Starter or double pitch?

[GlobularDuck]

I’m brewing a wee heavy and aiming for an OG of 1.100. Yeast I’m using is S-04 dry so I’m thinking: big beer, use a starter. My question is: is using a starter better than double pitching the S-04. Other than the obvious that I’m paying an using two yeasts, is the performance any different from your expirence?

 

[Oginme]

Either works fine and it comes down to personal choice.

A starter takes extra time and does expose the yeast to a chance of contamination (which can be minimized with good sanitation practices.)

Doubling up on your yeast purchase is easier, just a bit more costly, but saves you time and energy.

With dry yeast, I will pitch extra packets for a brew which needs it. The yeast companies selling dried yeast know their trade and make the yeast perform well without a starter and survive and thrive even when tossed dry onto the top of a fermenter full of wort.

 

[GlobularDuck]

Either works fine and it comes down to personal choice.

A starter takes extra time and does expose the yeast to a chance of contamination (which can be minimized with good sanitation practices.)

Doubling up on your yeast purchase is easier, just a bit more costly, but saves you time and energy.

With dry yeast, I will pitch extra packets for a brew which needs it. The yeast companies selling dried yeast know their trade and make the yeast perform well without a starter and survive and thrive even when tossed dry onto the top of a fermenter full of wort.

Thanks, kind of what I thought but like to get confirmation. Lol. You google things like thins and get 25 million results for starters to sift through. I’ve had so many inconsistent results with the liquid yeasts that I always have S-04, US-05, and WB-06 on hand so a double pitch is what I’ll probably do.

 

[Kevin58]

FWIW by my calculations you will need over 5 packages of S-04 for a 1.100 gravity wort. So what I like to make a "small" beer first, 1.050 to 1.055... and then make my big beer a week to 10 days later when the small beer is ready to leave the fermenter I will pitch the wort from the big beer right on top of the yeast cake in the same fermenter. Your lower gravity beer is in effect a 5 gallon starter.

In addition to how much yeast to pitch comes the question of keeping them healthy once they have been pitched. High gravity worts make yeast work extra hard so consider using some yeast nutrient. You would also do them a favor by adding extra O2 at the start of their work. More than just shaking the fermenter I recommend a tool like the oxywand from morebeer . com. Give it a shot of O2 for about a minute (maybe 1.5 to 2mins) just before you pitch the yeast and then 24 hours later give it another shot for a minute.

Expect a significant drop in your usual efficiency with high gravity beers. I lower mine to around 60% when designing a beer of this size.

High gravity beers are almost a different breed apart from average strength beers. They have their own challenges and require some adapted skills from the homebrewer. Don't get discouraged if you cannot hit your desired gravity. For that reason my last tip is to get a couple pounds of DME to add just in case you miss your target and have to boost the gravity.

Good luck.

 

[GlobularDuck]

FWIW by my calculations you will need over 5 packages of S-04 for a 1.100 gravity wort. So what I like to make a "small" beer first, 1.050 to 1.055... and then make my big beer a week to 10 days later when the small beer is ready to leave the fermenter I will pitch the wort from the big beer right on top of the yeast cake in the same fermenter. Your lower gravity beer is in effect a 5 gallon starter.

In addition to how much yeast to pitch comes the question of keeping them healthy once they have been pitched. High gravity worts make yeast work extra hard so consider using some yeast nutrient. You would also do them a favor by adding extra O2 at the start of their work. More than just shaking the fermenter I recommend a tool like the oxywand from morebeer . com. Give it a shot of O2 for about a minute (maybe 1.5 to 2mins) just before you pitch the yeast and then 24 hours later give it another shot for a minute.

Expect a significant drop in your usual efficiency with high gravity beers. I lower mine to around 60% when designing a beer of this size.

High gravity beers are almost a different breed apart from average strength beers. They have their own challenges and require some adapted skills from the homebrewer. Don't get discouraged if you cannot hit your desired gravity. For that reason my last tip is to get a couple pounds of DME to add just in case you miss your target and have to boost the gravity.

Good luck.

Thanks for the advice. This is my first time brewing a beer this big that didn’t come from a “kit” and even that one wasn’t this big. If I remember right I think it was around 1.075. I’m the type of person that just kind of jumps in and does it, then start asking questions and see what I need to fix. It may not be perfect but you can drink it. Lol. I’ve only made two batches that were undrinkable.