Missed My Pitch Rate What Should I Do?

[Mike Jones]

This past Sunday 1/28/18 I did my first BIAB with a OG of 1.061. According to the brewers friend pitch rate calculator I came up 107 billion cells short! I now know I should of made a starter or purchased more yeast.

I took the relax have a homebrew mantra and pitched what yeast I had at the time. I now have began to worry... Should I pitch more yeast? Or just let it ride?

Here is the specifics...

BIAB IPA
OG: 1.061
White Labs English Ale Yeast WLP002 (12/17/2017)
Wort Volume 3.1 gal
Ferm Temp: 66°

 

[masskrug]

Do you have extra yeast on-hand? I'd wait three days to see if it takes off. If it is sluggish, pitch some more yeast.

 

[Rob2010SS]

@Mike Jones assuming you pitched a full packet of new yeast you purchased, I'm going to venture to say you're fine. I'm 12 batches in and I just started doing starters for the last 2. Fermentations were always slow to start for me because I wasn't doing starters but they still started. I think you're fine. If you don't see any activity as of today, then I would say pitch more yeast. But if you see activity going on, your fine.

 

[jekeane]

If it is fermenting now any potential issue from underpitching is likely set in stone. Most fermentation issues are created in the first 18 hours and there isn't much you can do to fix them.

If you are seeing no activity then you can toss some dry yeast in and hope for the best.

You beer will probably be fine but be aware underpitched English strains tend to throw extra ester and can create a good deal of diacetyl (butter) You may need to let it sit on the yeast cake for awhile to be sure it cleans up the butter if detected.

Some strains are more forgiving with pitching rates than others so hopefully the odds will be in your favor!

 

[thehaze]

You pitched one pouch for 3 gallons of wort. The yeast was almost 1.5 months old. I think you will be more than fine.

English yeast, just like belgian, could/will benefit from underpitching ( or they do, at least for belgian ) and will produce more esters, which is also the reason to use such estery yeast in the first place.

I have pitched 2 months old Wyeast pouches into 5 gallons of 1.050 wort and they all fermented fine, without any trace of " butter " or other off-flavours. I do however, as pointed out above, leave my beers on the yeast cake for at least 2 weeks, but usually more like 20-25 days, to ensure the yeast has cleaned after themselves. I also raise the temp. once the the agressive stage of fermentation is done, to encourage the yeast to finish and quickly clean whatever off-flavours were produced, if any.

 

[Mike Jones]

Thank you for the advice guys. General question for you here. How many of you trust the pitch rate calculators? Sounds like there is a bit of deviation from using a calculator as some of you try to achieve specific flavors by under pitching specific yeast. Do you guys have any articles you trust to define this process a bit more?

If it is fermenting now any potential issue from underpitching is likely set in stone. Most fermentation issues are created in the first 18 hours and there isn't much you can do to fix them.

You beer will probably be fine but be aware underpitched English strains tend to throw extra ester and can create a good deal of diacetyl (butter) You may need to let it sit on the yeast cake for awhile to be sure it cleans up the butter if detected.

Fermentation has begun but its a bit sluggish. I am going to bring up the temp a bit tonight and try to get this guys going a bit more. You say to let it sit on the yeast cake a for a while. How long is a while? I've have just been going with letting all my beers ferment for 3 weeks.

 

[jekeane]

3 weeks should be good. I often for english strains will do a diacetyl test before I move to packaging. It is pretty simple and can tell you if you are good to go. There are probably some videos out there that explain it better than me.

1. Pull a sample of beer about 200ml or your hydrometer vial worth
2. Place the sample in a microwave safe glass and cover with plastic wrap.
3. Pulse in the microwave for 5-10 second bursts till you are at or above 140°
4. Let it sit covered around 140° for 15 minutes
5. Put in fridge still covered to cool down to room temperature or lower
6. Try the sample. Smell it taste it you are looking for movie theater popcorn butter notes or a oily slick mouthfeel.
7. If that isn't detected package if it is let it sit 3-7 days and try again.

By heating the beer you are speeding up oxidation and forcing the diacetyl to show up if it is there. Daicetyl can only be cleaned up by the yeast so if you package to soon it will stay in the beer and get worse with time.

 

[RM-MN]

Thank you for the advice guys. General question for you here. How many of you trust the pitch rate calculators? Sounds like there is a bit of deviation from using a calculator as some of you try to achieve specific flavors by under pitching specific yeast. Do you guys have any articles you trust to define this process a bit more?



Fermentation has begun but its a bit sluggish. I am going to bring up the temp a bit tonight and try to get this guys going a bit more. You say to let it sit on the yeast cake a for a while. How long is a while? I've have just been going with letting all my beers ferment for 3 weeks.

No, no, no! Leave the beer cool as long as it is fermenting. With most yeasts that gets you the cleanest flavor. The beer I'm making today I will pitch Nottinham and I'm hoping to get the wort down to about 55F when I pitch the yeast and let it gradually rise to 62. I know that will slow the ferment but I will get an ale that has the clean characteristics of a lager doing it that way.

Read through this Xbeeriment and make your own judgement on whether you need to worry about pitching more yeast. http://brulosophy.com/2015/04/20/yeast-pitch-rate-single-vial-vs-yeast-starter-exbeeriment-results/

 

[Mike Jones]

I know that will slow the ferment but I will get an ale that has the clean characteristics of a lager doing it that way.

Read through this Xbeeriment and make your own judgement on whether you need to worry about pitching more yeast. http://brulosophy.com/2015/04/20/yeast-pitch-rate-single-vial-vs-yeast-starter-exbeeriment-results/

Thank you for the link. A clean ale is what I am searching for. I'm patient enough to wait longer if need be. Thank you.