Pitch Rate for Mike Riddle's Tricentennial Stout

[TAK]

I'm curious if anyone has any thoughts or experience with a pitch rate for this recipe from Brewing Classic Styles. OG should clock in somewhere around 1.100+. FG should be around 1.037.

From the Yeast book (both books co/written by JZ), he recommends a pitch rate for high gravity beers be 1.4 mil/ml/P. Additionally, oxygenating with O2, including an extra dose of O2 after 12-18 hours. I plan on doing O2 regiment for good yeast health, however I'm wondering if 1.4 mil/ml/P is too high of a pitch rate.

For the Tricentennial Stout, he emphasizes that it should finish around 1.037 for the proper balance. If your not familiar with the recipe, it has a LOT of roast malt in it, and it's intended to age out for a good sit in the cellar. So, the residual sugars are important to balance the roastiness and set it up for a long aging. Like I said, I think the O2 regiment is important for yeast health, so I want to stick with that. But given so, I'm wondering if I should pull back on JZ's recommended pitch rate for any other high gravity beer, since this one needs to finish a bit sweeter.

Thoughts?

 

[MrPowers]

The amount of yeast you pitch shouldn't have that much effect on your terminal gravity unless you are severely underpitching--which leads to a whole host of other problems. The only thing that will be affected is the time that it takes for the yeast to take off and the time it takes to reach terminal gravity.

What that means is, you should always pitch enough healthy yeast, and use mash profile and yeast strain selection to get the balance you are looking for. In this case with a 1.100+ beer, that means pitching a HUGE amount of yeast.

A 1.5mil pitch rate seems completely reasonable to me. Even with 1056 or some other similar high attenuating yeast, it will probably still finish in the 1.030's. If you wanted to finish a little higher and leave it a little sweeter, maybe use 007 or something similar.

 

[Smellyglove]

I'm curious if anyone has any thoughts or experience with a pitch rate for this recipe from Brewing Classic Styles. OG should clock in somewhere around 1.100+. FG should be around 1.037.

From the Yeast book (both books co/written by JZ), he recommends a pitch rate for high gravity beers be 1.4 mil/ml/P. Additionally, oxygenating with O2, including an extra dose of O2 after 12-18 hours. I plan on doing O2 regiment for good yeast health, however I'm wondering if 1.4 mil/ml/P is too high of a pitch rate.

For the Tricentennial Stout, he emphasizes that it should finish around 1.037 for the proper balance. If your not familiar with the recipe, it has a LOT of roast malt in it, and it's intended to age out for a good sit in the cellar. So, the residual sugars are important to balance the roastiness and set it up for a long aging. Like I said, I think the O2 regiment is important for yeast health, so I want to stick with that. But given so, I'm wondering if I should pull back on JZ's recommended pitch rate for any other high gravity beer, since this one needs to finish a bit sweeter.

Thoughts?

I wouldn't pull back. It gives you a nice clean fermentation which is drinkable almost from right after fermentation if you start low and use the upper range for the endgame. I haven't brewed this one myself, but I have a regular RIS which sits at 1.100 and I always at least double or triple (when it's dry yeast) the pitchrate for it. It's worth it, don't skimp.


I oxygenate on pitch, the day after and on day three, just before high krausen no matter if it's liquid or dry. Clean fermentations. "Nothing" to "clean up".

 

[TAK]

I appreciate the feedback. I agree; I think I was overlooking some fundamentals; FG should be driven by mash profile, and yeast should be given every opportunity to be as healthy as possible. 1.4 mil/ml/P it is. I’m making an 11 gallon batch, so I need a metric @$$ ton of yeast. Working on growing up 1,450 billion cells! Biggest starter I’ve ever made, by far.