Do I have enough yeast for a 10g batch

[acroporabrewer]

I've recently started doing 10g batches all grain and for yeast, I just buy 2 packs. This past order, I just bought one pack of yeast and was going to do a starter. Well the DME was left out and I was really wanting to brew tomorrow since I am going out of town in a couple of days and I wanted to have 2 kegs ready for a party in a month.

Do I have enough yeast to brew 10 gallons? The nearest homebrew store is 45 minutes away and I only have 1 pack of white labs 041.

 

[IslandLizard]

With only one pack, you needed to have started that starter a few days to a week ago. Depending on the gravity of the beer, perhaps even in 2 rounds, with a cold crash in between and after.

One pack is barely enough for 5 gallons of a 1.050 beer, even if it was packaged yesterday.

Got any dry on hand? split the batch, make a vitality starter with the liquid to pitch into one and the dry pack into the other.

 

[acroporabrewer]

Thanks for your advice. I held off on the brew and went on vacation. While on vacation, I ordered me a 5000L flask and a 2000L flask, plus 3 lbs of dme and another pack of yeast. Time to do my first yeast starter. I guess I am going to use both packs of yeast and extra dme in the 5L flask tonight. In the future, I am thinking about on using two pack of yeast, decant the wort off after a couple of days. Anybody do this with 10 gallons batches? Am I on the right track or should I just stick with two packs of liquid yeast.

This 5L Erlenmeyer flask is bigger in size than I thought it would be. I'm pretty pumped to use it.

 

[flars]

Yeast pitch rate/starter calculators may not be all that accurate but they are a good place to start for information. These are two that seem to be pretty good especially for packaged yeast viability.

https://www.brewersfriend.com/yeast-pitch-rate-and-starter-calculator/
http://www.brewunited.com/yeast_calculator.php


You don't need fancy equipment for propagating starters. Any container that can be kept sanitary will work especially for shaken not stirred starters.

 

[kh54s10]

Two packs of yeast are about right for 5 gallons of an average beer. You have a good start with the 2 flasks and DME. Now get a stirplate and read up on making starters. The stirplate is not essential but makes for smaller starters and less of a hassle.

The main purpose of a starter is to save some money by growing more yeast cells. It also prepares the yeast so they are very healthy and active.

I use this calculator. There is information there also. http://www.yeastcalculator.com/

 

[IslandLizard]

YeastCalc is another excellent yeast propagation calculator.

I tend to prefer BrewUnited's, as @flars already pointed to.

Plug in some numbers and see how you can grow the largest amount of yeast, even from a single pack.

Also using a drop of Fermcap-S in your starter wort will reduce foaming while boiling and excessive foaming in the starter vessel, which can cause blow offs, losing half your yeast overnight to the countertop.

 

[lschiavo]

I ordered me a 5000L flask and a 2000L

This 5L Erlenmeyer flask is bigger in size than I thought it would be.

Did the big ones fit in your house?

 

[acroporabrewer]

Did the big ones fit in your house?

haha, it barely fits when it is turned sideways. I am certainly running out of counter space now when i am cleaning my equipment.

 

[Jhu1321]

I think a lot of the information about needing so much yeast for a fermentation is overkill. I pitched one packet of WL California Ale into 10 gallons of 1.064 wort. Turned out perfect and finished at 1.010.

 

[IslandLizard]

I think a lot of the information about needing so much yeast for a fermentation is overkill. I pitched one packet of WL California Ale into 10 gallons of 1.064 wort. Turned out perfect and finished at 1.010.

Not to argue, but with your method the "perfect" part is the most remarkable!

How fresh was that pack of yeast?
How much did you oxygenate that wort at pitching time?
What temp did you ferment at?

 

[acroporabrewer]

It looks like I need to use two packs of yeast and do it in two steps. I still need to decant off the liquid after step one, right?

 

[IslandLizard]

It looks like I need to use two packs of yeast and do it in two steps. I still need to decant off the liquid after step one, right?

Plugging 5 liters into above calculator gives me 395 billion cells in one step (manually shaken), around what you need. Alas, a little low on inoculation rate (16.4B vs 25B) and no extra left for the next batch.

It really "pays" to have a stir plate, and for 5 liters, a pretty strong magnet and a 1.5-2 inch stir bar. That would give you 788B cells in one step, about twice of what you need. Or only use one pack and 2.5 liters.

Most calculators are quite conservative in calculating viable cells. In your example, 4 months old yeast at 41% viability. Much depends on how it was stored and how much damage there was during transits. I've experienced much larger growth, which means the yeast was more viable than thought.

I'm doing an experiment to see how viable old yeast still is. I currently have an 800ml starter with a 1/2 ounce of saved WY3944 starter slurry I made 3 1/2 years ago (January 2014). The yeast had turned quite dark, and the starter wort became dark brown (like a nut brown ale) when I mixed it in. After 2 days it started to show a little foam and the color became significantly lighter, a good indication new yeast is being grown. It will stay on the shaker for a week, and we'll see.

 

[Jhu1321]

Not to argue, but with your method the "perfect" part is the most remarkable!

How fresh was that pack of yeast?
How much did you oxygenate that wort at pitching time?
What temp did you ferment at?

Ok, "perfect" may have been an overstatement. No off flavors & bright citrusy smell & taste.

Yeast was one month old.

We oxygenate the hell out of it.

About 68

 

[acroporabrewer]

So far the two 10 gallon batches I have brewed have not turned out as well as I would have liked. I'm having a tough time with my final gravity. It is pretty high at 1.030, measured with a refractometer. With a post boil gravity of 1.055, I am under 4 % alcohol. I had the same problem with my 1st 10 gallon batch of a summer wheat that I kegged a couple if weeks ago. I assumed the problem was due to not using a starter. The final gravity was 1.030 on that batch too. It is a little thick and sweet so I've thought about dumping the other 5 gallon off. Such of a sad sight. For that batch, I only dumped two packs of liquid yeast in the fermenter with no starter.

I'm not sure what I did wrong. I used two yeast packs in the 5 L starter and it was going nuts. Maybe I didn't leave it in the starter long enough. I only let it ferment for 24 hours.

This is also the first time I am using a 60L Speidel fermenter. It is nice to have a spigot to test the gravity to see if fermentation has stopped. It has been at 1.030 for at least 4 days now. Should I add a packet of dry yeast to try to get the final gravity lower?

 

[flars]

So far the two 10 gallon batches I have brewed have not turned out as well as I would have liked. I'm having a tough time with my final gravity. It is pretty high at 1.030, measured with a refractometer. With a post boil gravity of 1.055, I am under 4 % alcohol. I had the same problem with my 1st 10 gallon batch of a summer wheat that I kegged a couple if weeks ago. I assumed the problem was due to not using a starter. The final gravity was 1.030 on that batch too. It is a little thick and sweet so I've thought about dumping the other 5 gallon off. Such of a sad sight. For that batch, I only dumped two packs of liquid yeast in the fermenter with no starter.

I'm not sure what I did wrong. I used two yeast packs in the 5 L starter and it was going nuts. Maybe I didn't leave it in the starter long enough. I only let it ferment for 24 hours.

This is also the first time I am using a 60L Speidel fermenter. It is nice to have a spigot to test the gravity to see if fermentation has stopped. It has been at 1.030 for at least 4 days now. Should I add a packet of dry yeast to try to get the final gravity lower?

Measuring specific gravity with a refractometer post fermentation will give you an inaccurate reading because of the presence of alcohol. Best to use a hydrometer for checking final gravity.
Here Are a few conversion calculators for brix readings.
https://www.northernbrewer.com/learn/resources/refractometer-calculator/
https://www.brewersfriend.com/refractometer-calculator/

This calculator may be the most accurate according to some.
http://seanterrill.com/2012/01/06/refractometer-calculator/

 

[acroporabrewer]

Thank you. I feel fairly dumb now but at least my final gravity is better than I thought. It read 1.012. I am not sure if you can check kegged brew like that but my wheat read 1.010. I completely forgot about that. I've taken a couple of years off of brewing and I have only done a few batches since getting back in the hobby.