How much yeast?

[sok454]

I just an IPA and my OG came out to 1.078. Looking at beersmith it says I should us 2 packs since I didn't use a starter. Since I"ve already dumped one pack of yeast in should I dump another?

 

[EnjoyGoodBeer]

What yeast did you use? You don't want to overpitch either.

 

[harebearva]

Try Mrmalty.com and use the yeast calculator. Should give you an idea of how much you should be pitching.

 

[sok454]

safale us-05

 

[WoodlandBrew]

One pack of Safale is good for 5 gallons of up to 1.060. I think you are fine. Oxygenate well before pitching and keep the temperature 60-65 and you will be golden. (It only takes 40 seconds of vigorous shaking of the fermenter to fully saturate the wort with air)

 

[sok454]

Mr. malty says 1.2 packs are needed... Should I throw in another pack just to be safe?

 

[WoodlandBrew]

I would just go with one. Over pitching has its drawbacks as well. Wyeast has a nice write up on pitch rates.

 

[kh54s10]

For .2 pack I would not add more. Over pitching does have some issues but no where near as much as underpitching.

 

[WoodlandBrew]

agreed. here is the page I was referring to
http://www.wyeastlab.com/com-pitch-rates.cfm

 

[EnjoyGoodBeer]

Yeah id go with 1.5 packs in that fact. Us-05 is a beast.

 

[sok454]

In order to keep it cooler than the last batch w Nottingham I am increasing the amount of water surrounding the bucket and adding more ice. Water surrounding the bucket is about 65 (w ice melted 12 hrs ago) so I assume looking right at 70 in the fermenter.

Should the bubbling for this higher gravity start sooner or later w the Us-05?

 

[WoodlandBrew]

Here is. Blog post that talks about ice in swamp coolers:
http://woodlandbrew.blogspot.com/2012/09/swamp-cooler.html?m=1

Normally the more sugar I have in a wort the more vigouse the start of fermentation, so if it's a big beer I like to start it a little on the cool side so it doesn't blow the top off my fermented.

 

[Obliviousbrew]

US-05 is a beast but for 5 gallons of a beer of 1.078 og I will use two. In my third batch I brewed and IPA that had a 1.077 OG pitch on pack of us-05 and I didn´t like the results, from that day I take a lot of care and pitch the rigth amount of yeast. It will ferment yes, it will be the same no

 

[WoodlandBrew]

ObliviouseBrew, I'm not sure I follow what you are saying. The number of packs Mr. malty is recommending is 1.2 packs. You would pitch 2. you are also careful to pitch the right amount. Do you mean that you would rather over pitch than under pitch in this circumstances, or do you think Mr. Malty is wrong?

 

[tre9er]

Overpitching is rarely a problem in homebrewing unless you start getting out of hand. Underpitching, on the other hand, is the most common cause of off-flavors, other than shoddy temp control.

 

[Obliviousbrew]

ObliviouseBrew, I'm not sure I follow what you are saying. The number of packs Mr. malty is recommending is 1.2 packs. You would pitch 2. you are also careful to pitch the right amount. Do you mean that you would rather over pitch than under pitch in this circumstances, or do you think Mr. Malty is wrong?

No, I´m not saying it´s wrong I don´t use Mr Malty, but you have to account for the expire date in the the package, 1.2 it can mean 1.2 FRESH NEW packs of yeast, and also it depends on how you pitch it, if you sprinkle the dry yeast on top of the wort you are not pitching a whole pack but a lot less. Your viable cells are less if sprinkel instead of rehydratated
So short, if a calculator tells me to pitch two packages of FRESH dry yeast I will propably sprinkel on top 2 packs. I now actually only use liquid yeast and only keep dry yeast as a backup.

 

[tre9er]

How long since you pitched the first pack? If it's been a few days, pitching more isn't going to help you much. Your yeast will attenuate, but the off flavors have already been created due to stressing during reproduction. Let it sit longer than usual by slightly warming the temperature once it's reached stable gravity, then wait.

 

[sok454]

I pitched it exactly 24 hours ago. So could I sprinkle in another packet? Or should I just let it sit a little warmer after it has settled?

I'm not worried that i'm going to blow my fermenter with such a high grav beer. (Really just mean krausen coming out of the top...not actually blow it up)

 

[tre9er]

eh, 24 hours is not too long. if you have another pack, throw it in there.