Did I overpitch? Should I dilute?

[Tinpanharry]

So today I thought I would throw together a quick brew, doing and extract with steeping grains. I ran it through Beersmith as below which predicted 1.061, but it came out with a OG of 1.070 according to my hydrometer. Granted, either is higher than desired.

I have been concerned about underpitching and so I pitched 2 cups of a US-05 yeast cake from an amber ale refrigerated a week ago and added a package of Nottingham yeast.

Did I overpitch for this gravity? Since I just did this today, should I pull off a gallon and add some purified water to bring the gravity down a bit?

If I don't dilute, what should I expect in the taste, other than higher alcohol. I am fermenting currently at 53 and can move it to a warmer place but thought this a good temp to start at. I have heard that Nottingham tastes very good at cooler temps.

Thanks!
TPH


Irish Red Ale (9 D) (extract)
Mash or Steep Grains

Grains to Steep
8.0 oz Caramel Malt - 60L 2-Row (Cargill) (60.0 SRM) Grain 1 5.7 %
8.0 oz Honey Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain 2 5.7 %
4.0 oz Roasted Barley (Briess) (300.0 SRM) Grain 3 2.9 %

4 lbs Extra Light Dry Extract (3.0 SRM) Dry Extract 4 45.7 %
1 lbs 8.0 oz Amber Dry Extract (12.5 SRM) Dry Extract 5 17.1 %
1.5 lbs Molasses (80.0 SRM) Sugar 6 22.9 %

0.75 oz Goldings, East Kent [7.20 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 7 18.4 IBUs
0.25 oz East Kent Goldings (EKG) [7.20 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 8 1.2 IBUs

2 cups yeast from US05 amber ale yeast cake
1 package nottingham yeast.

◯ Estimated Post Boil Vol: 5.46 gal and Est Post Boil Gravity: 1.061 SG

 

[LLBeanJ]

I'd say you overpitched, probably by a factor of 3 or 4. I'd leave it though, as trying to "fix" it is likely to make things worse. With that particular yeast, you should be able to get away with severely overpitching without any adverse results. Let it ride.

 

[Tinpanharry]

Thanks LLbeanJ!

 

[RM-MN]

Here's the results of a guy's experiment with pitching rates. Note that his overpitch was about 5 times what was the recommended amount. http://sciencebrewer.com/2012/03/02/pitching-rate-experiment-part-deux-results/

 

[LLBeanJ]

Interesting article. I wasn't too surprised at the results since he used a Belgian strain for the experiment and I would expect to see the final beers being influenced by pitch rates. I'd be curious to see the results of a similar test with a neutral strain like Chico. I may have to try it myself one of these days.

 

[BigFloyd]

Agreed that you over-pitched. The best course now is to leave it alone and keep the temps in the 64-65*F range. Nottingham above 68*F (beer temp) can get funky.

 

[ColumbusAmongus]

Cool article, thanks for sharing. I think it is interesting to use pitching rates as a tool to intentionally alter your brew. I need to pay attention to my starter sizes now!

 

[Tinpanharry]

Agreed that you over-pitched. The best course now is to leave it alone and keep the temps in the 64-65*F range. Nottingham above 68*F (beer temp) can get funky.

Great tag line. I need to modify my thoughts to CORRECT amount of yeast AND CORRECT TEMP= Happy Yeast= Great Beer.

 

[Saxomatic]

Instead of starting a new thread ... lets use this one to have input on my case

I Did a 1.056 Scotch ale that ive move into secondary yesterday ( Rockin at 1.018 right now )

Im using WLP028 as yeast ... very pleased !

now here we go with the tricky part

I've done a 6 gal Wee Heavy ( 1.092 OG ) yesterday ... I've carefully keep 2 1/3cup of the thick slurry, drop on the wee, stir the worth and moved at 63f room and allowed to slowly drop to that temperature ( from 70f )

Today i've walk-in ... the Yeast goin crazy ( nice bubbling goin on ) i was currious so i've took a gravity sample and BOOM ... 1,030 already !

Is that normal ?
Did i still overpitch ?

I've used mr malty tool and was worried and go with the suggested amount ( 165ml ) so i double the Thumb rule. I guess i should stick with simple thumb rule or mr malty suggested amount ... i did so many reading on that topic im a bit loss lol !

Thanx for any input