Over shot OG...

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Jdk261

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Brewed a RIS yesterday afternoon. My intended OG was 1.087, however, I ended up at 1.106.

I pitched a smack-pack of Wyeast 1080...think this will do the trick? Anything to watch out for?

With an already high targeted OG, this would have been my "biggest" beer to date, but now it's even bigger and I want to make sure I'm giving my yeasties every chance to do their job.
 
Was this extract or all grain? If extract, chances are you didn't actually overshoot OG as much as you think you did. All grain, well, you're in for a BIG beer.

Either way - even at 1.087, a single smack pack is a pretty severe under pitch, unless there was a pretty big starter involved.... Was there a starter? If not, can you get to the LHBS and get a couple more smack packs to pitch in there ASAP? 3 would still be an under pitch, but given 24 hours or so of ramp up time, that first smack pack has already done a bunch of propagating...
 
Did you use extract? If so, chances are good you didn't mix in the water sufficiently. Your gravity sample was likely from the denser, sugar-heavy part of the wort.

One smack pack is definitely not enough, even at your target OG let alone the higher one. You needed to make a starter. At this point I would pitch additional yeast after you've made a starter with it- not to create additional cells, but to get them used to alcohol since you'll new pitching them into an alcoholic solution.

P.s. What strat said... Beat me by seconds!
 
It was an all grain batch. I suppose I'll get a starter going tonight and see what happens, I'll report back. Thanks guys.
 
I don't think I'd wait for a starter - get more yeast in there ASAP. The long it lags, the more off flavor - inducing compounds you'll potentially have to deal with.
 
stratslinger said:
I don't think I'd wait for a starter - get more yeast in there ASAP. The long it lags, the more off flavor - inducing compounds you'll potentially have to deal with.
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I disagree with this. Just pitching another pack is likely to give you the same result. I suggest you get hold of WLP099 high Gravity, make a 3L starter, and wait for full krausen before you pitch. It won't be long enough to hugely increase your cell count, but it WILL get the yeast awake and in a feeding frenzy when they hit that all-you-can-eat RIS buffet!

EDIT: didn't read stratslinger's first response--if you get 2-3 more vials/packs, you may not need a starter--but I might make one anyway and pitch after 24 hrs
 
According to yeastcalc.com you will ned 355B cells assuming a July date on your smack pack. To achieve this with a starter using intermittent shaking method you will need a 3.5L starter total or a 2L + a 1.5L
If using a stir plate you can get away with a 2.5L starter, I too would recommend geting the starter going and pitch it at high krausen as it's a big beer and high alcohol.
 
Maybe, in the interest of time, I'll grab 2-3 more smack packs and stir them in. Probably not the most economical solution; but it should work.

So, I'll throw it out there for a vote...grab a few more packs and be able to pitch today OR get a starter going and be able to pitch sometime later this week?
 
How long has it been fermenting? If you've pitched and it has been 24 hours then the yeast is already stressed and already produced flavors that you may not want. Time is essential right now. I wouldn't bother with a starter as that will take another day to get ready. If it were me I would buy a couple smack packs and pitch them. Granted the yeast wouldn't be at high krausen like a starter would be but they will be active because that is how a smack pack is designed. IMO, I don't think either a starter or more smack packs would help out a great deal now but adding more smack packs couldn't hurt either.
 
arnoldk2 said:
How long has it been fermenting? If you've pitched and it has been 24 hours then the yeast is already stressed and already produced flavors that you may not want. Time is essential right now. I wouldn't bother with a starter as that will take another day to get ready. If it were me I would buy a couple smack packs and pitch them. Granted the yeast wouldn't be at high krausen like a starter would be but they will be active because that is how a smack pack is designed. IMO, I don't think either a starter or more smack packs would help out a great deal now but adding more smack packs couldn't hurt either.
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I pitched the yeast late last night. I don't think I agree with you that "more yeast isn't going to help now"...I appreciate your input, however, this claim does not seem accurate. Many brewers repurchase yeast at various stages of fermentation.
 
That is okay if you don't agree with me. What I said was consistant with what I've read and what I've heard from Jamil Zanesheif and John Palmer.
 
If there isn't any fermentation activity then I'd definitely add some smack packs, or us-04. Dry yeast are cheap and have high cell counts, plus 04 is a good generic yeast. Other than off flavors it may take a long time to finish fermenting if it does at all without more yeast.
 
Don't get me wrong, I definitely do appreciate your input, I just do not believe that there is "nothing I can do now". Not saying there isn't a chance for off flavors, etc, just saying that I don't think the take away is "you're screwed".
 
Erroneous said:
If there isn't any fermentation activity then I'd definitely add some smack packs, or us-04. Dry yeast are cheap and have high cell counts, plus 04 is a good generic yeast. Other than off flavors it may take a long time to finish fermenting if it does at all without more yeast.
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I need to clarify, my comment was coming strictly from a flavor stand point. I agree with erroneous when he said pitch more yeast if it doesn't start fermenting or if you get a stuck fermentation. Also, to help ferment this big beer out add oxygen about half way through fermentation. This will help the yeast with fermentation.
 
Jdk261 said:
Don't get me wrong, I definitely do appreciate your input, I just do not believe that there is "nothing I can do now". Not saying there isn't a chance for off flavors, etc, just saying that I don't think the take away is "you're screwed".
Click to expand...

You are definetly not screwed. I've grossely underpitched some beers on purpose to see what I get. Some of those beers have been very very tasty. I was saying you may not get the beer you were expecting but by no means was I saying it wouldnt be a great beer.
 
I'll update later tonight with which method I chose to add more yeast.

Again, thanks for everyone's input.

Stay tuned...
 
Ok, so I stopped at the LHBS on my way home from work and picked up 2 more packs. I plan to dump one in right away, and make a starter with the other tonight. Hopefully I'll be able to pitch the starter by Wednesday.
 
Jdk261 said:
Ok, so I stopped at the LHBS on my way home from work and picked up 2 more packs. I plan to dump one in right away, and make a starter with the other tonight. Hopefully I'll be able to pitch the starter by Wednesday.
Click to expand...
you should be able to pitch your starter after 12 hours, certainly no more than 18. hit it with pure o2 or with an aeration stone, if you can. use a stir plate, if not shake the dang thing as often as you can. watching TV? shake it. reading? shake it. jogging on the treadmill? hold it. etc...
 
Since my office is close to home, I came back for lunch and to pitch my starter. When I finally got to my carboy, it was furiously fermenting away and had a nice krausen going. Should I pitch the starter anyway or wait for the krausen to drop and then hit it with the starter?

At this point, there are 2 smack packs in the fermenter, I assume I'll need more yeast to get it to ferment out.
 
Just to bring some closure to the thread...the RIS is happily fermenting away. I ended up putting 2 smack packs in, then making a starter with a third pack, which was pitched today.

It will be quite some time until I will be able to taste it, so I'll just keep my yeast happy until then and see what I end up with. Thanks again for everyone's input.
 

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