How Much Lager Yeast To Use

[govorko1974]

Have just done my first real lager and while waiting for my small boil to finish read the yeast packet which stated that if pitching between 11-15 deg to use two 11.5g packs for 20-30 lt...and when at room temp to use one pack.....my question is this....i pitched my yeast at 17.5deg as this is what it was once i had topped up with cold water, as i only had one pack of yeast sprinkled this on top and put into fermenting fridge which is cold and set to 12 deg....have i put enough yeast into lager...
cheers

 

[Lodan]

Have just done my first real lager and while waiting for my small boil to finish read the yeast packet which stated that if pitching between 11-15 deg to use two 11.5g packs for 20-30 lt...and when at room temp to use one pack.....my question is this....i pitched my yeast at 17.5deg as this is what it was once i had topped up with cold water, as i only had one pack of yeast sprinkled this on top and put into fermenting fridge which is cold and set to 12 deg....have i put enough yeast into lager...
cheers

It should be ok provided it's not a 'big' lager heavy on the fermentables. Might just be a bit slow to start and finish.

 

[amiddler]

Have just done my first real lager and while waiting for my small boil to finish read the yeast packet which stated that if pitching between 11-15 deg to use two 11.5g packs for 20-30 lt...and when at room temp to use one pack.....my question is this....i pitched my yeast at 17.5deg as this is what it was once i had topped up with cold water, as i only had one pack of yeast sprinkled this on top and put into fermenting fridge which is cold and set to 12 deg....have i put enough yeast into lager...
cheers

I'm no expert in brewing but I have always pitched yeast after the wort gets to fermenting temp then let the ferment warm a little towards the end if need be. Pitching warm especially in a lager is going to produce off flavors that no amount of lagering will get rid of.
My advice is to alow your wort to get to fermentation temp, even if this takes a day, then use a yeast calculator, I use the one in beersmith but many use the mrmalty.com yeast calculator. If is says to use 2 packs then use 2 packs. If you make similar beers back to back you can re-use the yeast from batch 1 and save some money, buying 2 packs every brew will get expensive.

Drew

 

[Samuel Adams]

It should be ok provided it's not a 'big' lager heavy on the fermentables. Might just be a bit slow to start and finish.

Would rehydrating the yeast help getting it going quicker ?

 

[Lodan]

Would rehydrating the yeast help getting it going quicker ?

It will help a little bit

 

[DJR]

Would rehydrating the yeast help getting it going quicker ?

I rehydrated and put 2 packs of S-189 into wort at 14C the other day - took off and was bubbling in under an hour!

 

[govorko1974]

hows now been over 48hrs since pitching yeast...no sign of any activity yet...should i be worried that i didnt pitch two packs of yeast, will only pitching one effect the beer at all, will the ferment actually start

 

[donburke]

hows now been over 48hrs since pitching yeast...no sign of any activity yet...should i be worried that i didnt pitch two packs of yeast, will only pitching one effect the beer at all, will the ferment actually start

which yeast was it ? how old ? how much beer are you fermenting ? gravity ?

what means are you using to determine 'no sign of any activity' ?

 

[govorko1974]

was s-23 yeast how old have no idea only bought 2 weeks ago and was still in date...am fermenting 23lts gravity was 1040 and by no signs i mean looking thru lid there is no sign of any krausen..

 

[donburke]

was s-23 yeast how old have no idea only bought 2 weeks ago and was still in date...am fermenting 23lts gravity was 1040 and by no signs i mean looking thru lid there is no sign of any krausen..

i would have expected something after 48 hours, check the gravity to be sure, a lager yeast at cooler temperatures may appear to be doing bugger all, but is slowly chugging away

 

[kelbygreen]

it will be right lager yeast is slow off the bat and pitching 1 pack wont help it will get there just take more time and the yeast will be stressed a little more but you will be fine.

 

[Nick JD]

I pitch yeast according to Wyeast's instructions.

For lagers, we recommend inoculating the wort at warm temperatures (68-70F/ 20-21C), waiting for signs of fermentation, and then adjusting to the desired temperature.

Somehow I think they know what they're doing.

 

[govorko1974]

nick jd...my original post has the instructions of the safale yeast packet...as i only had the one packet pitched at 17.5( outside temp was probably 26deg)...they said nothing of waiting for signs of ferment....so put into 12deg fridge....

 

[Dribs]

was s-23 yeast how old have no idea only bought 2 weeks ago and was still in date...am fermenting 23lts gravity was 1040 and by no signs i mean looking thru lid there is no sign of any krausen..

I've used s-23 twice now. One packet works well for most beer when pitched around 20 degrees. Perhaps if you were aiming for something over 6.5%, or brewing at 8 to 10 degrees you'd use 2 packets. Krausen usually pops up on day 3.

 

[govorko1974]

Dribs...you got it exactly right...came home from work and checked after 72 hrs and hello a nice foamy top greeted me...am fermenting at 12 deg so hope that the one packet is enough..its my first real lager as up here in the tropics it takes up to much fridge space for to long and it might be my last lager cos of that reason....depends on how it tastes

 

[govorko1974]

sorry to drag post up again....lager has been in fermenter for 3 weeks now and took reading this morning and it is sitting at about 1023...took reading 7 days before this and it was 1026....my question is has my lack of yeast meant that it has gone to sleep now or should i give a few more days then raise temp for rest before CC. As this is my first real lager have no idea how long they take to ferment out, and at what point you raise temp for resting.

 

[Lodan]

It's still dropping, just vvveerrrrryyyyyyyyy slowly
What is your expected FG?

Consider the info here
http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum//ind...showarticle=130

Particularly the fast ferment test which will tell you how much longer your brew has to go