Yeast Question

I have recently started washing my own yeast.
The first batch i used with my us 05 yeast i had the airlock fill up with krauson. "sp"

Didnt think much of it, Till the next batch of beer i made....Same problem.

First thought, Filled the carboy to full.
Problem: 10 gal batch. split between 2 carboys... both 6 gal carboys.
Both same yeast... 1 carboy has no problem...other fills the airlock.


Here is my wild idea, When you buy a yeast packet, They have the same grams. If my yeast slurry has to much yeast for a 5 gal carboy, Would it cause a harder ferment?


Guess a simpler way to describe my question is,
If you put 2pkts of yeast instead of 1 into a 5 gal carboy. What would happen? Harder ferment? Higher Krauson? "sp" Longer ferment?


Thanks for your help

Congrats - your wash is working and you're getting exactly what you want! A fast, vigorous initial fermentation.

Now, you need to start using a blow off tube instead of the airlock for the first few days. The blow off tube will either fit in the hole in the stopper or take the place of the stopper entirely (different sizes). In either case, the outboard end is submersed in a jar/bucket of water.

Still doesnt answer my question, I know my yeast is working.
I am just curious by having to much yeast "example 2 pkts in 5 gal instead of 1 " what is the effect?
Will it drop the gravity lower? Faster? No effect just waste of yeast?

winstonofbeer said:

Still doesnt answer my question, I know my yeast is working.
I am just curious by having to much yeast "example 2 pkts in 5 gal instead of 1 " what is the effect?
Will it drop the gravity lower? Faster? No effect just waste of yeast?

Click to expand...

You're not understanding that having a vigorous fermentation that may clog your airlock and may necessitate using a blow off tube is a good thing. And you don't want to do anything to change that for future batches. By pitching less yeast next time.

It is not a product of having too full of a fermenter, nor is it a product of having too much yeast (in fact the more yeast you use, the better, cleaner and healthier fermentations you will have, which means better tasting beer, with less chance of OFF flavors.)

It is simply a combination of the amount and type of fermentables in your recipes, temp at fermentation and a bunch of other vaiables.

I can assure you that having a blowoff in a normal brew (though perfectly normal) with Us-05 is a rare thing.....

I've only ever had a blow off in one of the several hundred batches of beer I have brewed, and I use US-05 a lot (and the blowoff was not from us-of)

The thing about dry yeast is a single packet is the perfect amount for a 5 gallon batch of your average beer, and higher grav beers benefit from 2...but dry yeast is cheap, and you really can never say it's a waste of yeast.

ANother thing to realize is that [i[no two fermentations are exactly the same.[/i] so despite the fact that you had a blowoff this time, there's no gaurentee that if you made the identical batch next time that you would again.

When we are dealing with living creatures, there is a wild card factor in play..Just like with other animals, including humans...No two behave the same.

You can split a batch in half put them in 2 identical carboys, and pitch equal amounts of yeast from the same starter...and have them act completely differently...for some reason on a subatomic level...think about it...yeasties are small...1 degree difference in temp to us, could be a 50 degree difference to them...one fermenter can be a couple degrees warmer because it's closer to a vent all the way across the room and the yeasties take off...

Someone, Grinder I think posted a pic once of 2 carboys touching each other, and one one of the carboys the krausen had formed only on the side that touched the other carboy...probably reacting to the heat of the first fermentation....but it was like symbiotic or something...

With living micro-organisms there is always a wildcard factor in play...and yet the yeast rarely lets us down. So it is best just to rdwhahb and trust that they know to what they are doing.

So no, don't pitch less next time, but like any of us do, have the fixings for a blowoff tube handy in the future, and switch if the fermentation is vigorous.

yes, i have no doubt i will be using a blow off tube for the rest of my brews just "in case"

So question here, Say i keep washing yeast and with each batch you are going to get more and more yeast... With the more yeast you use, Will the ferment start faster?
Will i need to start watching my ending gravity closer?

Guess what i am getting at here is, More yeast you use, The better,cleaner, harder ferment you are going to have. At what point do know you have maximized the most you can get out of a container of yeast? I would think putting a qt of yeast into 5 gal would be more than overkill.......
But if you did, What would happen?

Sorry for the constant question, The geek in me allways has the "what if, or what would happen" going on.

Washing yeast is awsome in the fact of saving $$ but it is allways a satisfation as much as tasting the recipe you created from scratch...not knowing if it would taste good or bad.

In the future, I want to start using differnt strains of yeast to see how yeast changes how the beer tastes....But one thing at a time.
Personaly i think it would be cool to see, say a blonde and have the same recipe but just change the yeast to see how it effects the flavor.....
Or what would happen if you mixed yeast strains?

winstonofbeer said:

yes, i have no doubt i will be using a blow off tube for the rest of my brews just "in case"

So question here, Say i keep washing yeast and with each batch you are going to get more and more yeast... With the more yeast you use, Will the ferment start faster?
Will i need to start watching my ending gravity closer?

Guess what i am getting at here is, More yeast you use, The better,cleaner, harder ferment you are going to have. At what point do know you have maximized the most you can get out of a container of yeast? I would think putting a qt of yeast into 5 gal would be more than overkill.......
But if you did, What would happen?

Click to expand...

You're coming at it from the wrong end...the amount of liquid yeast whether washed or starters from tubes backets necessary for good fermentation is dependant on the Gravity of the wort.

Many of us use this pitching calculator to tell us how big of a starter we need. http://www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html

It is really nearly impossible to get Waaaayyyy to much yeast. Most folks starting out under pitch, but if you managed to use a huge amount more that the beer needs, you would be left with a yeasty taste in your beer.