Yeast amount

[Pudge]

Hey, ask 8 homebrewers a question and you'll get a dozen different answers... lol.

[HerbMeowing]

So anyways - is it *necessary*? No. But is it bad or wrong or a crime against nature? No. You by no means are seriously overpitching to the point of making beer that goes wrong if you pitch the full pack dry into 2.5 gallons, especially if you are fermenting on the cool side of an ale yeasts temperature range. Unless you are making a mild or standard bitter or a lower gravity pale ale then most 'Mericans make. Then maybe.

The logical extension of this argument:
Pitch TWO 11.5 gram sachets of dry yeast into a 5G batch of garden-variety wort.

Maybe I missed it.
Where have you ever advocated routinely pitching that much yeast? (Just askin')

The issue isn't over-pitching.
It's pitching way more than needed ==> crime against nature.
Concerns expressed about the 'cool side' fermentation are also unfounded.
Granted it doesn't hurt but it also isn't the least bit necessary.


Obey the Hat

[mashani]

Concerns expressed about the 'cool side' fermentation are also unfounded.

I respectfully disagree, especially if you are pushing the lowest edges of a yeasts temp range and you want the most rapid onset of fermentation / low lag time / more rapid fermentation completion. Growth rates are very much affected by temperature. Assuring only a few generations of growth and reaching a high cell count will get you less lag and your fermentation done sooner. But do what you like.

The logical extension of this argument:
Pitch TWO 11.5 gram sachets of dry yeast into a 5G batch of garden-variety wort.

Maybe I missed it.
Where have you ever advocated routinely pitching that much yeast? (Just askin')

I've described exactly that in past recipes. (pitched a full pack of whatever into each).

When I brew 5 gallon batches these days, I split between 2 2.5 gallon fermenters, and pitch a full 11.5g pack of yeast or anywhere from an 800ml to 1.2L of krausening starter wort (which I believe you also called a crime against nature fwiw, but the answer is simply to build your recipe or boil off around the volume... starter is just 2 row... so is most of most beer... it's not hard to make it work right) into a 2.5 gallon batch, or 1600ML to 2L into 5 gallons depending on my OG/style of beer. I rarely go below 800ml starter or pitch less, except for some types of wheat beers, stuff like a 1.03ish mild (garden variety wort in my mind), or specific types of table strength Belgians/Saisons, or with specific yeast strains that I want to coax something out of.

I used to skimp and only use "only as much as needed". I learned better through experience. So yes, I follow that logical extension. (and FWIW - in the past I might have argued your side, but I don't anymore. In the past I also used 6.5 gallon glass carboys as primary, and used to always secondary my beers in 5 gallon glass carboys and though anyone who didn't do this was a dummy. Now I hardly ever secondary, it's a bother that has no benefit to most of the beer I make. In the past I brewed exclusively AG, where now I brew with just about anything. In the past I would have considered putting a lid on the pot an offense to the DMS gods and expected to make cabbage juice vs. beer. But now I will put a lid partially covering the pot for much of the boil, and fully on with 5 minutes left it the boil and leave it on for a hopstand because it captures all the goodness and keeps it in there, keeps my Brett out, and no cabbage has ever been found... In the past I worried about HSA... I don't bother with worrying about it anymore... In the past I used airlocks. I never use an airlock anymore, and semi-open ferment with free-venting, loose lid fitted fermenters... I learned lots of things over 20 years, and am ever adapting as long as it makes good beer... and for sure, I make much better beer now then I did in the past, even though I'm doing "everything wrong" according to my past LOL).

So anyways... more then is needed is relative. The ideal pitch rate for most beer types gets you between 2 and 3 generations of growth before active fermentation begins. It's that simple. If you go beyond that level then it becomes a problem. These pitch rates are not beyond that level. They might tend towards the 2 vs. the 3, but that's a good thing when you live in a bug farm house like I do.

Sure, it is not necessary to only have 2-3 generations of growth. Lots of peoples pitch rates will have many more, depending on how old that vial they pitched without a starter and how nutrient/oxygen rich their wort is - and yes, they still make beer. Hell, you can pitch hardly any yeast, or just let it sit out on your rooftop or in your dusty old barn in an open vat overnight like an old Franco/Belgian farmer and let bats or owls poop into it or spiders crawl into it and still make beer. It might not be as good or what you wanted, but it's still beer. Or who knows it might be awesome (but probably not unless you live in Flanders... that makes bad beer in my parts LOL.. I know because some local micro in my area that no longer exists tried it and made lots of bad tasting sours... although it might work better in my house since my house is a Brett C bug farm).

But 2-3 generations of growth is ideal for most types of beer as far as giving you the flavors from the yeast, and being sure nothing else can get a good foothold. So, unless you go beyond that, no crimes committed.

So that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

EDITS: Lots of edits to try to be careful wording stuff to make sure this doesn't seem like an personal attack of any sort... it is not, not meant to be... just trying to honestly answer your question from my perspective.

Oh and:

Hey, ask 8 homebrewers a question and you'll get a dozen different answers... lol.

Yup!

I just tell folks what works for me. If folks want to do something else, as long as they are making good beer, I'm happy for them. I just share my experiences.

[Dawg LB Steve]

It is a known fact that most home brewers underpitch, just for the simple fact that they pitch what is supplied with a kit, or that is the way they were taught from using kits, plus the viability factor, unless they are making a starter and using a yeast calculator for the purpose of pitching enough yeast so as not to stress it. FWIW I also do starters from dry yeast ( 2 Bronze medals winners this way ) and my lag times have decreased from 20-24 hrs to 10-14 hrs, which leaves much less time for anything else to get a hold in the wort and I know I am much closer to the correct pitch rate than re-hydrating or straight pitching dry.

[JohnSant]

I do 5 gal. batches and divide into 2 LBK's and pitch a pack of yeast into each LBK I'm just to lazy to divide up.