Yeast for Small Batches

[CharlieM]

I've had some ideas on different ingredients I'd like to try in beer but not sure about how much yeast to use. An example would be if I made a 5 gallon batch but wanted to split it three ways during fermentation, would I use the same amount of yeast for the small batches as a five gallon batch? Or would I be better off splitting it up for the secondary and adding items then?

I guess my main question is can there be too much yeast???

Make sense?!?!?!

 

[cannman]

Heya CharlieM,

Yes, it is possible to pitch too much yeast. This leads to a quick attenuation of your wort and your FG will be hit without a whole lot of character... might not taste so great. But this is hard to do (in other words you really have to try to make this happen).

Secondary Fermentation is a common misconception. There should be virtually no fermentation going on in the secondary, I like to call it "The Second Vessel Rest." So no pitching in the secondary unless you have a really good reason to.

The amount of yeast you pitch depends on what style of beer you want to brew, what type of yeast, your volume, what is your anticipated OG, your desired FG, and do you have access to a stir plate?

SO, what beer did you have in mind? Additional details would help if you need some pitching rates.

 

[CharlieM]

Agree there is no real secondary fermentation. A "secondary resting" is as good a name as any!

I'm thinking along lines of IPAs . Maybe making a 5g batch, then split it up into 2 or 3 secondary's and try some different hops, just to experiment.

Or, again, a 5g batch split into 2 fermenters with different yeast.

After 1-1/2 yrs and just brewed batches 19&20 this past weekend, ready to experiment !

 

[cannman]

You can do any of those two. I've done both and always say "damn I wish I had more of the *better one*" haha As long as you have your process of sanitation down go for it.

Now here's something to consider: Just about every combination of hops have been tried and there is a lot of literature about popular combinations. You might make more headway by researching which combos make better beer or better hop combos and go from there because to make a true objective experiment, you would need to try them all or at least most of them to determine a better combo over another.

You might also want to consider the head space in your secondary. If you have a ton of head space, that's going to lead to oxidation. You would need to purge it with co2 for best results... Otherwise you'll need to find a smaller food grade vessel to accommodate your two batch sizes.