Pros/Cons of Yeast

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Is it of any benefit to add extra yeast to your brew, I'm making a Coopers English bitter and it came with a 7g packet of coopers yeast, so if i added another packet of yeast will it have any benefit/disadvantage to my brew.
EDIT: i wouldn't add the extra packet to this brew at the moment, but in the future for any other brews.
 
umm.. generally speaking... Yes there is !

You should try to follow the recipe...


But I do not think there would be a downside to adding another packet (other then the cost of the pocket).
 
It depends on the gravity of the beer. It is really difficult to over pitch yeast at a homebrew level. However, pitching 2 yeasts is about the equivalent of making a starter. One of the biggest things to think about while pitching yeast is how much yeast you are pitching. Not pitching enough yeast can result in stuck, stalled, incomplete fermentations. You can also stress the yeast out by not pitching enough.

When you aerate the wort, you are adding oxygen. Adding oxygen helps the yeast create daughter cells of themselves. During the first 30 minutes of inoculation is when you see this activity. Then the oxygen is gone and the yeast go anaerobic where they make ethanol. Higher gravity beers generally need more yeast to help finish the job.

Essentially what I am getting at is that adding two packets of yeast will not hurt your beer. Aerate it well and you should be able to get the full attenuation that you want. Don't stress out the yeast by under aerating or under pitching.
 
Pitching the right amount of yeast is one of the most important aspects of brewing. You'll see that on these forums; I heard Jamil Z and other famous brewers saying this on a podcast, too.

As you get your process dialed in, you may wish to do some reading about yeast and pitching rates, aeration, temp control, etc. Yeast (by JZ), mrmalty.com, and even the Yeast/Fermentation area here at HBT are some good resources. It will take your beer from good to amazing!

As for the OP, while it's not as likely to cause disaster as under-pitching your yeast, over-pitching can create less than ideal flavors. Rather than pitching the second packet, I'd use the yeast calculator (mrmalty.com) to determine how much you need and go from there :)

Cheers!
 
The basic idea is that there is X amount of sugar to eat (indicated by your original gravity), the yeast are going to reproduce at Y rate, so you ideally want to grow a colony that is large enough to eat all of the sugar after they propogate, but not have extra yeast that don't get any sugar.

Here's a good calculator on the EXACT correct amount to add to your beer:

http://www.mrmalty.com/pitching.php
 
Pitch rate all depends on what it is you are trying to achieve with fermentation.

Too low can cause stress but also creates more flavanoids.

Too high can improve attentuation but can also be very neutral.
 
You might get slightly higher ABV due to higher attenuation, but it would be pretty minimal. What you are shooting for is efficient, happy, healthy yeast.
 
What are way's that i could increase the ABV because right now, my OG is 1.023 and my gravity now that i have racked it into the carboy is 1.009, fermenting at around 80 - 81 F which only gives me a ABV of about 2%.. I was hoping for around 3 - 5 % ABV. how could i increase it if possible.

and what could i do next time to increase my ABV for other brews maybe like 5 - 8 % if possible
 
Dump two or three pounds or white sugar or some dry malt extract in there. Yeast will eat it up for your benefit. ABV!
 
What are way's that i could increase the ABV because right now, my OG is 1.023 and my gravity now that i have racked it into the carboy is 1.009, fermenting at around 80 - 81 F which only gives me a ABV of about 2%.. I was hoping for around 3 - 5 % ABV. how could i increase it if possible.

and what could i do next time to increase my ABV for other brews maybe like 5 - 8 % if possible
I think the best thing you could do for your next batch is to really stir the wort very well before taking the gravity reading. I think your OG is low because the wort wasn't stirred sufficiently, and the sample was diluted by the top-off water.

-a.
 
I think the best thing you could do for your next batch is to really stir the wort very well before taking the gravity reading. I think your OG is low because the wort wasn't stirred sufficiently, and the sample was diluted by the top-off water.

-a.

okay, thanks. And would adding 2L too much water also cause my OG to be not reading properly, this is my first brew and i really messed it up. my next one will be 100% better
 
Assuming a 5g (19L) batch, adding 2L extra water would reduce your OG by about 10% (2 / 19).
Don't assume you've messed it up until you've given it time to condition and carbonate, and you've tasted it.

-a.
 
it was suppose to be a 23L batch, (6 US gallon? I'm Canadian) and i had up to 25L? If im correct, i managed to scoop out a few L before the malt mixed with the water too much. i know its not messed up to the point its disturbing to drink, but a few different mistakes i made messed it up. where its my first brew.
 
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