Yeast pitching rates for one gallon batches?

[dgc2656]

I'm going to make up ten gallons of wort in the next two weeks and break down the wort into ten one gallon jugs. I plan on pitching ten different yeast strains in each of the jugs to see which I really like and to compare and contrast them. I am wondering if one vial of white labs per jug would be too far over the top and have a negative affect on the wort/beer. Any thoughts on this subject?

 

[jjw5015]

1 vial should have 100 billion cells, depending on gravity you should only need about 40 billion per gallon

 

[bja]

So you're going to buy and pitch $60-$70 worth of yeast into 10 gallon on beer?

 

[dgc2656]

So you're going to buy and pitch $60-$70 worth of yeast into 10 gallon on beer?

Yes that is exactly what I'm going to do, but the whole project is really going to cost around $200.00. The yeast is only a fraction of what the project will cost and sixty dollars is just pizza and beer money anyway. This hobby is not for people who are out to save money, I have spent at least a two grand on equipment and other gear, I have a six tap keezer in my garage which cost me around a grand alone.

I did send an email to white labs about my project and they said that I should use about half a vial in order to be safe from off flavors due to over pitching.

WLP 001
WLP 002
WLP 004
WLP 005
WLP 008
WLP 007
WLP 060
WLP 041
WLP 051
WLP 090

 

[fletchergsmith]

Sounds like a great experiment I would like to see your results.


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[plath]

Sounds like a great experiment I would like to see your results.


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Ditto.


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[deBrouwer]

Sounds like you should go with half a vial per jug, then.

I'm guessing you're using the same wort recipe for each, so I'm curious what type of hop schedule you're going to use in order to make the beer beer but not overwhelm the yeast subtleties with hops flavors. Actually, the whole recipe would be interesting, if you don't mind.

 

[dgc2656]

Sounds like you should go with half a vial per jug, then.

I'm guessing you're using the same wort recipe for each, so I'm curious what type of hop schedule you're going to use in order to make the beer beer but not overwhelm the yeast subtleties with hops flavors. Actually, the whole recipe would be interesting, if you don't mind.

I have made this before and it turned out pretty good using safe ale 05. Craig's Travelin man, a morebeer kit.

for 10 gallons, 90 minute boil.

20 lbs 2 row
2 lbs honey malt
1 lb Crystal 15L
.5 lb Carastan

2 oz cascade, 75 minutes
1 oz Northern Brewer, 20 minutes
1 oz Cascade, 5 minutes
1 oz Northern Brewer, 1 minute

I can hit my gallon marks pretty well, over a 90 minute boil I will boil off three gallons, which will leave me 11 gallons and after post boil shrinkage I will have around 10.5 gallons. My plan is to do a ten gallon batch, then after chill down add oxygen directly to the wort in the boil kettle (I have a wielders tank filled with O2, Sanitary Filter, and .5 micron diffusion stone). I use hop bags and do not add hops free hand to the kettle. So I have very little trub to deal with post boil. I will split the wort into my ten 4 liter jugs, I will then pour in about half a vial of yeast into each jug, cork and airlock each. What I expect is that each of the ten jugs should have different flavor profiles. There is a home-brew club nearby that has a few members who are BJCP judges and I plan on seeing what they think of my beers. The yeasts should give each beer a different flavor, or at least that is my hope. This project will help me perfect this brew to my own tastes. The recipe is not overly hopy (it comes in at about 34 IBU's) and has a pretty good balance.

If this project turns out well I plan on using the remaining yeast on a stout also. I haven't decided which stout to make as of yet. My end goal is to have my Keezer filled with 6 different beers, Pale Ale, Stout, Honey flavored Pale Ale, Brown Ale, Alt, and Session.

 

[deBrouwer]

Thanks for the details. And good luck! Looking forward to hearing about the results.

 

[Blitzkrieg]

Are you going to be keeping each jug in it's yeast's preferred temp range as well? This sounds like a very interesting experiment, can't wait to see the results.

 

[dgc2656]

Are you going to be keeping each jug in it's yeast's preferred temp range as well? This sounds like a very interesting experiment, can't wait to see the results.

I am lucky on two points, I live in California and the weather does not have radical shifts, and the yeasts that I'll be using have optimum temperature ranges that top off at around 68 degrees F, with the exception of WLP 001 which has a range of 68-73. I have a laundry room with an air vent and I'm pretty sure I can handle running my AC at 65-68 for two weeks. I'll close off the laundry room and keep the jugs at 65-68. I can move the WLP 001 up to my second floor which is usually a few degrees warmer than the first floor.