Too late to double pitch?

[lelandmccann]

Hello everyone,

I brewed my second batch today. I went to the local shop to get the ingredients for this Northern Brewer recipe http://www.northernbrewer.com/documentation/beerkits/BlackIPA.pdf. After reading a bit when I was done, I saw that a yeast starter or double pitch is needed for a 1.075 OG beer. Is it too late to do anything or am I screwed? It didn't say anything in the ingredients list and I didn't know until now

 

[jeffjm]

You will be OK adding more yeast. You don't want to do any aeration or oxygenation after fermentation starts, but you can add yeast pretty much whenever. If you are sure that you underpitched, probably the easiest thing to do it's rehydrate a pack of dried yeast and add it to your fermenter. I'd do that sooner rather than later so the yeast doesn't get stressed, but even if you wait a bit to add more, you should be OK.

 

[lelandmccann]

You will be OK adding more yeast. You don't want to do any aeration or oxygenation after fermentation starts, but you can add yeast pretty much whenever. If you are sure that you underpitched, probably the easiest thing to do it's rehydrate a pack of dried yeast and add it to your fermenter. I'd do that sooner rather than later so the yeast doesn't get stressed, but even if you wait a bit to add more, you should be OK.

Thats a relief. The Wyeast the recipe called for was out of stock, he gave me what he said was very similar (White Labs WLP051). Is there a particular dry yeast I should use? I've only used liquid at this point.

I know I should done more reading before, but I'm a bit miffed that it didn't mention anything about that in the recipe. Seems pretty important.

 

[jeffjm]

I'd go with US-05. It's similar to 1056/001.

 

[lelandmccann]

I'd go with US-05. It's similar to 1056/001.

Thanks so much for the help! A couple last questions...

Would tomorrow afternoon be too long to wait? The nearest homebrew shop is an hour away and I won't be able to make it there before they close. I'd have to hit it after work tomorrow.

And also, I used yeast nutrient in the boil at 10 minutes. Will this improve/change the current underpitching situation?

Thanks again!

 

[corrales_305]

Thanks so much for the help! A couple last questions...

Would tomorrow afternoon be too long to wait? The nearest homebrew shop is an hour away and I won't be able to make it there before they close. I'd have to hit it after work tomorrow.

And also, I used yeast nutrient in the boil at 10 minutes. Will this improve/change the current underpitching situation?

Thanks again!

the nutrient may help the yeast propagate quicker, so yes. As for waiting till the next day, the quicker you get that yeast in the beer the better.