businesstime
Well-Known Member
There seems (to me) to be some discrepancies between the two with regards to pitching rates. I wondered if anyone here could help explain what I'm missing.
Wyeast packs contain 100 billion cells, which claims to be able to innoculate 5 gallons of wort at 1.048 OG. Mrmalty acknowledges this in the FAQ section:
Yet, when you plug in those numbers into mrmalty's calculator (Ale, 1.048 OG, 5 gallons), it calculates that you need 168 billion cells. This is much more than the 100 billion figure!
Wyeast packs contain 100 billion cells, which claims to be able to innoculate 5 gallons of wort at 1.048 OG. Mrmalty acknowledges this in the FAQ section:
"According to both White Labs and Wyeast, a White Labs Pitchable Yeast vial and a Wyeast ACTIVATOR 125 XL Smack Pack both contain an average of 100 billion cells and are enough to pitch directly into 5 US gallons (18.9 liters) of an ale wort at 1.048 SG (12°P). This is a pitching rate of 5.3 million cells per milliliter, which is close to the pitching rate many professional breweries begin with when starting a new pitch of ale yeast. This rate works well because the health and vitality of fresh laboratory cultured yeast are superior to yeast harvested from normal fermentation."
Yet, when you plug in those numbers into mrmalty's calculator (Ale, 1.048 OG, 5 gallons), it calculates that you need 168 billion cells. This is much more than the 100 billion figure!