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I think I did a big oops

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Dopeybrew

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After brewing 5 gallon batches I got into a habit of putting in the entire yeast packet into the wort. Well I brewed up a 1 gallon batch of barley wine on Monday and instead of pitching 1/2 of the packet per the instructions I went ahead and pitched the entire packet, and this thing is fermenting HARD and has been since day one. My major concern is bottle bombs later(I fully intend to drink this) and or funky flavors.

Anyone have any thoughts?

=EDIT=
the yeast was a safale us-05 yeast pitched at 65f, OG is unknown, its been fermenting at a stable 70f.
 
You don't need to worry about bottle bombs due to too much yeast. Bottle bombs are caused from bottling before fermentation is complete, adding too much priming sugar at bottling, or infection. I wouldn't worry about the extra half of a packet.
 
Maybe funky flavors...but not bottle bombs. Why would it cause bottle bombs? And why would more time in the fermenter help with the possible issues?

The reason I'm asking is that I find it much easier to explain something to someone when I see where they are coming from regarding their thought process.
 
Maybe funky flavors...but not bottle bombs. Why would it cause bottle bombs?

Well for the first 3 days(including earlier today) it was fermenting HARD, as in it looked liked the beer was on simmer. I had no idea if I added the priming tabs to this would I over carb the beer and bomb the bottles.

And to the other question more time would let more yeast fall out of suspension, correct?
 
Since you're just doing one gallon, stick it in the fridge for a few days and the yeast will drop out as much as they are going to. Then just rack/bottle as normal.


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Although this has already been covered, over pitching yeast does not mean bottle bombs. Bottle bombs are a result of either an infection which ferments more sugar than intended, adding too much priming sugar, or bottling before the fermentation has completed.

In the case of a barley wine of high gravity, bottling too early should be your biggest concern. It will take much longer for fermentation to really complete.
 
Basically, you over pitched the yeast. The only effect I've seen reported from over-pitching is a loss of body and complexity. Basically, you might end up with a thinner/duller beer than you would have otherwise.

You don't need to age this, or otherwise let it set, any more than you would have normally. If anything, the yeast will have the job done early, not late.
 
I would think you'd need less time, if any time adjustment at all. The fermentable sugars will be finished fermenting faster, any clean-up should be done faster, etc.

You can cold crash to get the yeast out of suspension, and it shouldn't take any longer just because there's more yeast.
 
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