Should I pitch more yeast?

[arnobg]

I brewed a batch today that was supposed to end up around 1.058 OG however, my efficiency and boil off was a little more than anticipated and I ended up around 1.062.

I was in a pinch for time and made a starter yesterday morning with WLP001 but it was only a 0.5L starter but it was on a stir plate for 24 hours. The yeast was dated Sep 21 but I am having concerns that I under pitched.

I have a pack of US-05 I can add partially if that is a good idea, or should I ride it out and hope it is good as my other beers have been with normal starters?

 

[mtyquinn]

You're fine. A few points is nothing to worry about. A good healthy starter at that gravity should easily do the trick.

 

[kev211]

Was it a pure pitch packet? Cuz those things are supposed to be good for up to 1.070 up to the best by date. Even if it was an old vial, you should still be fine. Ive used those with no starter, on the best by date for similar gravity beers and had them ferment out just fine. Give the carboy a few swirls to kick back up some more yeast and see if they wont eat more residual sugars. I probably wouldnt add more yeasties though. Should be fin

 

[arnobg]

Was it a pure pitch packet? Cuz those things are supposed to be good for up to 1.070 up to the best by date. Even if it was an old vial, you should still be fine. Ive used those with no starter, on the best by date for similar gravity beers and had them ferment out just fine. Give the carboy a few swirls to kick back up some more yeast and see if they wont eat more residual sugars. I probably wouldnt add more yeasties though. Should be fin

Yeah it is the new packaging.

Whether it is true or not i don't know, but I recently saw a discussion where someone emailed White Labs asking about pitching without a starter and they actually recommended making a starter over 1.045 OG even though the label says otherwise.

 

[hanuswalrus]

Depends on the batch size. Do you use a yeast starter calculator? I just ran your numbers thru this one http://www.brewersfriend.com/yeast-pitch-rate-and-starter-calculator/ and it's telling me that even if you were at 1.058, you still would have been under pitching, assuming you're doing a 5 gallon batch. I know this calculator tends to over-compensate, but it's better to over pitch than under pitch (in most cases).

 

[arnobg]

Depends on the batch size. Do you use a yeast starter calculator? I just ran your numbers thru this one http://www.brewersfriend.com/yeast-pitch-rate-and-starter-calculator/ and it's telling me that even if you were at 1.058, you still would have been under pitching, assuming you're doing a 5 gallon batch. I know this calculator tends to over-compensate, but it's better to over pitch than under pitch (in most cases).

It is 5.0 gallons. I originally intended to pitch US-05 because I couldn't get a hold of the WLP001. My LHBS started carrying it this week and I found out yesterday morning so I said screw it and bought some and started a 0.5L starter since I assumed a 1-2L starter wouldn't finish in time.

I used that calculator and knew I was slightly under pitching, but then when I hit a higher gravity than intended too I became more concerned.

 

[kev211]

Yeah it is the new packaging.

Whether it is true or not i don't know, but I recently saw a discussion where someone emailed White Labs asking about pitching without a starter and they actually recommended making a starter over 1.045 OG even though the label says otherwise.

Ha! Thats kinda funny, I was at White Labs the other day and was picking their brains about yeast/new packaging and they told me up to 1.070 I definitely dont need a starter, but could if I was so inclined. Either way, the yeast in this new packaging is a beast. I brewed a 1.068 beer last month with one pack and had it finish up at 1.011.

 

[arnobg]

Ha! Thats kinda funny, I was at White Labs the other day and was picking their brains about yeast/new packaging and they told me up to 1.070 I definitely dont need a starter, but could if I was so inclined. Either way, the yeast in this new packaging is a beast. I brewed a 1.068 beer last month with one pack and had it finish up at 1.011.

Either way thanks for the info, good to know it served you well for a similar beer. I'm not gonna worry about it.

 

[kev211]

Either way thanks for the info, good to know it served you well for a similar beer. I'm not gonna worry about it.

Ya no worries. Its kinda nice living 20 miles away from white labs. Fresh yeast and easy access to knowledge haha.

Let us know how it turns out

 

[kh54s10]

It is 5.0 gallons. I originally intended to pitch US-05 because I couldn't get a hold of the WLP001. My LHBS started carrying it this week and I found out yesterday morning so I said screw it and bought some and started a 0.5L starter since I assumed a 1-2L starter wouldn't finish in time.

I used that calculator and knew I was slightly under pitching, but then when I hit a higher gravity than intended too I became more concerned.

I have never read that the size of the starter will effect the length of time to run the starter. The larger size gives the yeast more fuel and will allow a larger growth in cell count. But I run my starters 18-24 hours no matter how big they are.

I looked at the calculator linked, input a month ago for the date and a .9 liter starter gave an adequate starter for your 1.058 OG. So you probably underpitched a little. But not enough that I would sweat it.

The difference between the predicted OG, and what you ended up with would cause me to think I needed to add more yeast. I don't think starters are that accurate in final cell counts anyway.

 

[kev211]

Funny enough I was just at the lost Abbey and happened to have a beer with a Brewer from white labs. I had him read this thread and he turned to me and said, "oh ya... No worries on that one. The package says 1.070 but ive done a 1.085 with no starter and it fermented out just fine". So if you needed anymore confirmation... Here ya go