why not more yeast?

[richl025]

OK, possibly silly newbie question here, but it's been bugging me a bit...

If under-pitching is bad, and we want to go to great lengths to avoid it with starters and such... why not just pitch TWO packets of a particular yeast?

I mean, aside from having to pay an extra $6 for another vial or whatever...

RL

 

[whoaru99]

OK, possibly silly newbie question here, but it's been bugging me a bit...

If under-pitching is bad, and we want to go to great lengths to avoid it with starters and such... why not just pitch TWO packets of a particular yeast?

I mean, aside from having to pay an extra $6 for another vial or whatever...

RL

In many cases to pitch the proper rate takes more than two vials; maybe three, four, or five if you consider the viability of the yeast. If you're doing a real big beer or a big lager it may take even more.

If you brew more than a few batches at big pitch rates, the cost of a stir plate (especially if you can DIY one) and DME to make starters will pay for itself rather than buying multiple vials of yeast.

 

[ericbw]

1. The $6.

2. You do want the yeast to reproduce because that's when they make their flavor. If you over pitch you Get less of that. So starters are supposed to be in the optimal range where you get the right flavor.

"Under" and "over" are kind of relative terms. In a hefe, you want more yeast flavor. In a light American blonde, you want less.

 

[boydster]

You can pitch two vials of liquid yeast, sure, it is just more economical to make a starter and it ensures you have healthy, hungry yeast on the job right away instead of yeast that is basically dormant.

Dry yeast is another story. Most experts say it is best NOT to make a starter and if additional cells are required just pitch an additional packet.

 

[Cyclman]

Overpitching can make for a very fast fermentation, with less yeast character. Since yeast makes beer, that's not a good thing.

 

[zeg]

Dry yeast is another story. Most experts say it is best NOT to make a starter and if additional cells are required just pitch an additional packet.

In addition, dry yeast packets have FAR more cells than liquid yeast vials. A 100% viable vial has 100 billion cells, IIRC, and your viability is probably more like 60-80%. If you have a moderately big beer, you might beed 250-300 billion, so you'll need 4-5 packs to ensure a proper pitch rate. That extra $6 is now an extra $20 or more.

Also, that viability is fairly uncertain. If you think it's 60% and it's 80%, you're going to overpitch by 30%. A starter, especially a multistep one, will reduce your pitch rate's dependence on the starting cell count.

 

[ASUlax9]

Starters allow the healthier cells to reproduce in a separate environment and you will therefore be pitching more healthy yeast cells into the wort. The emphasis being healthy as opposed to overall cell count. As many vials contain yeast that die during transportation, pitching two vials is dumping twice as many dead yeast cells into your wort and you are going to still be pitching far fewer healthy yeast cells than if you were to use a two litre starter.

 

[EarlyAmateurZymurgist]

If you brew more than a few batches at big pitch rates, the cost of a stir plate (especially if you can DIY one) and DME to make starters will pay for itself rather than buying multiple vials of yeast.

A stir plate is more of a "want" item than a "need" item when it comes to making starters. I made starters for years without a stir plate.

 

[zoyar]

An interesting blog post on this topic:

http://sciencebrewer.com/2012/03/02/pitching-rate-experiment-part-deux-results/