Dry yeast calculator

[Thehorn]

I'm trying to input a new yeast into beersmith but I've noticed some errors. However many billion cells I enter, the same recommendation is given for pitching yeast. Nottingham apparently has 200 billion cells per pack according to Beersmith, but according to Lallemand, the manufacturer of the yeast, the number is actually 55 billion per 11g packet. When I adjusted this error, Beersmith recommends I still pitch the same amount of yeast. 55 billion is nearly four times less than 200 billion so it should be logical to assume the pitching rate would change. It doesn't. Is this a broken feature?

[Ck27]

I'm trying to input a new yeast into beersmith but I've noticed some errors. However many billion cells I enter, the same recommendation is given for pitching yeast. Nottingham apparently has 200 billion cells per pack according to Beersmith, but according to Lallemand, the manufacturer of the yeast, the number is actually 55 billion per 11g packet. When I adjusted this error, Beersmith recommends I still pitch the same amount of yeast. 55 billion is nearly four times less than 200 billion so it should be logical to assume the pitching rate would change. It doesn't. Is this a broken feature?

A single dry pack is enough for up to 6 gallons. Dry yeast always has more than advertised and s lot more than liquid usually does.

[Oginme]

OK, so here is what I chased down in BeerSmith.  Your measure of number of cells (200 Bil) is based upon a package amount.  The program does not actually define how many grams are in the package for dry yeast.

So if you check under 'options' > 'yeast starter', you will find the definition of the number of cells per gram of dry yeast.  This is a universal setting and it considers all dry yeast to have the same value.  So it really does not matter what you set the cell count per package since it does not use this to calculate the number of grams of dry yeast needed, only the number of packages needed.  This is why it gives you the same number of grams of dry yeast for your two scenarios.

So for the 200 billion cells in a pack, the program figures that the package size is 200 bil/18 bil/gram or 11.1 grams of yeast.  When you define the package as containing 55 bil grams of yeast, it calculates the weight of the yeast to be 55/18 = 3 grams of yeast.

[Thehorn]

But it doesn't change. It only changes when I alter the gravity. The cells per packet feature doesn't work.

[Oginme]

Let me try this one more time.   

The number of yeast cells per gram is set as a universal value under 'options'.

The program does not know, ask, nor does it care how many grams are in a packet for purposes of calculating the weight of yeast cells needed.  If you look at the profile description of a dry yeast, there is no input for number of grams per package.

It uses the set universal parameter of how many cells per gram to figure out how many grams of yeast are needed.  From there is will calculate the weight of cells required, the weight of yeast cells in the package, and the number of packets needed as SEPARATE CALCULATIONS. 

So, you can set the number of cells per package of dry yeast at 5, 55 billion, 200 billion, or 200,000,000 billion and it will give you the same calculated number of grams of yeast which you need for a given recipe.  The program will take this same number of cells per gram as set in the universal settings under 'options' to calculate the weight of dry cells of the package based upon the number of cells you tell it are in the package.  It will then tell you how many packages are needed to reach the needed cell count.

[Thehorn]

So, you can set the number of cells per package of dry yeast at 5, 55 billion, 200 billion, or 200,000,000 billion and it will give you the same calculated number of grams of yeast which you need for a given recipe.

Precisely, it doesn't work. Why it doesn't work is no interest to me, I just know that it doesn't work. It would be helpful if it did work.

[Oginme]

It would be more correct in saying that it does not work the way YOU want it to work.  Perhaps the best course of action would be to post in the suggestions thread to respectfully request that this feature be rewritten to reflect current trends in dry yeasts which have been developed having different cell counts per gram than the previous strains which have been on the market.

[Brew Bama]

Dredging up an old thread. The mfr recommends a pitch rate for Nottingham via a calculator on their website. The BeerSmith recommendation seems to be closely alined with the mfr calculation.

I do wish there was an option for dry yeast to display in the mobile version in ?grams? versus ?packages?.

[brewfun]

I do wish there was an option for dry yeast to display in the mobile version in ?grams? versus ?packages?.

As do I. The compromise is to define what a "package" means if it's something other than the 5g or 11.5g packets defined by BS. In my case, I've standardized packets as 100g for dry and 1 liter for repitched liquid. I've made yeast profiles for the strains I use for both dry & liquid, which the calculator then tells me what it thinks I should pitch. It's a good, accurate launching point.