Which Yeast Target Pitch Rate Do you use?

Over The Cliff Brewing

Over The Cliff Brewing

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Hi all, from the calculator for yeast pitch rate which one do you use and why? I find this interesting since I mostly use dry yeast and have been using the Pro brewer .75 (Ale) in the calculator. I used to use the MFG Recommended .35 and my beers came out fine. Just curious. Thanks!
 
Over The Cliff Brewing said:
Hi all, from the calculator for yeast pitch rate which one do you use and why? I find this interesting since I mostly use dry yeast and have been using the Pro brewer .75 (Ale) in the calculator. I used to use the MFG Recommended .35 and my beers came out fine. Just curious. Thanks!
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This is the exact question I wanted to ask a couple days ago! I typically use Pro Brewer .75 (ale) like yourself unless I'm making lagers of course.

However, I plan to make a hefeweizen soon and was curious if I should use manufacturer's .5 ?
 
With dry ale yeast, I use an 11g packet per 5 gallons for pretty much every style with OG ranging from 1.040 to around 1.090. I’ve not had any issues with under- or over-pitching. Today’s yeast strains seem to be pretty good in that regard.

Yeast are the one ingredient that self-adjusts (within reason). I have seen some brewers deliberately under-pitch yeast to achieve a special flavor profile, but I don’t have any recipes that require such treatment.

Long answer made short: your beer will likely be just fine at anywhere between 0.35 and 0.75 for just about any ale yeast.
 
The pitch rate is determined by style, strain and desired outcome. There is no single answer. Yeast health plays a huge role as well as aeration in pitch rates. . Depending on strains, dry yeast does better than liquid when under pitched. Liquid yeast performs better when properly aerated. Increased oxygen levels allow for a lower pitch, lower levels of oxygen can stress liquid yeast, but can be mitigated by increased yeast counts.

Pitch rates are part of the recipe and can vary a great deal. They can be as low as .35 for an ale to +2.0 for a lager. There’s is no simple answer.
 
Unless I'm brewing something big or a lager, I just target the 0.5 to 0.75 pitch rate and assume I'm close. There is such variance in yeast health that you can't measure, being close is all I can realistically hope for. The one thing that confuses me is for both Manufactures pitch rate (0.35 and 0.5) the calculator specifies "Fresh Yeast". What does that mean? A slurry just pulled from a previous batch? A liquid yeast within 30 days of manufacture? A dry yeast that is no where near it's expiration date?
 
I only pay attention to it if I’m pitching slurry. BUT I brew batches half the size as most of you. I am 1 pack for and ale and 2 for a lager, fermented cold. One pack of liquid and if a cold lager I can make a starter
 
I usually aim for .75for ales and 1.5 for lagers, but if I am off by 20% either way I don't worry about it, yeast is more forgiving (in my experience at least) than we tend to give it credit for. Recently when making a starter with an older pack of liquid yeast, the calculator said the viability was something like 18%. Considering the yeast was still 3 months from the best before date, I contacted the company (Escarpment Laboratories) for their opinion. It was their belief that most online calculators use an outdated model for yeast viability falloff that isn't taking modern manufacturing techniques into account. It was suggested to me that the actual viability could be as much as twice what the calculators are telling us. For my last few brews I have made my starters according to this advice and so far the results have been great.
 
Over The Cliff Brewing said:
Hi all, from the calculator for yeast pitch rate which one do you use and why? I find this interesting since I mostly use dry yeast and have been using the Pro brewer .75 (Ale) in the calculator. I used to use the MFG Recommended .35 and my beers came out fine. Just curious. Thanks!
Click to expand...

To answer your question, I use the Pro Brewer 0.75 in the calculator for ales, double it for lagers. I figure if most of the experts out there recommend 0.75-1.0, they probably know better than I :)

Like you, I primarily use dry yeast. I used to use one packet for 5.5 gallons (ale), but I use two now to get closer to that 0.75 rate. I've read overpitching is less of a problem that underpitching, so I figure the extra $4-5 is worth the insurance. That's why I go with two.
 
1/2 pack dry yeast for my brews ;), they are around 8-10 ltr and I eyeball this.
I thought it was simply 1 pack for 19 ltrs so have always thought that was the way to go.
Except for kveik!!!!
Kweik just gets a little and fermentsvlike crazy.
All of the above for ales. Haven't brewed a lager yet
 
I don't do starters or reuse, so I tend to overpitch. In doing so, they do seem to start faster with liquid yeast. When I did extracts, they never fermented down all the way, so it was a habit that I got into. I will usually use two packets or packages of liquid or dry yeast for 5 gallons (ale/moderate gravity). I wish I had gone lower for the moderate gravity Belgian, but everything has been good and quite drinkable.
I have not done a Hefe yet (I want to at some point), but the reading I have done suggests that they don't like to be overpitched (like a Belgian). Maybe use 1 for 5 gallons and confirm with sources that know more than I do.
 
I rarely brew 5 gal batches now so I have been pitching the entire packet for a 2.5 to 2.75 gal batch. This is following the calculator here. I do reuse yeast and have not had an issue yet. So I'll not worry about the yeast pitch. My beers are coming out great (of course I'm biased):rolleyes:
 
For me there's usually too many variables that the calculators want to know or that they rely on that seem to require me guessing or maybe I'm too busy working on my water chems and ph to think to hard about it?

Either way if I'm using fresh liquid in a sub 1.068 batch that is 5 to 6.5 gallons, it's a pack. If I want it to kick fast, I'll do a 1 liter starter for 12-24 hours. With dry, it's 2 packs direct pitch every time. I also always use pure O2 through a carb stone and yeast nutrients.

For Lagers, it's a two liquid packs in a 2-3 liter starter or 4 packs of dry yeast direct pitch. I've repitched a couple small (1 pint) mason jars of Lagers yeast slurry that was 2nd gen and 2-3 months old that worked really well. I poured off the clear beer and poured two 1" thick cakes of yeast slurry into a 2 liter starter for 24 hours. It worked great and I pitch it into 11 gallons of Oktober Fest that was around 1.068.

I guess I'm aware of the rules and ultimately use it to go from the gut. If I had to guess, I think I over pitch my ales and slightly underpitch my lagers. If anything I don't think I get enough expression from my Lager yeasts but that may just be the strains. I want that damn Paulaner Oktober Fest twang! But, here I am waiting for September because that's when my local distributors start selling it.
 
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Blackmuse said:
This is the exact question I wanted to ask a couple days ago! I typically use Pro Brewer .75 (ale) like yourself unless I'm making lagers of course.

However, I plan to make a hefeweizen soon and was curious if I should use manufacturer's .5 ?
Click to expand...
An underpitch has some advantages for a hefe, you get more esters, banana/clove. But I generally pitch a bag of White Labs brand yeast (liquid) in 5 gallons and have been satisfied. I have not yet tried an overpitch.
 
Donoroto said:
But I generally pitch a bag of White Labs brand yeast (liquid) in 5 gallons and have been satisfied.
Click to expand...
- This is good to know! - I do plan to try this then. I have two pouches of WLP300... I'm making ten gallons and will pitch one pouch into each fermenter of 5 gallons.
 
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