Underpitched Lallemand New England in a NEIPA

[GDubs]

I have fermented with almost exclusively with US-05, dry pitching one packet into 5.5g of wort and never had a problem, nor did I ever consider pitch rates...
I used Lallemand New England dry yeast for the first time in a NEIPA that I brewed on Monday. Despite reading on line that the lag phase was typically longer than other ale yeasts, I had very active fermentation in 24hours. When I checked in on my fermenter this morning before heading out to work at around the 64hr mark, I was surprised to see that the bubbling activity had essentially stopped. Right or wrong, I may have jumped the gun a bit because I immediately added my dry hops thinking I had neared the end of the active fermentation.
I did a little research during my lunch break today and discovered that the one packet of Lal-NE yeast I pitched was only about half the 100-200g/hL (23g for a 5gal batch by my math) that is recommended.

So now what? Do I just let it ride for a few more days and take a gravity reading? Run to my LHBS after work for another packet of Lallemand NE (if they even have it)? Or add a packet of US-05 that I have on hand? I have also read that folks will intentionally underpitch this yeast to develop fruity esters, but I dont have anything from which to scale "under pitch"....

Thanks for your feedback

GDubs

 

[Minbari]

I would take a reading and see what your gravity is. It could, indeed, be done.

I have been using Lalemand notty latey and it is done in 2-3 days

 

[Donoroto]

I have fermented with almost exclusively with US-05, dry pitching one packet into 5.5g of wort and never had a problem, nor did I ever consider pitch rates...
I used Lallemand New England dry yeast for the first time in a NEIPA that I brewed on Monday. Despite reading on line that the lag phase was typically longer than other ale yeasts, I had very active fermentation in 24hours. When I checked in on my fermenter this morning before heading out to work at around the 64hr mark, I was surprised to see that the bubbling activity had essentially stopped. Right or wrong, I may have jumped the gun a bit because I immediately added my dry hops thinking I had neared the end of the active fermentation.
I did a little research during my lunch break today and discovered that the one packet of Lal-NE yeast I pitched was only about half the 100-200g/hL (23g for a 5gal batch by my math) that is recommended.

So now what? Do I just let it ride for a few more days and take a gravity reading? Run to my LHBS after work for another packet of Lallemand NE (if they even have it)? Or add a packet of US-05 that I have on hand? I have also read that folks will intentionally underpitch this yeast to develop fruity esters, but I dont have anything from which to scale "under pitch"....

Thanks for your feedback

GDubs

No need for more yeast. 3 days is not crazy fast for this yeast. Give it a couple days and check gravity. I think you're just fine.

 

[dmtaylor]

Don't ever add more yeast when you've seen active fermentation. Total waste if you do.

 

[GDubs]

Yeast are odd little buggers…
My concern was based largely on the fact that my experience with the “faster” US-05 typically had airlock activity for 4-5days… and the “slower” Lal-NE appeared to be done at less than three days.
I opted to forgo the LHBS and head straight home to check my gravity. I went from 1.061 to 1.011 in less than 3days. I will give my dry hops 4days and recheck my gravity before bottling but It looks like i was worrying about nothing.

 

[Craigerrr]

If you hydrated the yeast before pitching, it would likely explain the shorter lag time.
A google search tells me that fermentation for this yeast can be completed in 7 days.
I assume that this includes the potential 36 hour lag time.
If you fermented a bit warmer, it would probably work a bit faster.
As other have said, it is probably done, but give it a another day, or a few more days, and check your gravity.

 

[Sandy Feet]

You might be o.k. I usually get active fermentation in 24 hours with everything, get big activity day 2, and krausen falls on day 3. I would let it do its thing, and run the whole 14 day fermentation schedule. If you boo booed, you learned something, but that does not sound out of the ordinary.

 

[GDubs]

It appears that my fermentation was in fact complete. Despite direct pitching half the recommended amount of dry yeast on Monday, I hit my final gravity in 3 days.... 1.011/1.011/1.011 on Thur/Fri/Sun.

This is my first attempt at a "big" dry hopping. I read that I should target the tail end of the active fermentation, so 6 ounces went in the fermenter on Thursday night. I have also read that 3-5 days in the fermenter is the sweet spot for dry hopping "juicy" NEIPAs. Considering these will get a minimum of two weeks to bottle condition should I consider bottling these tonight on day 7?

I have a very basic set up so my plan for bottling this batch to reduce O2 started with fermenting directly in my bottling bucket to eliminate the need to transfer. Then, rather than mixing a priming solution I plan to use carbonation drops and pre-charging the bottles a couple at a time with a dose of CO2 from my SodaStream. Worth the extra effort?

 

[Minbari]

It appears that my fermentation was in fact complete. Despite direct pitching half the recommended amount of dry yeast on Monday, I hit my final gravity in 3 days.... 1.011/1.011/1.011 on Thur/Fri/Sun.

This is my first attempt at a "big" dry hopping. I read that I should target the tail end of the active fermentation, so 6 ounces went in the fermenter on Thursday night. I have also read that 3-5 days in the fermenter is the sweet spot for dry hopping "juicy" NEIPAs. Considering these will get a minimum of two weeks to bottle condition should I consider bottling these tonight on day 7?

I have a very basic set up so my plan for bottling this batch to reduce O2 started with fermenting directly in my bottling bucket to eliminate the need to transfer. Then, rather than mixing a priming solution I plan to use carbonation drops and pre-charging the bottles a couple at a time with a dose of CO2 from my SodaStream. Worth the extra effort?

I would have waited another week. yeast cleans up other things besides just sugar, but it wont hurt anything. since you already did the dry hopping, I wouldnt wait.

yes, the more you can negate O2 in the bottling process the better for a hoppy beer.

 

[Donoroto]

It appears that my fermentation was in fact complete. Despite direct pitching half the recommended amount of dry yeast on Monday, I hit my final gravity in 3 days.... 1.011/1.011/1.011 on Thur/Fri/Sun.

This is my first attempt at a "big" dry hopping. I read that I should target the tail end of the active fermentation, so 6 ounces went in the fermenter on Thursday night. I have also read that 3-5 days in the fermenter is the sweet spot for dry hopping "juicy" NEIPAs. Considering these will get a minimum of two weeks to bottle condition should I consider bottling these tonight on day 7?

I have a very basic set up so my plan for bottling this batch to reduce O2 started with fermenting directly in my bottling bucket to eliminate the need to transfer. Then, rather than mixing a priming solution I plan to use carbonation drops and pre-charging the bottles a couple at a time with a dose of CO2 from my SodaStream. Worth the extra effort?

Ask a question of seven brewers, you'll get nine contradictory answers...

Priming the bottles with CO2 makes no difference: You are filling to the foam anyway (97% of the bottle is filled) and the yeast will scavenge the oxygen within a few hours. But that's my opinion. And priming the bottles with CO2 definitely cannot hurt!

 

[Sandy Feet]

If you decide to go liquid at some point, White Labs makes a Coastal Haze Yeast. I should have gone heavier on the hops, but I liked the yeast and what it did.