Short a couple billion!!!

[corpsman619]

So I am going to be brewing on Monday (prezidential IPA) and after entering a recipe in beer smith it is telling me that I will be about 50 billion yeasties short... I am doing an IPA with an est SG of 1.071 and an est ABV of 7.8. I live really far from my HBS and SWMBO will not let me make the trip to get some DME!!
So, do you guys think that I will be ok pitching 50 billion short???
Any advise is much appreciated.

Cheers
Chris

 

[IslandLizard]

Generally the yeast calcs out there are conservative. I'd cross check with Mr Malty. If you have a fresh starter that's a bit short you should be OK. The problem would be to pitch a single vial or smack pack, where there has been no growth since it was packaged. It's downhill from there.

You could do a small mash in a pot and make some 1.035-1.040 wort. Boil and chill it and add to starter. One day will bring that count up. You can even pitch late Monday, giving it more time.

 

[corpsman619]

I was actually thinking about taking some first runnings and making a starter with that. But that would only get me about 3 hours tops of a starter. Plus I am doing this alone so stopping in the middle of a mash to make a starter will probably do more harm than good..... Do you think it is a big enough problem to piss off SWMBO and drive all the way back to the HBS for some DME or maybe just another vile... cause im lazy.. lol

 

[corpsman619]

The guy at the HMS is the one that said that two viles would do the trick, but I trust my beersmith more than that guy!

 

[kombat]

You'll be fine. 50 billion short isn't that bad.

 

[flars]

You could cut the grain bill a bit and brew a lower OG recipe for safety. Brewers Friend has you short also with yeast produced today.

 

[IslandLizard]

You could make a starter from diluted first runnings (boil and chill first), give it 12-24 hours on a stir plate. It will ramp up the count nicely. Then pitch into the wort. The wort won't spoil in that short of a time.

50 billion means little, percentage is more to the point. If you need 238B and you have 188B you're fine, being 20% short. The date and storage of the yeast are important though.

BTW, nothing is worth pissing SWMBO off. I thought we had learned that early on.

 

[RM-MN]

Read through this experiment and decide if the amount you are short will totally ruin your beer. Note that his overpitch was about 5 times the recommended amount and the underpitch was about 1/8 recommended. http://sciencebrewer.com/2012/03/02/pitching-rate-experiment-part-deux-results/

I'd be making the beer and pitching what you have available and not worry about it. Aerate well so your yeast that you have will grow more.

 

[IslandLizard]

I forgot about that study. Good material, yes!

 

[corpsman619]

I'm going to be honest, that article did not make me feel better about my situation. I'm not sure I want a full bodied, ester bomb IPA. It is a Sculpin clone, which is a little fruity I suppose... It doesn't sound like a good idea. Is there anyone is the Imperial Beach, CA area that would like to donate some DME??

 

[corpsman619]

Seems like making a starter with table sugar is also a bad idea.

 

[IslandLizard]

I'm going to be honest, that article did not make me feel better about my situation. I'm not sure I want a full bodied, ester bomb IPA. It is a Sculpin clone, which is a little fruity I suppose... It doesn't sound like a good idea. Is there anyone is the Imperial Beach, CA area that would like to donate some DME??

You're pitching about 75-80% of recommended, as long as you corrected for age and storage. Brewer's Friend's calculator is really nice as you can set the pitch and growth profiles.

The article underpitched at 12.5% (1/8th) of recommended. That's a big difference.

I would have been mashing that .7 pound of 2-row already in the oven, about ready to lauter...

 

[boydster]

I wouldn't sweat it as long as you are within a 25% margin you should be fine. Without doing a cell count, you really don't know exactly how many cells you are pitching, there is a lot of estimation. It sounds like you need between 200 and 250 billion and you have between 150 and 200 billion - is that right? If so, proceed with making the beer and don't think twice about whether you pitched enough yeast.

 

[MindenMan]

I also believe your yeast will do their job well. Try to get as much aeration as possible. It is not unheard of when brewing big beers, to take the top off the fermenter and stir the hell out of to break up the CO2 layer and get more O2 into the wort. I would ask someone who has done this method with success first.

 

[chocotaco]

Questions:

Do you have pure oxygen?

If not, do you have (or can you run out and get) hydrogen peroxide and bread yeast?

If you have pure oxygen, fill the headspace of the fermenter with pure oxygen, close up and shake the bejeesus out of it. This will get you plenty of oxygenation for your yeast to be healthy and you'll be fine.

If you don't, here is the MacGyver solution to making some. Get a bottle of hydrogen peroxide solution and put in in a 1 gallon bottle or 1/2 gallon growler. Get a drilled stopper for same and run a racking tube (or any sanitized tubing) through the hole. Add a packet of bread yeast to the hydrogen peroxide and put the stopper on top. Run the tube into your fermenter (sanitize first!) and let it just dip into your beer.

The reaction of the yeast's enzymes and the hydrogen peroxide will cause the peroxide to decay rapidly into water and pure oxygen gas. This will fill the headspace with O2. After several (20-30) minutes of this (you should see the peroxide foaming like crazy) you'll have a headspace full of relatively pure oxygen and you can shake like crazy to dissolve it in the wort.

Edit: I think Servomyces will also work for this but I'm not sure.