Pitching insufficient yeast cell count

[kvitvik]

Hi.

I'm having my first brew day today. :rockin:

I have purchased an allgrain kit, for 6.5 gallons.
According to the instructions, i will end up with SG 1.050.

I have a yeast starter ready, with a planned cell count of 230 billion cells. This should be just enough for this batch.

The kit has an expected ABV of 4.7%, but i have had a last minute change of mind, and would like to increase this a bit. My new plan is to plan for hitting SG 1.060. My calculations tells me i am 40 billion cells short of yest to pull this off.

Should i just forget about making it stronger, or could i still do it by only pitching the starter i already made?

 

[ShaineT]

Depends on the style; some ale styles benefit from under-pitching yeast and many tolerate slight under-pitch. Lagers don't tolerate under-pitching very well at all. Congratz to you on calculating your cell count on your first brew day, wow
What is the yeast strain and style of beer?

 

[kvitvik]

Thanks!

I am brewing a pale ale, with California Ale yeast from White Labs.
If i go ahead with higher SG, can i expect higher ABV, even if i underpitch?

 

[ShaineT]

Thanks!

I am brewing a pale ale, with California Ale yeast from White Labs.
If i go ahead with higher SG, can i expect higher ABV, even if i underpitch?

That is a very forgiving yeast, I think it can handle the growth regardless of your 10 point OG boost. Its likely your pitching temp is 70F to 74F so that will kick start growth phase and you can slowly drop the ambient temp to about 65F over 24 to 48 hours. WLP001 also handles higher ABV so I think you're fine with a pale ale.
Best of luck

 

[cluckk]

Don't forget you are working with estimates of how many cells you have--unless you have actually counted them one-by-one. It is not exact. Go for the higher gravity and don't worry about being off by a few billion (wow! I think I just grasped federal funding!<--note to the admins and to the topic Nazis, this is not meant as a political statement, but as a joke.)

 

[kvitvik]

Cheers guys!

What about the taste?
Since this is a kit with specific instructions, i wonder if it'll get unbalanced (or other negative impacts) if i reduce water to increase SG/ABV?

In other words, would you do this yourself, or stick to the instructions?

 

[RLinNH]

Cheers guys!

What about the taste?
Since this is a kit with specific instructions, i wonder if it'll get unbalanced (or other negative impacts) if i reduce water to increase SG/ABV?

In other words, would you do this yourself, or stick to the instructions?

I wouldn't think twice. Boost it to 1.060. Also, RDWHAHB

 

[aiptasia]

Adding or removing water will only affect the flavor with regard to alcohol level and mouth feel, not usually bothering the overall taste unless you really cut back or water it down. If the finished beer is a little too sweet/malty/alcoholic, you can water it down a little to taste (sterilized water).

 

[zacster]

For your first brew I'd stick to the recipe. But overall, it wouldn't really matter if you cut the water a bit to get a higher alcohol %age. But you WON'T get more total alcohol. You'll get 4.5 gallons of stronger beer than the 5 gallons you'd otherwise get (making these numbers up.) I guess that equates to fewer trips to the bathroom.

And let me get this straight. You are planning on cutting water and NOT adding more malt, right? In that case your starter should be fine. You still have the same fermentables, and what I said above will hold.

Also, while I now make a starter for every batch, I didn't make starters for a long time and I made some pretty good beer. Being under by more than a few percentage points still won't matter that much.

 

[kvitvik]

And let me get this straight. You are planning on cutting water and NOT adding more malt, right?

Yup, that's right.

In that case your starter should be fine. You still have the same fermentables, and what I said above will hold.

Good point. Didn't look at it that way.

I have now successfully completed my first ever brewday!
The recipe said to hit OG 1.045-50. I decided to try for something like 1.055, but ended up 1.052. That is not much off the recipe, so should be good

Now i can only wait, and see what happens.