PacMan Yeast Questions

Looking for insight from anyone who has used Wyeast PacMan. I used PacMan to brew the Dead Guy Clone this weekend. I ordered this yeast since I cannot get it locally and it arrived partially frozen (wicked cold last week and this week in MT). I warmed it up in the fridge and pitched it to a starter the next day which remained on the stirplate for around 24 hours. Appeared to be fine on the stirplate and resembled all of the other yeasts that I have prepared on the stirplate. Underestimated my calculations and had to add water to the wort after IC chilling before I pitched. The OG was on target. From Sun - Tue. the yeast was churning the airlock pretty good with a nice krausen forming and the temp inside the BB around 72' or so. This morning the krausen has pretty much disappeared and the internal temp is down to 66 and the activity seems to have ceased after just 3 days. In reading that this is normally a fairly aggressive yeast, should I just allow the beer to continue on its way or given the problem that I had with the yeast (frozen) would it be a good idea to pitch dry (say 005)? Thanks, Montanaandy

It may have finished. Generally speaking, you'd rather start the fermentation on the cool side and let it warm up after the main, vigorous fermentation. Your brew appears to have been started on the warm side (72 F) and then cooled (to 66 F) after the main, vigorous fermentation. That will sometimes cause the yeast to stop a little early (although in your case it only got down to 66 and Pacman can go cooler than many ale yeasts). It should work pretty darn fast at 72 F.

I wouldn't pitch any more yeast unless I had taken a gravity reading and found it to be high. And I would let it go a few more days before doing that.

i'd agree with the above. I never noticed Pacman to be noticeably more aggressive than any other yeast. Also, if the partial freezing was an issue, it probably would have taken off to a slow start.

You have no good reason to mess with this beer. You described a normal starter, pitch, and fermentation.

Thanks for the info. I didn't state the facts re: fermentation clearly. It did actually start out around 64'-66" internal temp and then kicked up to 72' internal temp at the height of activity yesterday (basement temp is 64'). Back down to 64' internal temp as of this morning with the cessation of activity. I figure I will leave it alone & take a gravity reading this weekend to see where things are at. Thanks, Montanaandy

Pacman is a real muncher. What's the new SG?

"You have no good reason to mess with this beer. What makes you want to?" I don't want to do anything - I was just uncertain as to whether the yeast may have been compromised because of the freezing based on what I have read about PacMan when others have used it. I am just going to leave it alone and take a reading later this week. Thanks, Montanaandy

"Pacman is a real muncher. What's the new SG?" Don't know at this point - will check it in a few days. Montanaandy

I think this yeast is supposed to ferment quickly and because the optimal temp is between 60°-70° with the low 60's apparently best, you may have just fermented on the higher end of the scale and completed the bulk of fermentation quickly. If you have an average OG (1.045-1.055) I would guess you are going to be just fine. I'm no expert but if it were me I would let it sit for at least a few more days and then give it a gravity check. This yeast has a high attenuation so if you don't get fairly low gravity readings, let it sit for up to 2 weeks before making any changes. Good luck!

As I mentioned in a recent post, I had a Dead Guy clone using Pacman ferment out from 1.055 to 1.008 in 4 days at 60F(regulated temp). Your higher temps should increase the rate of the yeast metabolism. I'm betting it's done.

FWIW, for my tastes, I find the finish of the Dead Guy clone mashed @ 151 and fermented with Pacman to be on the dry side. For future brews with Pacman, I'm going to experiment with higher mash temps.

I've been mashing my Dead Guy clone at 158, because pacman yeast is so attenuative. I usually ferment pacman at 60-62, so it does take a bit longer than at warmer temperatures.

I'm guessing it's just about done. It'll probably drop a couple more gravity points in the next few days, but not much. It really is a work-horse yeast.

Yooper & Raceskier - thanks for the head up. I guess that I was caught a bit off-guard by how quickly and efficiently this yeast operates. It was quiet until the morning following brew day and then it took off like gangbusters but in a controlled way (i.e. nice krausen and bubbling but no danger of blow off). The airlock was churning like crazy too. I was expecting to have to put in the blow off tube but then things started to calm down until we got to today and it does look like things are finished for the most part. Montanaandy

I'm ordering up grain for a few brews I'm planning for the week between xmas and nye. I plan on using Pacman. Never have before. Was thinking of making my house IPA with it in place of 1056 for one. Taking suggestions for others...though I'm not that big a fan of Dead Guy. Anyone have any good recipes that Pacman works well with?

jvh261 said:

I'm ordering up grain for a few brews I'm planning for the week between xmas and nye. I plan on using Pacman. Never have before. Was thinking of making my house IPA with it in place of 1056 for one. Taking suggestions for others...though I'm not that big a fan of Dead Guy. Anyone have any good recipes that Pacman works well with?

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Pacman is pretty clean, ferments out dry so I think mashing a little higher is alright depending on what you're aiming for. Probably good for big DIPAs or Barleywines, big stouts or even more delicate light beers where yeast character is undesirable. I just recently did a batch of BM's Centennial Blonde with Pacman and it is coming along nicely.

PacMan has been a good yeast for just about every style of American beer that I've done. It's very "clean" and well-attenuating, so I use it in places where I might otherwise use 1056, WLP001, S-05, etc. I've used it in APAs, IPAs, American ambers, my "Fizzy Yellow Beer", etc.