Higher OG than anticipated, did I underpitch?

[KingdomBrewers]

Hi all, I made a starter for a 22 liter batch that was supposed to have an OG of 1.049 and ended up being 1.054. The starter had 210 billion cells and the estimated need for the higher gravity is 220. Is this going to mess up my flavor profile? It's an American Amber Ale and using Wyeast 1272. Thanks!

 

[eric19312]

Hi all, I made a starter for a 22 liter batch that was supposed to have an OG of 1.049 and ended up being 1.054. The starter had 210 billion cells and the estimated need for the higher gravity is 220. Is this going to mess up my flavor profile? It's an American Amber Ale and using Wyeast 1272. Thanks!

No you are fine.

Look the various starter calculators are estimates based on curve fitting with other peoples wort with difference yeast strains starting with known cell counts. There are numerous sources of potential variation translating that to what you did. Unless you have a microscope you have no way of knowing if you pitched 210 billion cells or 250 billion cells or 150 billion cells. And the rule that says you need 220 is a rule of thumb. It is not hard and fast and not accurate to 5% variation. You are going to be fine.

 

[RM-MN]

No you are fine.

Look the various starter calculators are estimates based on curve fitting with other peoples wort with difference yeast strains starting with known cell counts. There are numerous sources of potential variation translating that to what you did. Unless you have a microscope you have no way of knowing if you pitched 210 billion cells or 250 billion cells or 150 billion cells. And the rule that says you need 220 is a rule of thumb. It is not hard and fast and not accurate to 5% variation. You are going to be fine.

Estimated cell counts. With the current best practices two people could take the same sample and get wildly varying counts based on the fact that the sample size is exceedingly small, then the resulting count is multiplied by a factor of billions.

When you pitch your yeast you have an estimated number of cells. If you aerate the wort that number of cells swells greatly. The biggest difference between a relatively small number of cells and a large number is the time it takes for the yeast to multiply, known as lag time. If your equipment is sanitized properly a longer lag, while worrisome, gets you the same results.

 

[KingdomBrewers]

Thanks guys!