3638, Aventinus, underpitching

[EricScott]

Hello All,
Im looking to brew an Aventinus clone this weekend. I like the estery taste in Aventinus.
I calc my OG to be around 1.074. Mr Malty recommends a 3.43 liter starter for this gravity, however, Wyeast warns against over pitching and recommends "decreasing the pitch rate" to increase ester production.
I do not know how much of a decrease is safe. Has anyone tried this?

Thanks,
Eric

 

[kanzimonson]

I just brewed a weizenbock and I would not recommend playing with the pitch rates. Because it's higher alcohol, and because of the yeast strain you're using, you'll get plenty of fruity esters.

 

[poley]

I brewed a couple hefeweizens back to back and then used the slurry for a weizenbock, that process worked really well. It's a good way to get a big fat yeast pitch without building up a huge starter for one batch. Just an option, if you like wheat beers. You could do the same thing with a dunkelweizen if you like darker beers.