How much yeast ??

I brew 5 gallon batches, mostly around 1.050-1.060 SG. Using Nottingham most of the time. Is there any rule of thumb as to how many packages to use to a certain SG ??

 

Try this

 

Rule of Thumb: one packet below 1.060, two for high gravity.

Calculators are good things, but partial packets of yeast die quickly.

 

Then just toss the partial packet in the garbage.

I follow the calculator. Pay attention to the age of the yeast for viability.

 

why wouldn't you just over pitch a bit if you have a half packet of yeast left? The amount of yeast you need to over pitch and negatively affect the beer is A LOT.

 

Here is my theory

it depends. In a beer that you want a very limited yeast character then I think over pitching a bit is fine. Like an American Ale or a lager where the yeast character is minimal and the goal is for a very clean brew.

BUT in a yeast dependent beer like a hefeweizen of a Belgian Dubbel, over pitching could reduce esters and yeast character.

In fact, I've recently been having issues like this pop up in my beers. Reduced yeast character in beers that are really dependent on yeast character for their flavor. Some are so clean that they end up overly bland. I'm blaming it on a combination of over pitching and low ferment temps.