Scaling Down Recipes

[SamTheRed]

I have read through many of the other posts about scaling down recipes but have one question that I have yet to see an answer to. I have been home brewing for awhile and typically have done 5 gallon batches but want to experiment a little more with recipes so looking to scale down to a few 1 gallon batches (more recipes for lower cost is main reason for scaling down). The other threads have mentioned dividing the recipe by 5 to scale down to the proper size; however, what about the yeast? In one of the threads one person mentioned cutting back yeast as well but didn't mention how much and it was not seconded in any other responses. So my question is this if brewing a one gallon batch is cutting back the yeast necessary, and if so what is the best way to do this while maintaining sanitation?

I typically use either the White Labs Vials or the Wyeast Smack Packs depending on recipe.

 

[WoodlandBrew]

Yes, scale back the yeast the same as everything else.

 

[ColeVet67]

lemme preface: "I may not be a smart man...." Laugh out loud. Im my opinion i WOULD NOT cut back on the yeast. More would be better then underpitching. least thats how id tackle it.

 

[RandallFlag]

I typically use either the White Labs Vials or the Wyeast Smack Packs depending on recipe.

My humble two cents. Using liquid yeast and vials seems pretty expensive for small 1 Gal batches. I do a ton of those and either use ranched yeast or dry yeast to keep my costs low.

Oh yeah, and I usually pitch about half a packet and have never had an issue with that amount.

 

[WoodlandBrew]

Let me elaborate,

If you want the scaled recipe to come out as similar as possible to the full recipe then scale everything including the yeast. If the recipe says to "use WLP001" it's not necessarily one vial of WLP001, you'll probably want to determine how much yeast to use based on a pitch rate calculator. Over or under pitching by a factor of two has been shown to cause a change in beer quality. Generally over pitching means less flavor (including loss of hop flavors) and under pitching means more yeast related flavors.

See here for details about pitch rates:

http://www.mbaa.com/publications/tq/tqPastIssues/1996/Abstracts/tq96ab09.htm

 

[SamTheRed]

Thanks everybody for the response now I just have one more question. If I decide to go with dry yeast packets is there a chart available somewhere I can use to show what is similar to the vials or smack packs?

 

[WoodlandBrew]

Thanks everybody for the response now I just have one more question. If I decide to go with dry yeast packets is there a chart available somewhere I can use to show what is similar to the vials or smack packs?

I've done some cell counts for my blog:
http://www.woodlandbrew.com/2013/01/how-many-cells-are-in-package.html


There are about 20 billion cells per gram of dry yeast, but keep in mind that this doesn't account for loss of viability due to rehydration methods. If you follow the manufactures instructions you should end up with 90% viability or better. It's most important the the water is warm, that the yeast is sprinkled over a large surface area, and that you allow the yeast to float for 15 minutes or more.
http://www.woodlandbrew.com/2013/02/rehydrating-safbrew-yeast.html