over pitching yeast

[sirmace]

is it possible to over pitch yeast. if so what are the effects

 

[NervousDad]

According to Wyeast you can, which will stop the yeast from growing through their life cycle. In reality, I don't think you'll be able to over pitch to the point that will cause a problem as a home brewer. By that I mean if you pitch a 2 liter starter versus a 1 liter starter you'll be fine.

 

[patrick524]

Overpitching isn't that big of a deal from what I understand as a homebrewer. The big problems arise when you underpitch (too long of a lag, underattenuation, etc.)

 

[Zacher]

It's tough to overpitch. Use mrmalty.com to calculate how much you need and go from there. As stated, the main effect from overpitching will be reduced healthy cell replication and the depletion of all the Oxygen before full attenuation.

 

[madhatt3r]

Ester production is a major component of cell growth, so if your looking to make a estery beer, you wouldn't want to overpitch.
Other than that, not to many implications from a homebrewing standpoint.

 

[sirmace]

Thanks for the info guys

 

[eastoak]

it's not always tough to over pitch, try pitching onto a yeast cake sometime.

 

[Obliviousbrew]

it's not always tough to over pitch, try pitching onto a yeast cake sometime.

This! I´ve only pitched on a complete yeast cake once and I´m not doing it anymore, of course fermentation took off like a rocket but I didn´t like the finished beer it was to thin just horrible. That´s the only beer I didn´t enjoy till the date, now I only use like half or a third of the yeast cake.

 

[Zacher]

it's not always tough to over pitch, try pitching onto a yeast cake sometime.

You should only pitch on a previous yeast cake with a much higher gravity beer. I guess your experience was what happens otherwise.

 

[madhatt3r]

You should only pitch on a previous yeast cake with a much higher gravity beer. I guess your experience was what happens otherwise.

^
It also depends on what the previous brew was. If there was a lot of break material and hop remnants in the trub, it will cause more harm then yeast cake without these byproducts.

Pitching onto a yeast cake isn't inherently bad practice. You just need to understand all the variables to be able to make an educated call on whether your particular yeast cake will adversely affect your beer. I've got to say that almost every 3rd brew I conduct gets a decent portion of a previous cake. And like Zacher has said, a whole yeast cake really gives you a leg up on the high grav brews.