[narcout]

These look interesting.

https://www.whitelabs.com/ppnghb?id=77

[coolman26]

I like it, not that I had any issues with their past packaging. I liked the vials better than their current package. Best of both worlds I guess.

[erockrph]

Interesting. For small batch brewers like myself it looks like a convenient way to get multiple pitches out of one pack.

[narcout]

At Morebeer, they are listed as containing 150 billion cells.  You pay for them though ($15.99 vs. $10.99 for the regular pure pitch packets).

[denny]

At Morebeer, they are listed as containing 150 billion cells.  You pay for them though ($15.99 vs. $10.99 for the regular pure pitch packets).

I have come to believe cell count is a secondary factor. I want to pitch healthy, active yeast. If the cell count is low, the yeast will make up for it few hours.

[goose]

At Morebeer, they are listed as containing 150 billion cells.  You pay for them though ($15.99 vs. $10.99 for the regular pure pitch packets).

I have come to believe cell count is a secondary factor. I want to pitch healthy, active yeast. If the cell count is low, the yeast will make up for it few hours.

+1

[reverseapachemaster]

This seems like trying to keep up competition with Omega who increased their cell count a couple years ago.

As homebrewing contracts and the market continues to favor easier solutions like all-in-one brewing systems, every part of brewing is going to follow increasing convenience even at an increase in cost. People wandering into a homebrew shop on a Saturday to brew on Sunday will likely pick this over pouch that needs a starter or buying two full pouches for even more money.

[Wilbur]

At Morebeer, they are listed as containing 150 billion cells.  You pay for them though ($15.99 vs. $10.99 for the regular pure pitch packets).

I'm with Denny on the cell count. Lance at Omega explained it pretty neatly. That being said, the pic they share of Cal Ale shows 7.5m cells/mL with a volume of 70 mL which comes out to 525m cells. Their yeast calculator seems to use 7.95m cells/mL, which doesn't quite line up with the packaging but maybe thats what they "typically" produce and the package shows the minimum. How does Morebeer come up with 150 billion?
https://topcrop.co/is-your-pitch-rate-calculator-lying-to-you

[denny]

THIS....https://www.experimentalbrew.com/blogs/saccharomyces/yeast-cultures-are-nuclear-weapons

[Richard]

At Morebeer, they are listed as containing 150 billion cells.  You pay for them though ($15.99 vs. $10.99 for the regular pure pitch packets).

I'm with Denny on the cell count. Lance at Omega explained it pretty neatly. That being said, the pic they share of Cal Ale shows 7.5m cells/mL with a volume of 70 mL which comes out to 525m cells. Their yeast calculator seems to use 7.95m cells/mL, which doesn't quite line up with the packaging but maybe thats what they "typically" produce and the package shows the minimum. How does Morebeer come up with 150 billion?
https://topcrop.co/is-your-pitch-rate-calculator-lying-to-you

The 7.5 m cells/ml is the pitch rate when used with 19 liters (5 gallons) of wort, as clearly shown on the package. That means there are 7.5million cells/ml*19000 ml = 1.425 billion cells. Close enough to 1.5 billion, considering how little that number actually matters.

[narcout]

I bought a pouch of 566 (Belgian Saison II), which is a strain I've never actually used before.  It looks like the production date was about 4 weeks ago.  In case anyone is interested, below is a picture of the QC data that comes up when you scan the QR code on the back of the pouch.  I haven't used it yet, but it does seem like the package would be easy to reseal if you wanted to pitch less than the entire contents.

[Richard]

That says "Made to contain 215 billion cells/ml". With a package size of 70 ml that works out to 1.5 billion cells per package. I'm not sure what "made to contain" means exactly, though. It is not a guaranteed minimum, just a target, I guess.

[erockrph]

That says "Made to contain 215 billion cells/ml". With a package size of 70 ml that works out to 1.5 billion cells per package. I'm not sure what "made to contain" means exactly, though. It is not a guaranteed minimum, just a target, I guess.

Since they mention the ASBC Yeast 4 method, I would hope that they actually perform a cell count.

https://www.asbcnet.org/Methods/MicrobiologyMethods/Pages/Yeast-4-MasterMethod.aspx

I think it's great that they provide this type of batch QC data. I hope this trend continues throughout the hobby.

[narcout]

I'm pretty happy with the performance of this yeast.  I pitched the whole pouch into 5.5 gallons of 1.058 wort, and 15 hours later (first time I checked) it was going pretty hard and already down 7 points.  It finished at 1.005.

[narcout]

I pitched another single next generation pouch of WLP545 (Belgian Strong) that was just over 3 months out from its best buy date into 5.5 gallons of 1.058 wort, and it finished at 1.006.  I guess that's pretty much what you would expect from these STA1 positive yeasts. 

They're starting to offer more strains in these new, larger pouches.  I'm going to try a few more.