Beer Forum

Hi all,

This brew will be my first using a Wyeast Activator smack pack.

The Wyeast site says
"Activatorâ„¢ packages that are 4 months old or older may require additional time to swell after activation." (for 5 gallons)

This statement seems to conflict with Mr Malty's pitching calculator which tells me for my single yeast package, which it says is 65% viable, (ie.,well within the 4 months) that I need 151 billion yeast cells and a starter of 1 litre.

Given that the activator package is said to have 100 billion cells there seems to be a deficit for 5 gallons and as such the Mr Malty recommendation seems reasonable, whereas the Wyeast site is saying that no starter is required just extra swelling time of the activated pack.

I obviously don't want to under pitch and I would appreciate your take on the above for my brew next week.

Thanks

8-12-2007 Session show has great information with regard to counts. They've stated a lot of brewers are overpitching yeast.

With all due respect to JZ, I would go with what Wyeast recommends, since they know their product.

I always make a starter no matter how fresh or not, swollen (heh) or not, low OG or high.

I have great respect for the yeast manufactures and knowledge of their products but once it is out of the facillity it's out of their control and who knows how it has been treated.

my .02

Swelling of the pack doesn't mean that you have the maximum number of yeast and yeast health. Older packs with lower viability WILL take longer to swell, as there are fewer yeast active in the pack. My feeling is that statement is just there so that people won't freak out and think the yeast is dead if it doesn't swell in the first hour or so. That doesn't mean that your yeast is in peak health, so do a starter. I'd rather base my yeast pitching on the beer that I am making than some assumed level from the manufacturer. They both (Wyeast & White Labs) make fine products, but they need to make them based on a most common level of use, an amount of yeast that will work well for most brewers and most beers. Once it's in our hands, we can decide if we want to go with what will 'just work' or what will 'work best'.

A 1 liter starter doesn't seem unreasonable and is probably good insurance.
Good luck smacking your first pack!