Hey guys,
I’ve got two questions about my upcoming homebrew this weekend. Bear with me its only my second homebrew.
The first being that I am concerned about my yeast; I ordered my yeast (two vials of WLP004 Irish Ale Yeast) from Austin Homebrew Supply last week and am having them shipped up to Connecticut. They are expected to arrive on Thursday of this week. The yeast is being shipped with an ice pack to keep them cold but I am worried that the long trip will do some damage to them. I’m also worried that the ice pack won’t keep them cold for the 7-8 days it takes them to get all the way from Texas. My final concern for the yeast is that I do not get home from work until around 5 and if the package is delivered earlier in the day it will be sitting in 18-25° F weather for hours. From everything I’ve read it seems that having healthy yeast is the most important aspect of fermentation.
Am I being irrational with my concerns? Or should I plan on making the trek to my LHBS to buy healthier yeast.
My second question involves my actual brewing. I am making a Mini-Mash Imperial Stout using DME that has an O.G. of 1.087 and a F.G. of 1.020. From preliminary calculations I figure I need around 300-310 billion cells. I ordered my two vials of WLP004 and was planning on double pitching the recipe but that would leave me around 100 billion short. I am now thinking about making a starter with one vial and then just adding the extra vial of yeast to the wort when I add the starter. Is this a bad idea to mix the cells from the starter with cells from the vial which have not been awoken yet? Would it be overkill to make a starter using two vials instead of one? What is the best way to reach my 300-310 billion cells?
I have high hopes for this recipe and really hope that it comes out great.
I plan on getting my supplies in the mail on Thursday and was hoping to brew by on Sunday.
Thanks in advance for all of your help.
I’ve got two questions about my upcoming homebrew this weekend. Bear with me its only my second homebrew.
The first being that I am concerned about my yeast; I ordered my yeast (two vials of WLP004 Irish Ale Yeast) from Austin Homebrew Supply last week and am having them shipped up to Connecticut. They are expected to arrive on Thursday of this week. The yeast is being shipped with an ice pack to keep them cold but I am worried that the long trip will do some damage to them. I’m also worried that the ice pack won’t keep them cold for the 7-8 days it takes them to get all the way from Texas. My final concern for the yeast is that I do not get home from work until around 5 and if the package is delivered earlier in the day it will be sitting in 18-25° F weather for hours. From everything I’ve read it seems that having healthy yeast is the most important aspect of fermentation.
Am I being irrational with my concerns? Or should I plan on making the trek to my LHBS to buy healthier yeast.
My second question involves my actual brewing. I am making a Mini-Mash Imperial Stout using DME that has an O.G. of 1.087 and a F.G. of 1.020. From preliminary calculations I figure I need around 300-310 billion cells. I ordered my two vials of WLP004 and was planning on double pitching the recipe but that would leave me around 100 billion short. I am now thinking about making a starter with one vial and then just adding the extra vial of yeast to the wort when I add the starter. Is this a bad idea to mix the cells from the starter with cells from the vial which have not been awoken yet? Would it be overkill to make a starter using two vials instead of one? What is the best way to reach my 300-310 billion cells?
I have high hopes for this recipe and really hope that it comes out great.
I plan on getting my supplies in the mail on Thursday and was hoping to brew by on Sunday.
Thanks in advance for all of your help.
