10 gallons - split a pack of us-05 or wait?

[kpr121]

Title says most of it. Brewing 10 gallons of 1.060 Amber ale. Realized this morning all I have is one pack of us-05. Nothing in fermenters to wash from. Can't get yeast today, itll have to wait till Tuesday at the earliest.

What would you do? Split the packet, properly rehydrate, and pitch into two fermenters? Or pitch a single packet in fermenter 1 and wait to pitch fermenter 2?

I am about 30 min into the boil right now.

 

[jekeane]

I just split a pack of rehydrated nottingham in a 10g batch of 1.041 and got to 1.006 that being said 1.060 seems like you would be asking an awful lot of your yeast...

Yeast calculator says no to splitting at that gravity.

Waiting till tuesday to pitch seems pretty risky as well. You would need to be really spot on with your sanitizing. Maybe look into some of the methods people use for no chill for that half of the batch and split it out pre chilling?

 

[CA_Mouse]

One package is an adequate amount to pitch into a standard 5 gallon batch of 1.060 wort. If you split it into 2 5 gallon batches, you are severely under pitching. That could lead to extremely long lag times and off flavors. Pitching the entire package into one would be better for that batch, but unless you have some way to keep the other 5 gallons completely sealed off from everything, pitching 2 days later could result in a contaminated batch.

 

[jtratcliff]

Do you ferment in buckets or carboys? If buckets, just no-chill half the batch until you can get your yeast.

I routinely do overnight no-chill in the kettle with no issues. The "true" no-chill as pioneered by those clever bastards Down Under has been successfully employed to store wort for months.

After your boil but before the wort drops below 180 run off half of your 10G batch into your bucket, attach lid tightly and swirl around so hot wort touches all inner surfaces to sanitize (I'd probably Star San the hell out of it prior as well, just to be extra safe). Let it cool on its own... It'll take 18 hours or so depending on ambient temps.

The bucket should be ok at those temps. It may get a little more pliable than usually but otherwise HDPE buckets are rated for high temps.

Then chill and treat your other half of the batch as usual.

As a bonus, you can report back here of any flavor differences between no-chill and whatever method you normally use!

 

[sportpak]

Do you ferment in buckets or carboys? If buckets, just no-chill half the batch until you can get your yeast.

I routinely do overnight no-chill in the kettle with no issues. The "true" no-chill as pioneered by those clever bastards Down Under has been successfully employed to store wort for months.

After your boil but before the wort drops below 180 run off half of your 10G batch into your bucket, attach lid tightly and swirl around so hot wort touches all inner surfaces to sanitize (I'd probably Star San the hell out of it prior as well, just to be extra safe). Let it cool on its own... It'll take 18 hours or so depending on ambient temps.

The bucket should be ok at those temps. It may get a little more pliable than usually but otherwise HDPE buckets are rated for high temps.

Then chill and treat your other half of the batch as usual.

As a bonus, you can report back here of any flavor differences between no-chill and whatever method you normally use!

+1
I think you have a nice experiment on your hands.

 

[BigFloyd]

Can you seal up the second fermenter and put it in a cold place? If so, I'd pitch all the packet into one and do the second one Tues. If not, you'll split it and get about the same pitch rate as those who use a single three-month old vial with no starter.

 

[Jawbox0]

If you can (don't use glass!), I'd put 5 gallons into a sealed fermentor hot (170F) then cool and pitch the rest with more yeast. You could play with a modified krausening.

You'd pitch yeast into about 3 or four gallons treating it as a big starter and then combine everything into the rest of the unfermented beer once you hit a good active fermentation.

http://byo.com/hops/item/966-kräusening-techniques

 

[lowtones84]

Not ideal, but if you rehydrate the yeast properly and aerate the wort well, I bet splitting it would work out alright. The best? No. But beginners pitch a single packet without rehydrating into similar gravity wort all the time (without aerating), which would give you roughly the same amount of cells.

Not that I think the no-chill thing is a bad idea, just giving the other side of the argument.

 

[kpr121]

Ended up going with splitting. Made sure it was hydrated well and also did my best to aerate the heck outta the wort. Might hit it with some O2 a little later tonight.

Looking back I probably shoulda no chilled into a corney but I just didn't feel like cleaning anything else honestly. Pretty crappy brew day altogether (spills, slow sparge, temp issues). Hope fully the yeast will do their part and make the beer good/drinkable.

Thanks for all the replies. I will update with what I learn

 

[AnOldUR]

Too late, but here would have been my solution.

Put 2-1/2 to 3 gallons in each fermenter. Pitch half the yeast in each. After fermentation got going strong (late Monday?) top off both carboys with the remaining wort.

 

[kpr121]

Too late, but here would have been my solution.

Put 2-1/2 to 3 gallons in each fermenter. Pitch half the yeast in each. After fermentation got going strong (late Monday?) top off both carboys with the remaining wort.

Hmmmm that is a great thought wish you saw this a couple hours ago!

Appreciate hearing everyone's take on this even after I made the decision.

 

[buzzerj]

A brewer makes a grain based sugar water. The yeast make beer out of it. Pitching half and half was probably not the best choice. Next time, make sure you have enough yeast on hand. Otherwise you could fill two carboys or buckets that are well sanitized, pitch in one, seal the other well and wait on the second one until you get more yeast. That was the best advice in this situation. Live and learn. If you do have any yeast nutrient add some to both. Get more yeast.

 

[kpr121]

Thanks... Of course the best option was to have the "proper" amount of yeast.

I'll chalk this one up to an experiment on effects of under pitching. I'm 99.99% confident that I'll have beer, and have faith that it will be good beer. Time shall tell.

Good idea on the nutrient, I'll get that together along with an O2 blast tonight.

 

[buzzerj]

Four keys to brewing that you are learning the hard way. 1) Pitch an adequate amount of a well activated yeast. If it's a lager fermenting at 45-50 degrees you need a lot more yeast. Yeast starters are not a bad idea. 2) Clean and sanitize everything the wort/beer is going to touch after you cool your wort below 165 degrees F. 3) Try to keep stable fermentation temperatures in the optimal temp range of your yeast. Be kind to your yeast, they make the beer. 4) Follow rules 1-3.

Of course I've never made any mistakes my brewing career. Welcome to the club man. We all learn the hard way.

 

[kpr121]

Look, I understand the need for proper yeast pitching rates (along with other important aspects of brewing like sanitation and temperature control) and I’m not trying to defend my poor planning. But Im not sure what I have done has taught me anything the 'hard way'.

What is the 'hard way' anyhow? To me, the hard way would have been driving a 30 mile round trip to the nearest LHBS to pick up yeast yesterday . It would have been draining half my batch into the bucket at +180F while trying to whirlpool hop the rest like the recipe called for, ending up with two different beers. It would have been cleaning and sanitizing a third (or fourth) fermenter and worrying about gravity readings and transfers later this week.

Like I said, time will tell if this batch comes out good but my hypothesis is that any off flavors or issues are going to be minor. Wishful thinking? Maybe.

Someone said it best earlier. Live and Learn.

If not, you'll split it and get about the same pitch rate as those who use a single three-month old vial with no starter.

I don’t think its quite THAT bad… Mr.Malty says to use 13.5 vials of 3 month old liquid yeast with no starter, compared to 2.3 packets of 11.5 g dry yeast. So, I pitched about 43% the recommended rate (as opposed to 7% if I used a single vial of liquid yeast).

I wonder if that calc takes into consideration whether the dry yeast is properly hydrated or just sprinkled in? (EDIT: LOOKS LIKE IT CALCULATES THE AMOUNT OF VIABLE YEAST AVAILABLE SO THEREFORE ASSUMES A PROPER HYDRATION).

On a side note, I did in fact order more yeast and it may be here tomorrow night (about 72 hrs after first pitch). If I don’t see active fermentation by then I will add at least another half pack to each fermenter. But I suspect I will see signs.

Stay tuned!

 

[atom]

if you're like me and us 05 a lot, do yourself a favor and buy 5-6 on ebay to have on hand...they can be had for under $3 a pack shipped. keep an emergency pack or two in the back of the fridge.

 

[cyberbrew]

US-05 is a beast, I'm very interested in finding out what the end result will be. I won't be too surprised if it turns out better than expected. Keep us posted!

 

[kpr121]

if you're like me and us 05 a lot, do yourself a favor and buy 5-6 on ebay to have on hand...they can be had for under $3 a pack shipped. keep an emergency pack or two in the back of the fridge.

Yeah i do use US05 alot... been grabbing the three packs off amazon for $13 or so for a while now. Usually I make that last by saving yeast cakes and repitching but my last batch was a big IPA on the third repitch so decided to start fresh, hence the reason why I had only one packet. I'll have to go with ebay next time, looks like they have 6 packs for about $16. Thanks for the info!

US-05 is a beast, I'm very interested in finding out what the end result will be. I won't be too surprised if it turns out better than expected. Keep us posted!

I sure hope so! I will be sure to let everyone know how this goes. Might have to fight the urge to pitch a pack tomorrow night just in the interest of science.

My last three batches have gotton rave reviews and I've been very happy with them. Those three batches had corrected water profiles, were fermented in a temp controlled chest freezer, and received the recommended amount of yeast. Although obviously different recipes, this batch has the water profile and temp control variables equal, so I should be able to tell if theres a difference in yeast pitching rate.

 

[lowtones84]

I think it's going to be just fine, but we'll see. Like you said, not the best option, but something had to be done with what you had. You've been brewing since 2009 so the decision was at least an informed one.

 

[PGEduardo]

Too late, but here would have been my solution.

Put 2-1/2 to 3 gallons in each fermenter. Pitch half the yeast in each. After fermentation got going strong (late Monday?) top off both carboys with the remaining wort.

I like this idea. I was going to suggest rehydrating and making a ~2L yeast starter on a stirplate overnight. Pitching that much active yeast probably would have been perfect.

Let us know how it turns out!

 

[kpr121]

Took a peek in the fermenters last night and had a thin layer of krausen forming. This morning both airlocks were bubbling away. ~60 hours from pitch with active fermentation signs… I think that’s pretty good for US-05.

Not planning on pitching any more yeast.

 

[bd2xu]

I think you'll be fine. Those dry packs have a lot of yeast. It's about the equivalent of pitching a brand new liquid pack or vial in each fermenter, yeast count wise. I know there's a ton of info and advice on how much yeast to pitch but in reality, a beer at 1.060 or less is almost always just fine pitching a liquid pack which is 100B cells fresh, and I think the dry packs have about 220B

 

[kpr121]

Welp had a little snafu today. Didn't plug in the cold side freezer to the temp controller, only heater. Temps were reading about 72 when I got home from work today. So looks like I'm not going to have a great experiment to determine whether low pitching rates affect taste. Right now I'm hoping for minimal fusels and a drinkable beer

 

[Magnus314]

1/2 pack each will be fine.

And as long as you meant 72* in the fermenter, and you cooled it right away, flavor should be fine too. S05 is a workhorse.