Did I Overpitch ?

[calvey]

I decided to throw an IPA onto the previous cake of another IPA today. I had used two packets of dry US-56 on the previous beer. The beer I brewed today ended up at 1.068. After pitching, I noticed activity about an hour and half later - which, if I recall, is not really the greatest thing, right ?

I know it will make fine beer, but I'm curious - did I technically overpitch a bit on this one ?

[Bugeater]

Off the top of my head, I would say you did not overpitch. I pitch on a yeastcake like that on a regular basis and usually get activity in around 3 hours. I have not noticed any problems caused by such fast starts.

If you try pitching a 3rd beer onto that same yeast cake, then you may be approaching over pitching. You would want to pour off about 1/2 - 2/3 of the cake before pitching onto the remainder.

Jamil will probably wade in on this question with the definitive answer, but this is what works for me.

Wayne
Bugeater Brewing Company

[big7ben]

i pitched a 2000 ml starter in a 1.060 ipa and had activity in less than 2 hours. I thaought that was a good thing?

[Homegrown Hops]

*you can have some possiblities of infection when repitching*

In my experience pitching on to an existing yeast cake has produced short lag time and rapid fermentation rate. I would say as long as you pitched at the right temp and fermentation temps are not high you should have a good beer at the end. If you some how transferred the new wort on to the yeast with a closed system you should be golden.

HH