Double Pitching

Is it really necessary for higher gravity beers? I'm thinking of getting the AHS Beglian noel and Dog fish 60 min. Both suggest double pitching. An additional 14 bucks in the end...

Make a big starter and grow your yeast first.

Yes it is necessary, and starters are much cheaper.

wildwest450 said:

Yes it is necessary, and starters are much cheaper.

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SO either a starter or bite the bullet and buy the yeast...

Correct. (8910)

What yeast is it? A pack of dry yeast is as good (or better) as a starter. If one will suffice you could use one and save money and time.

Conroe said:

What yeast is it? A pack of dry yeast is as good (or better) as a starter. If one will suffice you could use one and save money and time.

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white labs english for the dog fish but they say you can use fermentis safale dry

white labs belgian gold ale for the Noel but they also have a dry alternative.

You could use a pitching calculator to let you know exactly how much yeast to add.

I wouldn't use a dry yeast for a Belgian. Ester profiles are the key to Belgians and although you can get esters by fermenting at the high end of a dry yeast's temperature you never know exactly what you'll get.

david_42 said:

I wouldn't use a dry yeast for a Belgian. Ester profiles are the key to Belgians and although you can get esters by fermenting at the high end of a dry yeast's temperature you never know exactly what you'll get.

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IMO beer pitched with suspended, liquid, yeast for some reason always tastes better, maybe just my imagination, or the different style of beer.

Just moved my 90-minute clone to the secondary, clocked in at 10.5% and I only pitched once. Did use a yeast starter, though

Another way to do it is to brew something else with the yeast that's lower in alcohol, then pitch your big beer with the slurry from the first one. Then, instead of two packs of yeast for one batch of beer, you get two batches of beer from one pack of yeast!