What if 1 WLP004 pack is not enough?

This weekend I will be doing a Big Beer, a "Andean Breakfast Stout"

Im aiming for a SG of 1,090 and pretend to use 1 WLP004 pack
I only got one and theres no way Im getting another one. Im not in the US so liquid yeast is very expensive.

So, IF i had a problem with fermentation and the yeast cant do its magic up to the11-12% ABV it should, which dry yeast should I use to "help"?
Safale S04 or Safale US05? Which has higer alcohol tolerance? Would it mess to much with the flavor profile?

You need to make a starter in order to step up the yeast count.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/how-make-yeast-starter-pictorial-76101/

5 gallon batch?

Calculator says you need 320 billion cells to ferment that. 11g dry pack has 300 bl cells. If it's fresh you're not that far under pitching. If it's an older pack you might be. Unless you have stir plate and a GIGANTIC container a stater is going to be tough - you're looking at multiple steps.

Like they said, you need to use a starter, and should use something like mr malty's pitch rate calculator to know how much to use.

I mean 1 tube or smackpack has barely enough cells for a 1.040 beer. For a 1.090 that is going to be waaaay under pitching. For my O6 1.150 barleywine I made up nearly a 3/4 gallon starter. I didn't use it all for that, only about 2/3rds of it, since I did a partyguile the rest went for the "normal" sized beer.

thanks, I now know it falls short... but I cant get my hands on another pack... I will be using a stir plate and a strater of course


so I pretend do mix it up with dry yeast 11.5gr pack of safale s-04 or safale us-05, is it terrible? will the flavor change too much? wich one is better for a big beer?

inkubuzz said:

thanks, I now know it falls short... but I cant get my hands on another pack... I will be using a stir plate and a strater of course


so I pretend do mix it up with dry yeast 11.5gr pack of safale s-04 or safale us-05, is it terrible? will the flavor change too much? wich one is better for a big beer?

Click to expand...

I was simply using the dry as a reference. For a beer like this a fresh dry 11.5g pack actually gets you pretty close.

If you have those dry yeasts I would think you should pick one and go with that. You'll need a number of steps to get you to the 5l starter you would need with liquid. The dry is slightly under-pitched, but not that far off.

inkubuzz said:

thanks, I now know it falls short... but I cant get my hands on another pack... I will be using a stir plate and a strater of course

so I pretend do mix it up with dry yeast 11.5gr pack of safale s-04 or safale us-05, is it terrible? will the flavor change too much? wich one is better for a big beer?

Click to expand...

Don't sweat the starter, dry yeast has way more cells than smack packs or vials of liquid yeast, somewhere around triple. Make sure you rehydrate in boiled, cooled water though. Direct pitching dry yeast kills about half the cells. About half a cup of warm (95-105 degree) water for 15 minutes does the trick. Also, for a bigger beer oxygen is even more important. You need to aerate to 8-10 ppm oxygen at a minimum, which is difficult without pure O2. What's your aeration technique? Getting to terminal gravity on a big beer is achieved PRIOR to pitching; not by adding more yeast if the first pitch peters out...

Sorry, just re read, WLP 004 is a White Labs liquid vial right? That would definitely require a starter for a 1.090 brew. My comments above were true for a dry yeast pack. The advice on oxygen/aeration is very applicable though...

Multi-stage starter from a vial. That's the ticket.

ok, it very clear now.

Second question:

I used to brew in my parents place, cause I dont have space to do it at my place.
They moved now and My equipment moved with them, they are about 1:45 hrs away from my home. Its not like I can do that trip any day. jus weekends, and if!

So the question, I have to ferment at my place, cause nobody will be watching the bre for me. would it be better to brew and pitch at their place and then take the fermenter to my place (problem is as far as i know, that when its pithced you should not move the fermenter), o should I wait until I get to my place and pitch the yeast there (problem is, theres a higher chance of infection right?)

thanks

ink

I think in the period of a couple hours it's not going to matter much either way. That said, the sooner one can get fermentation going the better off, generally, you are.

inkubuzz said:

ok, it very clear now.


So the question, I have to ferment at my place, cause nobody will be watching the bre for me. would it be better to brew and pitch at their place and then take the fermenter to my place (problem is as far as i know, that when its pithced you should not move the fermenter), o should I wait until I get to my place and pitch the yeast there (problem is, theres a higher chance of infection right?)

thanks

ink

Click to expand...

Unless you move it without an airlock on it I see no reason you can't transport it after pitching. Just cover it with a few towels or a big box to protect it from light, and make sure it doesn't tip over!

ok, thanks everyone.

if your intereste the recepie is here:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/andean-breakfast-stout-388348/#post4879396