two packs of dry nottingham or pacman yeast cake for IIPA

I need your thoughts.

I have a 1.045 gravity beer right now that i pitched from a starter cultured from a bottle of rogue stout. I wasn't able to step up the starter, I ran out of time so I think I underpitched. The pacman pretty much dropped out at 1.023 at 60 degrees. I roused the yeast and increased the temp to 68 and 5 days later I am at 1.019, so I am unsure what to think. I planned on using this yeast cake for a IIPA (OG = 1.090 or so) but now I am wondering if this yeast cake will attenuate properly.

So here is my question:

Should I use this yeast cake that underattenuated a low gravity beer for a big beer or should I hydrate two 11 g satchels of nottingham and pitch that?

I am leaning towards the nottingham since that has never failed me, but the other part of me knows there will be a ton of pacman in the fermenter.

I don't think that I would take a chance pitching on top of that cake.

2 packets of notty will do the trick nicely...

jmick said:

I don't think that I would take a chance pitching on top of that cake.

2 packets of notty will do the trick nicely...

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I will likely also pitch a nice nottingham slurry that I washed from a very succesfull fermentation.

I wonder why the pacman just won't finish this beer up...I am a little dissapointed.

I just checked the gravity on my pacman 1.045 beer. 1.011! It took 9 days but it made it down there. Now I am more confused, maybe it just took that long for the yeast to multiply and do it's thing.

Maybe I use the cake, and also pitch a packet of notty....that could create a nice beer. The last thing I want is underattenuated IIPA.

If it were me, I'd pitch the cake, as it seems to be ok. Or I'd use US-05, but thats just because I don't like notty. Also, why use 2 packs? One pack should be plenty, unless you're talking a 10 gallon batch of a big IIPA.

I see you reposted this issue, but in the mean time your first beer has finished up. Nice!

It sounds like you under pitched the smaller beer, and it maybe took a while to finish out. How thick is the yeast cake? If it looks a little thin, or if it's more of a dark tan color than creamy white, it might not be the healthiest yeast and you might want to avoid re-using it.

But since the 1.045 beer finished ok, and if there is a normal-ish size yeast cake, you're probably good to go ahead and use it for the IIPA. I wouldn't use Notty in addition to the cake as that would be way overkill.

I mentioned it before, but didn't give you the link, so here ( http://www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html ). The calculator is based on widely accepted pitching rates and was developed in coorperation with Wyeast Labs, the company that handles Pacman for Rogue. It says that for 5 gal of 1.090 beer, you need 17.5 grams of dry yeast or 150 mL of yeast slurry (washed cake).

Have fun and congrats on successfully ranching some yeast!

My Pliny clone with Pacman went from 1.08 to 1.012 it did a great job.

I thank you all for your help. I am not sure how thick the yeast cake is, when I checked the gravity yesterday the yeast was still pretty much in suspension. I think it will all work out great.

The first beer with the pacman yeast finished at 1.009 and turned out excellent!

I used the yeast cake, I pitched five gallons 1.075 wort and had active fermentation started in under four hours. After three days (yesterday) I added my first 1 pound addition of dextrose, effectively raising the OG to 1.083....the yeast found that sugar quickly, within an hour I had a 2 degree temp increase in the fermenter and more CO2.

Today I will add my second 1 pound addition and end with a forecasted OG of 1.092 or so. I am hoping that my low mash temp 149 and my incremental additions of fructose, will really help get this beer attenuated. A nice dry 1.015 double IPA with 9.4% ABV and 100 IBU.

permo said:

The first beer with the pacman yeast finished at 1.009 and turned out excellent!

I used the yeast cake, I pitched five gallons 1.075 wort and had active fermentation started in under four hours. After three days (yesterday) I added my first 1 pound addition of dextrose, effectively raising the OG to 1.083....the yeast found that sugar quickly, within an hour I had a 2 degree temp increase in the fermenter and more CO2.

Today I will add my second 1 pound addition and end with a forecasted OG of 1.092 or so. I am hoping that my low mash temp 149 and my incremental additions of fructose, will really help get this beer attenuated. A nice dry 1.015 double IPA with 9.4% ABV and 100 IBU.

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That pretty much sounds friggin awesome

BBKing said:

That pretty much sounds friggin awesome

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Of course I haven't tasted it yet, but here is the recipe...I don't think it takes a brainiac to figure it this is going to be tasty.
9.5 oz of hops, 8.5 oz of which added 30 minutes or later into the boil.


Amount Item Type % or IBU
15.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 89.50 %
0.50 lb Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 2.98 %
0.50 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L (120.0 SRM) Grain 2.98 %
0.38 lb Munich Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM) Grain 2.27 %
0.38 lb Victory Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain 2.27 %
1.00 oz Summit [18.00 %] (60 min) Hops 48.8 IBU
0.50 oz Chinook [11.50 %] (30 min) Hops 12.0 IBU
0.50 oz Cascade [5.40 %] (30 min) Hops 5.6 IBU
0.50 oz Cascade [5.40 %] (15 min) Hops 3.6 IBU
0.50 oz Chinook [11.50 %] (15 min) Hops 7.7 IBU
0.50 oz Williamette [5.50 %] (15 min) Hops 3.7 IBU
0.50 oz Williamette [5.50 %] (10 min) Hops 2.7 IBU
1.00 oz Cascade [5.40 %] (10 min) Hops 5.3 IBU
0.50 oz Chinook [11.50 %] (10 min) Hops 5.6 IBU
0.50 oz Williamette [5.50 %] (5 min) Hops 1.5 IBU
0.50 oz Cascade [5.40 %] (5 min) Hops 1.5 IBU
1.00 oz Chinook [11.50 %] (5 min) Hops 6.2 IBU
1.00 oz Williamette [5.50 %] (0 min) (Aroma Hop-Steep) Hops -
0.50 oz Cascade [5.40 %] (0 min) (Aroma Hop-Steep) Hops -
0.50 oz Chinook [11.50 %] (0 min) (Aroma Hop-Steep) Hops -



Beer Profile


Measured Original Gravity: 1.075 SG
Bitterness: 104.2 IBU
11.5 SRM


I am going to add 2# corn sugar incrementally to the fermenter...this will put the "actual" OG up to around 1.090.

1.090 OG + 100 IBU = yummy.

I just thought I would provide an update, I took a gravity reading today....I pitched on the pacman cake. OG= 1.091......current FG = 1.014.... we are looking at %10 ABV and 100 IBU......I tasted a small sample and it was a delight. I think the low fermentation temp, 62-64 degrees, is making for an amazingly smooth and clean ale.

i will keep updating everybody on this brew, but I am about two weeks from bottling. No dry hop planned.

permo said:

I just thought I would provide an update, I took a gravity reading today....I pitched on the pacman cake. OG= 1.091......current FG = 1.014.... we are looking at %10 ABV and 100 IBU......I tasted a small sample and it was a delight. I think the low fermentation temp, 62-64 degrees, is making for an amazingly smooth and clean ale.

i will keep updating everybody on this brew, but I am about two weeks from bottling. No dry hop planned.

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Hahaha, no dry hop needed! Would you like some beer with your hops?

Starderup said:

Hahaha, no dry hop needed! Would you like some beer with your hops?

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Actually, looking back I think I would dry hop it! Hahahah

Seriously though, I have 25 of these beers left and as they age, they just get better....softer and more dangerously smooth. The intense late hop additions give it this floral/citrus flavor that just keeps getting better. I will likely brew this beer again, with magnum, centennial and chinook......just to switch it up.

When I serve it now, I simply call it Imperial Pale Ale...and I serve it at cellar temp...my mouth is watering just thinking about it!

I don't see a problem with either, actually. I've never used the pacman strain, but I've had pretty good success pitching on yeast cakes in the past.

FWIW, I once had a single pack of Nottingham take an IIPA from 1.090 to 1.008. If you're going to go with the Notty, I'd recommend 2 packs for anything over 1.070.

ohiobrewtus said:

I don't see a problem with either, actually. I've never used the pacman strain, but I've had pretty good success pitching on yeast cakes in the past.

FWIW, I once had a single pack of Nottingham take an IIPA from 1.090 to 1.008. If you're going to go with the Notty, I'd recommend 2 packs for anything over 1.070.

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Nottingham is amazing. I recently pitched two packs of notty in a 1.075 IPA...in two days it was down to 1.013...I mashed at 154 so I expected it to finish higher than that..but it is perfect!

The pacman yeast cake just went to town on this IIPA, the beer turned out great. Personally, I have found that with the pacman yeast, the beers need a little extra conditioning time for a slight leathery/medicinal flavor to go away.

permo said:

Actually, looking back I think I would dry hop it! Hahahah

Seriously though, I have 25 of these beers left and as they age, they just get better....softer and more dangerously smooth. The intense late hop additions give it this floral/citrus flavor that just keeps getting better. I will likely brew this beer again, with magnum, centennial and chinook......just to switch it up.

When I serve it now, I simply call it Imperial Pale Ale...and I serve it at cellar temp...my mouth is watering just thinking about it!

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I appreciate you posting the recipe. I may copy it. N. Dakota is too far to drive to beg for a glass!

Starderup said:

I appreciate you posting the recipe. I may copy it. N. Dakota is too far to drive to beg for a glass!

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The recipe looks really complicated, but it really isnt. Once you measure out your hops and put them into containers, it isn't so bad.

For the bittering, any high AA hop will work...I am going to use Magnum next time...cause that is what i have on hand!

permo said:

The recipe looks really complicated, but it really isnt. Once you measure out your hops and put them into containers, it isn't so bad.

For the bittering, any high AA hop will work...I am going to use Magnum next time...cause that is what i have on hand!

Click to expand...

I hear ya. I just bought a pound of Bullion. It is a solution in search of a problem!