlandbrew.com/2013/03/side-by-side-starters-4-of-4.html

Number of cells isn't the only interesting factor in starter making.