Hello, im brewing a non traditional wheat bear. the OG will be 1.076. Im trying a test batch (1 gallon) before brewing a larger amount. My question is with the OG being that high and recommended pitch rate @ 70B cells do i need to add yeast nutrients? If i dont for this small of a batch, what about a 3 gallon batch? This will be an extract recipe. Also another question i have is everywhere i look forums and on safale s-05 11.5G data sheet says 7b cells per gram. Im not sure i believe this due to its recommended for a 20L-30L batch size. My plan was going to weigh out 5-6 grams of the yeast, hydrate and pitch (i was kind of thinking the package would be closer to 200b). what do you guys think of that amount?
yeast nutrients and yeast package question
- Thread starter allen3436
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Those packs are good for 5 g batches so I would think half a pack would work for 3 g batch. However if your 3 gallon batch is needing 70b cells I'd use the whole pack if a whole pack contains 70b.
It may be that the number of cells per gram is a minimum and more likely higher.
It may be that the number of cells per gram is a minimum and more likely higher.
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BrewnWKopperKat
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That's close to what I actually do with US-05 in 1 gal batches above OG 65. I also use yeast nutrient - "it's cheap insurance".
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The number of cells per gram in dry yeast packs is a deep dark rabbit hole. The estimates are anywhere from manufacturers spec sheet indicating about 70 billion to counts that have been done by others that indicate more like 200 billion. Beersmith (and other calculators I've seen) for example uses the 200 billion cells for US-05 and all the other Fermentis yeasts I have checked.
I've struggled with this quite a bit. Was thinking about buying one of those 500gram bricks and portioning it out for future brews but in the end decided against. I am wondering if possibly the cell counts in dry yeast are directly comparable to the cell counts in liquid yeast. Seems possible to me that regardless of how many cells are actually in a pack of US-05 you can assume it will act like it has the 200 billion "liquid yeast pack" cells. So that is what I do, I assume each pack is 200 billion cells and work from there.
Therefore if your calculator says need 70 billion cells I would use 70/200 x 11g = 3.85 (call it 4) grams for that 1 gallon batch. This will then scale to 1 pack for your 3 gallon batch.
I've struggled with this quite a bit. Was thinking about buying one of those 500gram bricks and portioning it out for future brews but in the end decided against. I am wondering if possibly the cell counts in dry yeast are directly comparable to the cell counts in liquid yeast. Seems possible to me that regardless of how many cells are actually in a pack of US-05 you can assume it will act like it has the 200 billion "liquid yeast pack" cells. So that is what I do, I assume each pack is 200 billion cells and work from there.
Therefore if your calculator says need 70 billion cells I would use 70/200 x 11g = 3.85 (call it 4) grams for that 1 gallon batch. This will then scale to 1 pack for your 3 gallon batch.
Yeast nutrients for beer home-brewing is nothing but a thing companies invented to be able to sell you something.
They can cause off-flavours and are in 99.9% of the cases completely unnecessary, if it's a higher og beer it is even unnecessary in 100% of the time.
The only beer I could think about that might benefit from a nutrient boost is a low abv beer fermented with kveik yeast.
They can cause off-flavours and are in 99.9% of the cases completely unnecessary, if it's a higher og beer it is even unnecessary in 100% of the time.
The only beer I could think about that might benefit from a nutrient boost is a low abv beer fermented with kveik yeast.
BrewnWKopperKat
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What specific off flavors should one be looking for?
Weird ones. It really depends on the specific nutrient. Dissolve a little bit in water, try it. That's what you are putting into your beer.
Lefou
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The only brews I'd bother adding extra yeast nutrients to would be mead, a strong cider, or wine must. High gravity beer wort mashed properly should have everything a healthy pitch of yeast needs.
Servomyces is a nutrient with a fancy name. It's dead, boiled yeast for the most part. The crystallized nutrients you add are ammonium compounds that help yeast metabolism with proteins and lipids. Too much in a small batch can cause those flavoring issues.
"Too much" would be more than a teaspoon per gallon of water.
Servomyces is a nutrient with a fancy name. It's dead, boiled yeast for the most part. The crystallized nutrients you add are ammonium compounds that help yeast metabolism with proteins and lipids. Too much in a small batch can cause those flavoring issues.
"Too much" would be more than a teaspoon per gallon of water.
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BrewnWKopperKat
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No doubt that too much of anything can lead to off flavors in whatever one is brewing (cooking, baking, BBQing, ...) 
It is unnecessary. Some parts stay in suspension/solution and you might taste them. This only exists on the homebrew scale because... Only home brewers can be talked into buying stuff like thisNo doubt that too much of anything can lead to off flavors in whatever one is brewing (cooking, baking, BBQing, ...)
BrewnWKopperKat
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I've made some big beers, 8.8 - 9 % . Never used nutrients.
BrewnWKopperKat
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One of the things to keep in mind when evaluating beer is that everyone tastes beer differently (for example supertasters). So knowing specific off flavors can be useful when evaluating beer to adjust processes and ingredients.
occasionally, I brew side by side to re-evaluate various techniques. With yeast, I keep coming back to what I said in #4 (pitch it dry, ...). I did this back when forums where screeming "YOU'LL KILL HALF THE YEAST BY PITCHING IT DRY" - dispite all that screaming, what I do worked then and continues to work for me.
occasionally, I brew side by side to re-evaluate various techniques. With yeast, I keep coming back to what I said in #4 (pitch it dry, ...). I did this back when forums where screeming "YOU'LL KILL HALF THE YEAST BY PITCHING IT DRY" - dispite all that screaming, what I do worked then and continues to work for me.
