[Thirsty_Monk]

Double brewing to one fermenter is quite common.
Some breweries brew around clock and fill fermenter in 3, 4 or 5 brews.

[Pawtucket Patriot]

Double brewing to one fermenter is quite common.
Some breweries brew around clock and fill fermenter in 3, 4 or 5 brews.

Thanks, Leos.  Good to know!

[hopfenundmalz]

Sierra Nevada has a 200 bbl brewhouse that fills 800 bbl fermenters. They have a 100bbl that fills 300 or 400 bbl fermenters (can't remember the size for sure). The pilot brewery is 10 bbl and they fill 20s.

Bells had 400 bbls fermenters and only had a 50 bbl brewhouse. They have added a 200bbl and still have the 50 bbl.

[majorvices]

I have a 1.4 bbl brewhouse and I have to brew 21 times to get my 30 bbl tanks filled.

j/k, it's a 15 bbl brew house.

[nateo]

Yeah, it's called "drauflassen" and it's a good way to pitch the proper amount of yeast without having to build up a gigantic starter. I've read the window in which it's best to add more wort is fairly narrow, like 12-18 hours.

[Pawtucket Patriot]

I have a 1.4 bbl brewhouse and I have to brew 21 times to get my 30 bbl tanks filled.

j/k, it's a 15 bbl brew house.

haha...

Is there a best practice as far as how long to wait between batches that are going into a fermentor that is bigger than the brewhouse?  I would think you'd want to get both batches in the fermentor as quickly as possible, but maybe sanitation is easier to control on a commercial level?

[hopfenundmalz]

I have a 1.4 bbl brewhouse and I have to brew 21 times to get my 30 bbl tanks filled.

j/k, it's a 15 bbl brew house.

haha...

Is there a best practice as far as how long to wait between batches that are going into a fermentor that is bigger than the brewhouse?  I would think you'd want to get both batches in the fermentor as quickly as possible, but maybe sanitation is easier to control on a commercial level?

Sierra Nevada pitched the yeast on the first fill. They know how much to pitch, and it does start the growth in the first batch filled into the fermenter. Don't know how much.

[majorvices]

We fill the tank the same day (back to back brew session) and just pitch the proper amount all at once. We build up yeast from a smaller 7 bbl fermentor.

[dcbc]

My buddy's brewery runs a 15 bbl brewhouse into 30 bbl fermenters.  I did back to back brew days with him.  Pitch on the first batch.  Brew the next morning and fill her up.  Pretty important to hit that knock out temperature on the nose on that second batch.

[Pawtucket Patriot]

White Labs provides pitchable quantities to breweries based on batch size.  If you pitch on the first out of two batches going into a fermenter, would you only need the pitch the quantity White Labs suggests for the first batch size?  In other words, if I'm fermenting an ale in a 30bbl fermentor using two 15bbl batches, would I buy the 15bbl batch size from White Labs and just pitch it to the first batch?  That would seem like a really good way to cut costs in an efficient way.

drauflassen - Thanks Nateo!   

[anthony]

No, pitch for the desired density for the final volume of wort.

[jeffy]

Really?  I would say the opposite, as if the first batch is a giant starter for the second addition.

[majorvices]

I asked Neva Parker about this and she said you pitch for the total volume. I know there are some breweries out there that start a beer off with a lower cell count, but I feel better pitching for the entire volume as well.

[dcbc]

White Labs provides pitchable quantities to breweries based on batch size.  If you pitch on the first out of two batches going into a fermenter, would you only need the pitch the quantity White Labs suggests for the first batch size?  In other words, if I'm fermenting an ale in a 30bbl fermentor using two 15bbl batches, would I buy the 15bbl batch size from White Labs and just pitch it to the first batch?  That would seem like a really good way to cut costs in an efficient way.

drauflassen - Thanks Nateo!   

My friend pitched enough for the whole 30 bbl batch.  For the big beer he was brewing, This was two of the WLP pitchable collapsed milk carton looking containers.  In speaking with him recently, he said that, now, he brews one of his smaller gravity beers on his first pitch of the cycle so he doesn't have to buy as much yeast to get enough cell count as he does for the larger gravity beer we happened to brew that day.  Much less expensive.  After the first batch, he can harvest as much as he needs for whatever is next on the schedule and resuse it for ten generations or so.

[nateo]

My WAG is that it won't really matter whether you pitch for the first step or the whole volume, as long as you're consistent the beer should also be consistent. It might be worth experimenting. If you can save money pitching less yeast and make the same quality of beer, why not? It might be an expensive experiment, though.