Pitching 1 pack of Notty for 8 gal batch

[jturman35]

Hey I’m brewing a Nut Brown Ale tomorrow and only have one pack of Nottingham dry yeast. The grain bill calls for 17lbs of grain for 8.55 end of boil. Abv is only 5.2%

Will one pack of Nottingham dry yeast be enough? I am going to use split into two fermenters (1) 6gal carboy (1) 3gal carboy. My plan is to keg 5 gallons and bottle the rest.

13lbs Pale Malt 2 Row
1.8 Carmel Crystal
1.8 Flaked Oats
.12oz Victory Malt
5.6oz Chocolate Malt
1.45 Fuggle
1.45 EKG

OG 1.054
FG 1.014
5.2%

 

[beerlover77]

You should use 2 packs

 

[brewing_clown]

Beersmith says that 9 gals at 1.054 at a pitch rate of 0.75m/ml, then you need 339 billion cells. A pack of Nottingham has about 55 billion. I'd definitely add more. You're too late for a starter, so put what you think will work. That said, Nottingham is a beast, so buying a bunch of yeast is probably not necessary.

 

[beerlover77]

Beersmith says that 9 gals at 1.054 at a pitch rate of 0.75m/ml, then you need 339 billion cells. A pack of Nottingham has about 55 billion. I'd definitely add more. You're too late for a starter, so put what you think will work. That said, Nottingham is a beast, so buying a bunch of yeast is probably not necessary.

A 11gram pack of yeast apparently has 200 billion cells available is properly hydrated first. 1.5-2 packs should be adequate.

 

[brewing_clown]

Not according to Lallemand's spec sheet. They specify 5billion cells per gram. An 11 gram packet has 55 billion cells.

 

[beerlover77]

Not according to Lallemand's spec sheet. They specify 5billion cells per gram. An 11 gram packet has 55 billion cells.

I realize this and I'm not trying to correct you but it is generally assumed that the manufacturer states a very low number (to cover their @$$). Most places I looked assume 20 billion cells per gram of yeast. This seems to make sense or we all would be underpitching with 1 dry pack per 5 gallon batch as
55 billion cells would be nowhere near enough. In fact most liquid yeasts are stated as having around 100 billion cells and they are generally though of as having less per pack then a dry yeast would.

 

[brewing_clown]

You could be right, but I'd really err on the side of pitching the right amount of yeast, so generally use what I'm told could be the number as the number.

On your liquid yeast point, I thought that too until I started looking up batch numbers on the Yeastman section of white Labs web site.

I was shocked at the amount of variance. Sometimes barely 70b, sometimes over 100b (fresh).

It varies a lot. I had the same assumption when pitching dry lager yeast, until I looked at the spec sheets and realized I was drastically underpitching. The result was obvious in the beer.

Funnily enough, I would totally agree on your 2 packets if properly (at the right temp) hydrated. Notty is a monster of a yeast, and I think 2 packs would absolutely cut down that wort.

 

[jturman35]

I realize this and I'm not trying to correct you but it is generally assumed that the manufacturer states a very low number (to cover their @$$). Most places I looked assume 20 billion cells per gram of yeast. This seems to make sense or we all would be underpitching with 1 dry pack per 5 gallon batch as
55 billion cells would be nowhere near enough. In fact most liquid yeasts are stated as having around 100 billion cells and they are generally though of as having less per pack then a dry yeast would.

So, if your correct I have plenty of yeast?

 

[beerlover77]

No. You need over 300billion cells.
One pack is only maybe 200billion.
You need 1.5 packs

 

[jturman35]

Crap, I planed on brewing tomorrow. Can’t believe my LHBS let me only buy one pack when I needed two. I will just go ahead and brew and pitch Monday im the 3 gal carboy.

 

[MaryB]

If you have some DME or LME go ahead and make a starter and let it work 24 hours! I know they say don't do it with dry yeast but I have been doing it and it turns Notty into a super beast! I have had it ferment out 1.056 OG wort in 3 days after a starter versus 5-6days just rehydrated(or dumped in dry, I haven't noticed a difference in lag either way, 12-24 hours).

 

[gypsyhead]

Commercial brewers typically pitch 1-3lbs of slurry per barrel (31 gal) of wort. Scaled down, that's roughly 75-225g of slurry per gallon. Check it out, here's a rough breakdown of how that may translate to dry yeast as per assuming that breweries are pitching a "thick slurry" of 4.5 billion cells/ml, and that the general rule of 264#/bbl holds true.

Also just noticed that the yeast packets include an "emulsifier" as an ingredient, which would mean the cell counts are possibly even less...

Cell Count Breakdown

• gypsyhead
• Jan 28, 2018

Correct me if I'm wrong, please. Some of these assumptions may be a bit off, but those packets...

 

[RM-MN]

Of course one packet isn't enough. What will you be doing to keep the yeast from multiplying in the beer? If you aerate the beer a decent amount the one packet will provide enough yeast to complete fermentaition but your lag time will be higher. Can you stand waiting an extra 3 or 4 hours for the fermentation to kick off?

I often do a batch of beer and pitch only a 7 gram packet of Munton's yeast and it always makes beer.

 

[beerlover77]

Let's just keep this simple for the OP. It is very accepted amongst homebrewers that 1-11g pack of dry yeast is good for 5 gallons of wort as long as it is handled properly (rehydrated etc) and it is of normal gravity. If the wort is stronger than normal or you have more of it, pitch more then one pack.

If you do that with Nottingham it will be fermenting pretty good in 8-12hrs

 

[Miraculix]

If you have some DME or LME go ahead and make a starter and let it work 24 hours! I know they say don't do it with dry yeast but I have been doing it and it turns Notty into a super beast! I have had it ferment out 1.056 OG wort in 3 days after a starter versus 5-6days just rehydrated(or dumped in dry, I haven't noticed a difference in lag either way, 12-24 hours).

If you rehydrate before the starter in plain water, there is absolutely nothing wrong with making a starter with dry yeast.

 

[flars]

If you have some DME or LME go ahead and make a starter and let it work 24 hours! I know they say don't do it with dry yeast but I have been doing it and it turns Notty into a super beast! I have had it ferment out 1.056 OG wort in 3 days after a starter versus 5-6days just rehydrated(or dumped in dry, I haven't noticed a difference in lag either way, 12-24 hours).

If you rehydrate before the starter in plain water, there is absolutely nothing wrong with making a starter with dry yeast.

Good advice. Rehydrate the yeast and pitch to a one liter starter today. Rehydrating the yeast turns it into liquid yeast and can be used as you would use any liquid yeast from a package. Use a jar at least five liters in size. Aerate the starter wort until it is froth then pitch the yeast and swirl in. This is the basic "shaken not stirred" starter method. Pitch the entire starter without decanting.

Rehydrating: 15 minutes on 4 ounces of 85°F water. 15 minutes stirred into the water. Pitch within 30 minutes of the second 15 minute period. Don't use RO or distilled water for the starter. Water without minerals will cause cell wall damage reducing the viability of the yeast.

 

[jturman35]

I have a stir plate and 2000ml flask but I’ve only done liquid yeast starters in the past. I plan on brewing this afternoon. I also have some light DME on hand but I’m brewing this afternoon.

I also have some yeast Energizer and yeast nutrient I picked up awhile back but never used. Would this be helpful when rehydrate my starter?

 

[flars]

I have a stir plate and 2000ml flask but I’ve only done liquid yeast starters in the past. I plan on brewing this afternoon. I also have some light DME on hand but I’m brewing this afternoon.

I also have some yeast Energizer and yeast nutrient I picked up awhile back but never used. Would this be helpful when rehydrate my starter?

Lallemand recommends GoFerm (I think that is what their product is.) Extra yeast nutrient may cause some damage (not sure) but dry yeast has reserves built in for rehydration. Not much time for a yeast starter but go ahead with rehydration and SNS. The yeast will be active by the time you pitch. This will give your wort a head start. Pitch another pack of rehydrated yeast tomorrow.

 

[JohnSand]

You can certainly get more yeast and pitch the other batch Monday. Or make a starter, even now, and pitch that. I rarely let a starter go more than a day, and I pitch it while active. Search "Vitality Starter".

 

[dmtaylor]

One pack is plenty. Rehydration wouldn't be a terrible idea though.

https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/forum/index.php?topic=27438.0

 

[jalc6927]

I’ve been told anything with OG over 1.063 should have 2 packs

Keep this in mind when you get your next recipe

 

[Rhaop]

Always keep at least 1 or 2 packs of dry yeast in your fridge, rotate your stock always using the older of the packs, that way in an instance like this or you have a batch fail to start you won’t need to sweat it

Edit: Especially for the guys/gals out there that rely on mail order homebrew supplys if you have a batch fail to take off it could be a week to get fresh yeast!!

 

[jturman35]

I played it safe and put off brewing until Monday. I picked up an extra pack of Notty Tues and pitched Tue am.