I need 11 Wyeast packs Mr. Malty ?

[Wingfan13]

So using the Mr. Malty calculator and it is telling me I need 11 Wyeast packs ? Am I doing something wrong or is this production date screwing my numbers up ?

OG 1.084
5.5 gallons
Production date on these packs I have (2) say May 17, 2011

Using a stir plate I get

# yeast cells needed 315 billion
# vials or pack without starter 31.5
# vials or pack with saterter 11
# liters of starter required 1.79

What would be the best way to fix my issue since I am brewing sunday afternoon ?

Thanks in advance.

 

[thatjonguy]

Well Steady says there is approximately 100 billion yeast cell is a Activator pack. Mr. Malty says you needs 315 billion.

I say use the two packs you have, pitch at the right temp and you probably be ok. That is what I would do and I think 11 packs would be over pitching.

 

[Wingfan13]

Well Steady says there is approximately 100 billion yeast cell is a Activator pack. Mr. Malty says you needs 315 billion.

I say use the two packs you have, pitch at the right temp and you probably be ok. That is what I would do and I think 11 packs would be over pitching.

So would you still go with the 1.79 liter starter ?

 

[Zen_Brew]

The problem is the age of your yeast. Mr Malty is estimating only 10% viability. You are going to have a lot of dead and dying yeast in a culture that old. For a beer that large you do not want to use yeast that old as the high gravity is going to require yeast in very good health to deal with the stress of such a high gravity fermentation. I would go get fresh yeast to do this brew. If you wanted to use yeast that old it could certainly be coaxed back to health, but it would require several small steps in starters to get the population healthy again.

Yeast that old in a beer that big will be nothing but problematic and produce a less than stellar result. Do your self and your beer a favor and get the fresh yeast.

 

[BBL_Brewer]

I agree, fresh yeast is a good idea. But like the last guy said, you should be able to bring up what you have with the right amount of steps. Just depends on how much trouble you want to go through.

 

[bottlebomber]

The reason why is, Mr.Malty is probably calculating those 2 packs to be about 15% viability. They are probably much more than that, but I would definitely make a 2 liter starter to get them chugging, and use that. Do that and youll be fine

 

[Wingfan13]

I agree, fresh yeast is a good idea. But like the last guy said, you should be able to bring up what you have with the right amount of steps. Just depends on how much trouble you want to go through.

I guess I dont mind doing it but will I still be able to brew Sunday afternoon ?

 

[JAStout]

Get that starter going right now if you want to brew tomorrow.

 

[Zen_Brew]

I think you are to close to brew day to use the yeast you have. Ideally I would put each of your current vials into a 1000ml starter with a lower than normal gravity (say 1.030) and a good dose of nutrient and pay attention to the ferment for signs of how vital the yeast is. I would the chill and possibly wash the yeast if you see a lot of darker colored yeast in the starters. Then I would step them up again. What I would do would take several days.

The safer bet is to spend the 6 or 12 dollars on fresh yeast today and get that in a starter for tomorrow. A beer that big is going to be a lot of work and require a very vigorous fermentation. Do you really want to risk your ferment on less than ideal yeast? Will it be worth it in 3 weeks when your trying to figure out why your final gravity won't go below 1.025 and you have off flavors in your beer.

You can use that yeast on a 1 day starter and it may work, but you are greatly increasing the odds of a problematic fermentation and off flavors without nurturing that yeast a bit. It's just not worth the risk in my opinion. Give your beer every chance you can to be perfect.

Just my 2 cents

 

[thegerm]

sanitize effectively and you can brew sunday, and just delay pitching 24-48 hours while the yeast reproduce in your starter.

 

[BBL_Brewer]

Yeah 24 hours, even on a stip plate, really isn't enough time with a 5 month old smack pack. I'd want to do at least 2 steps before brewing a 1.084.

 

[jfr1111]

Dry yeast anyone ? Might not be ideal, but it would at least be better than trying to coax 6 month old packets of yeast back to life in a single day.

In order:
a) Dry yeast
b) If not possible because of beer style either:
b.1) Brew next week
b.2) Pitch what you have after getting it to ferment a small starter and pray

If you choose b.2, be prepared for band aid city.

 

[Wingfan13]

I just got it on the stir plate. I think I am going to brew tomorrow and not pitch until Monday night. I am guessing I should wait to aerate until right before I pitch ?

I am using Pacman so maybe I will run back up there while my starter is going and grab another package. I am just hoping they have some with a more recent date.

Thanks for all the replies !

 

[thegerm]

I am guessing I should wait to aerate until right before I pitch ?

correct

 

[JAStout]

I've waited 24 and 36 hours before pitching before. Many have waited longer, some with better results than others. I plugged my bucket bung with a starsan soaked cotton ball.

 

[Wingfan13]

Update for anyone who cares. I put the 2 packs of yeast I had on the starter and Sunday morning grabbed 2 more. I came home and added one of the to the starter and there wasn't much room for the 4th so I just put it aside.

I pitched Sunday around 8pm, woke up this morning and it was bubbling away. Thank god I work from home because after lunch I had to throw a blow off tube on it. Looks like it's all going to be ok.

 

[thegerm]

make sure to actually recalculate your numbers in the pitching rate calculator before you go adding too many smackpacks to your starter wort. if the yeast concentration gets so high in your starter you won't get reproduction, you'll just get fermentation.

if you really have to grow a lot of yeast, at a certain point you just have to step it up to a larger volume.

 

[Zen_Brew]

I would think the 2 older packs on the stir plate plus 1 fresh pack should put you in pretty decent shape.

 

[Wingfan13]

All of the pacman yeast at my homebrew store had the same date. May 17th. I went with 4 to be safe. The starter with 2 packs was stirring for about 28 hours before I added the third.

We will see how it turns out but Mr Malty said I needed 11 on a stir plate with that production date so I am confident it will turn out OK.

 

[solbes]

EDIT - Nevermind, I didn't read the whole thread. Sounds like your doing fine.

 

[bobbytuck]

Or just pitch 2 packs of Safale 05 and be done with it.