To Overpitch or Underpitch, that is the question....

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FuzzeWuzze

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So short version, a lager im brewing is using WLP833. My HBS had 2 vials of super past expiration yeast, but they were only $1 each so i figured what the hell ill make a starter. One was best use by Oct 12 2012, and one was back in June 2012.

Looking at YeastCalc if i assume 20% viability(10% from each vial) i need a triple starter, doing this will get me to like ~630 Billion cells when i need 505. Not a big deal, i should still end up saving $ after DME cost because even with one new $6 vial i'd need to do 2x2L starters.

The issue i could see is, what if there is a higher viability in these since they were kept at storage temps the entire time? I could see myself ending up with 800-1M from a triple starter...would that totally screw up my lager?

The first starter is off and fermenting away pretty vigorously after ~12 hours.
 
So short version, a lager im brewing is using WLP833. My HBS had 2 vials of super past expiration yeast, but they were only $1 each so i figured what the hell ill make a starter. One was best use by Oct 12 2012, and one was back in June 2012.

Looking at YeastCalc if i assume 20% viability(10% from each vial) i need a triple starter, doing this will get me to like ~630 Billion cells when i need 505. Not a big deal, i should still end up saving $ after DME cost because even with one new $6 vial i'd need to do 2x2L starters.

The issue i could see is, what if there is a higher viability in these since they were kept at storage temps the entire time? I could see myself ending up with 800-1M from a triple starter...would that totally screw up my lager?

The first starter is off and fermenting away pretty vigorously after ~12 hours.

Since it is a lager I would error on the side of over pitching, imho there is more to be lost by under pitching that style. Now for a beefy Belgian that needs lots of esters.. that's a different story.
 
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