Quantity Of Yeast.

[Disco_tezz]

Hi guys,

Just got a quick and simple question, I just got a 60lt Fermenter, and about to put my first brew in it tonight,

Considering the capacity of the unit, should i be increaseing the amount of yeast i put in it, or will the one packet still be enough?

Cheers

 

[PostModern]

Never mind the size of the fermenter, how big is the brew? Generally speaking, the more wort (at a given gravity) the more yeast you'll need.

 

[Disco_tezz]

Never mind the size of the fermenter, how big is the brew? Generally speaking, the more wort (at a given gravity) the more yeast you'll need.

The brew i am doing tonight, will be about 40ltr, but will be doing a larger one later down the track

 

[brettprevans]

The brew i am doing tonight, will be about 40ltr, but will be doing a larger one later down the track

If you are using a recipe just increase the amount of yeast accordinly. If your using a liquid yeast then you would want to increase the size of your starter.

It also depends on whether your doing a lager or other sort of beer. lagers require bigger yeast starters becuse of the cold conditions your brewing in. If its just an ale (fermenting at say 16-22C) then your ok.

If your reciepe called for a 8% or higher you might also need a bit more yeast.

At a guess (without knowing your reciepe, brewing temps or whether dry or liquid yeast) Id say either make a normal size starter of liquid yeast (say 1L) or 2x12g of dried yeast.

Edit: typed wrong amount of yeast I meant 2x12g not 12g total.

 

[PostModern]

If you are using a recipe just increase the amount of yeast accordinly. If your using a liquid yeast then you would want to increase the size of your starter.

It also depends on whether your doing a lager or other sort of beer. lagers require bigger yeast starters becuse of the cold conditions your brewing in. If its just an ale (fermenting at say 16-22C) then your ok.

If your reciepe called for a 8% or higher you might also need a bit more yeast.

At a guess (without knowing your reciepe, brewing temps or whether dry or liquid yeast) Id say either make a normal size starter of liquid yeast (say 1L) or 12g of dried yeast.

If you follow Danstar's advice, they recommend 100g/hL, ie about a gram per litre! I pitch 2x12g sachets of Nottingham in regular batches. For a 40L batch, I'd be pitching at least 2 sachets, maybe 4 if the gravity was a bit high. What you say is right tho, for a lager pitched cool, use more, for high gravity use more, and Saf recommend lower pitching rates, so you might be right with 2x11g sachets in 40L if using a Saf branded yeast.

 

[chris.taylor.98]

You are absolutely on the right track to be questioning the amount of yeast required.

It is one of the areas where you can go from brewing good beers to great beers (second only temperature controller in my somewhat dubious opinion ).

Making those poor little yeasties reproduce more then 4 or 5 times is going to stress them out a bit, and can cause some potential problems in the flavour of the finished beer.

I usually use this online calculator to determine the amount of yeast required.

http://www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html

It will adjust for the volume, OG and yeast type (ale vs lager) and will give you guides for repitching slurry as well as dried or liquid yeast packs. Can even work out the size of the starter required.

Cheers

Chris