Is is possible to over-pitch?

[strantor]

I was just reading this thread about yeast pitching rates in cider. It was recommended by one person to not under-pitch, as this would give unwanted wild yeasts or other fiends the opportunity to get a foothold before the intended yeast can do it's job, and that this can result in sulphur smell/taste.

I've tasted another person's homebrew and it tasted sulphurish. He used the recommended one packet for 5gal. I was wondering if, for an additional 75c, would it do any harm to add a second yeast packet as insurance against this sulphur?

And to go further down that road, if (hypothetically speaking) I wanted to add, say, 50 packets, of yeast to my brew, would there be any adverse effect? Any effect at all, negative or positive? would it speed up the fermentation? AFAIK by the time it's done fermenting, there's more yeast than 50 packets sitting at the bottom of the fermenter anyway, as they multiply.

 

[KeystoneHomebrew]

It is possible to over-pitch. That said, you would have to add a crap-ton (scientific measurement) to do so. Adding two or even three packs of yeast should be the norm for most fermentations. Better a little extra than not enough. And that rate is FAR from over pitching.

 

[Darwin18]

It is difficult for the average homebrewer to overpitch unless you really try to, but yes there are adverse effects to overpitching. I use Mr. Malty as my pitching rate calculator and will increase the starter size about 10 - 20 % as I prefer to err on the side of caution. My goal is a healthy and active fermentation and I use liquid yeasts, so I'd rather slightly overpitch than risk underpitching.

 

[ACbrewer]

It is also very style dependant. Most style are after a 'clean' tasting beer with few byproducts. Some styles (like belgian's) are after more byproducts. What happens when you over pitch is that all the byproducts get picked up and the beer tastes insipid (or boring). Yeast provide most of the flavor in a beer.

There is a 'recommended amount' Most yeast packets are at the low wend of that for a standard strength OG. So indead it does take a lot to over pitch. I'd hazard that for non belgians a good rule of thumb is that it is probably safe to go to 2x the pitch rate. But with a Belgian style you want to be more careful. I say all this as 'rule of thumb' as I've not found anything specific in print about over pitching. Everything right now is geared towards under pitching. So this is literally my wild guess (no donkey's were harmed in making this guess).

(see YEAST by White and Zansimoff and the Beersmith podcast with Christ White).

 

[progmac]

pitching over won't give you problems with attenuation or off-flavors, but it will all but eliminate potentially desirable yeast character. if you're getting yeast that costs $0.75 a pack, i doubt it has any desirable yeast character.