I will be making a Pliny the Elder clone at the end of the month using Vinnie Cilurzo’s recipe from Zymurgy 2009. He says to pitch two packages of yeast or a yeast starter. My question is, can I pitch 2 vials of WLP001 and get the results needed for this high gravity IPA? FYI, this is an all-grain recipe for a net: 5 gallons.
Head on over to yeastcalc.com.
For my assumed numbers (1.070, 5.5 gallons batch), you’ll need 266 billion cells. Even on their best day, there won’t be a 100 billion cells in a smack pack or vial. Best to make a starter or pitch another vial.
+1 to amandak
starters are easy though. get a .5 gallon mason jar and put 100 grams of Dried Malt extract in the jar. add water to the 1 liter line, close up with the dome and band that came with the jar, Shake the beejeesus out of it until it’s all combined, and put it in a pot of water so the water comes up to near the level of the liquid inside the jar and boil until you see good boiling action inside the jar.
One hint, if you shake for a while and then put it in the water for a while and then take it out and shake some more it’s much easier to get everything to combine.
anyway, when that is done you have a very nearly sterile jar or starter wort at just about esaclty 1.037 perfect.
let it cool to blood temp (under 100*f) and pitch two vials of yeast into it. shake again. and then leave it somewhere where you can swirl it whenever you notice it.
I wouldn’t bother with a 1 L starter for two vials of yeast. Like Amanda said, with two vials you’ll only be under-pitching by ~20% as long as they’re fresh. I’d either make a starter from one vial or just pitch two.
+1 2 vials into a liter of starter and your growth factor is negligible. If you don’t want to do a starter, 2 vials should get you plenty close.
Might want to at least loosen the lid after you shake it, else you may see explosive results…
Not to hijack the thread but after he makes the starter whats the complete process? Ive only ever pitched the entire starter, wort and all, but i am assuming there is a better way.
good catch. although with mason jars they are designed to keep a vacuum inside. they aren’t actually very good at holding positive pressure in. excess pressue slowly slips past the seal. still not a good idea to seal them with active yeast and yeast food inside.
This is fine for a relatively small starter compared to the size of the whole batch. For things like lagers that need a large starter, the general approach is usually to crash cool the starter in the fridge after it’s done, then decant off the spent wort and only pitch the yeast slurry on the bottom.
Thank you all for your suggestions and advice. I’m learning…