how much S 05

[gymrat]

Will one package of S 05 handle a 1.082 beer or should I double pitch?

[nateo]

If you properly rehydrate it, you should get close to 90% viability. You need about 300b cells, 1 pack of dry yeast would give you about 210b. If you don't properly rehydrate, you'll lose about half of them. so maybe rehydrate one and dry pitch another pack?

[repo]

1 1/2 would probably be proper pitch rate, I would use 2.   One is not sufficient.

[nateo]

Just pitching one pack would be about 0.5m/ml/*P, which is the low end of pitching rates. You could probably get away with pitching just one pack, but if you have two I'd use two.

[tschmidlin]

Assuming we're talking about a 5 gallon batch, I'd use two also.  If you only have one, you can pitch it into a portion of the wort and let it go for a day or two, then add it to the rest.  Or you can just pitch it and not worry about it - it's not ideal, but it will work.

[gymrat]

Thankyou for your responses. With as much time and grain as I have invested in this beer I decided to pitch both packages. I can always get some more yeast before doing the brew the second one was intended for. I was afraid underpitching would give less than a favorable flavor.

[hokerer]

Thankyou for your responses. With as much time and grain as I have invested in this beer I decided to pitch both packages. I can always get some more yeast before doing the brew the second one was intended for. I was afraid underpitching would give less than a favorable flavor.

Good move.  I think you'll be glad you did it

[tschmidlin]

Thankyou for your responses. With as much time and grain as I have invested in this beer I decided to pitch both packages. I can always get some more yeast before doing the brew the second one was intended for. I was afraid underpitching would give less than a favorable flavor.

I think you made the right choice.

[ynotbrusum]

Ah, but the question remains - did you rehydrate?

[snowtiger87]

You will have plenty of yeast slurry from this beer that you can wash, put up, and use for several more beers.

[beersk]

You will have plenty of yeast slurry from this beer that you can wash, put up, and use for several more beers.

Not recommended for such a high gravity beer, the yeast will be stressed.

[davidgzach]

For what it's worth, Mr. Malty says 1.4 packs.  I hope you have a blow-off tube attached if you pitched 2 packets!  You'll be fine, but that beer will be percolating away!

I also agree that you would only want to reuse this slurry in a bigger beer...

Dave

[ynotbrusum]

The thought that prevails is that you shouldn't reuse yeast from a high gravity brew without making a starter with it.  Reusing it in another high gravity beer would not solve the "stressed" issue.  In my reality I go with a smaller beer after a bigger beer all the time, but I will pitch more from the slurry to cover the concern.  The key for me is to just limit the generations of reuse to around 5.  I am not anal enough in my methods  to feel comfortable beyond that, though others do it routinely.

[gymrat]

This beer finished at 1.016. After just 2 weeks in the bottle it tasted very close to Breckenridge Christmas Ale in spite of the extra alcohol. But it has a really nice "creamy" mouthfeel. Thank-you all for your responses.