East Coast Yeast - Cell Counts???

I've googled and UTFSE, but I cannot find any information on what the cell counts are in the 125ml jars (non Brett/bacteria strains). Anybody have good info on this?

We know that these cultures are much more dense than anything from Wyeast or White Labs, but I'm doing a lager with ECY-22 (Baltic Lager), and I'm planning my starter to get about 450B cells. The problem is that I don't know what I'm starting with.

I've heard unsubstantiated info that they contain 300 - 500B cells per jar, but that is hard to believe. I know people have had luck with ales doing a direct pitch into 5 gallons.

Thanks in advance for any insight.

Looks like someone asked on the ECY Facebook page. Al said to make a starter. Check it out. The post was made on Nov. 20.

Yea I think he posts some calculation on how many cells are in a vial to. You could even call Joe at Princeton Homebrew, he might know since he has been working with Al for such a long time.

Thanks for the tip.

Al states in the referenced FB post that the "original count is geared for lagers below 1.065".

Wow! If that is the case, assumming a 24M cells/mL pitch rate, the jars do contain close to 500B cells. Can't beat that for $8/jar.

I know it is probably too late to respond at this point, but that was me that had posted on ECY facebook asking about ECY baltic lager yeast. My OG was 1.080 so i needed a pretty hefty pitch. I assumed a lower count than what was probably in there (200B) and did my starter to step it up to the 400-500 range. That sucker didn't take long to begin fermenting, even at 45F! Fermented pretty vigorously for a lager yeast! Only needed 8 days in the fridge before it got to around 1.030, at which point i took it out for a diacetyl rest. After rest the gravity ended up at about 1.020. Tasted it before aging it on JD soaked american oak chips for a week and the profile was as advertised: smooth, rich, creamy! Love this yeast! Still lagering my brew until the end of January. I'll let you know how it turns out! The preview I had after a week on the oak was pretty amazing!