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yeast experiment

Post #1 made 13 years ago
by jrodie
I want to do a taste experiment with 4 different yeast strains. My plan for now is to do a simple 5 gallon SMASH recipe and than pour a little over a gallon into four different fermentors, putting a different yeast smack pack into each fermentor. Is there any reason why this won't work? Also should I pour the whole smack pack into each fermentor, or would I be better off pouring half the pack in each fermentor to avoid over pitching?

Post #2 made 13 years ago
by BrickBrewHaus
I don't have enough experience to know what the flavor impact of over-pitching would be, but I'd be worried that you may not get a true representation of the yeast profile by over-pitching. If you only pour partial packs, I'd be careful to pitch the same volume (ideally cell count*) by weighing. This way you don't risk contamination by having the yeast touch another item to measure a volume. You could weight the smack pack before pitching, then pour off the same weight of slurry.

To avoid this, what about doubling your batch size so you get 4x 2.5 gallon. Don't know if this will fit your system?

*If you wanted to pitch close to the same cell count you could probably figure out the viability at mrmalty.com for the different packs. Then multiply appropriately so that each has the same viability*weight. I can't see why this wouldn't work to a fairly close approximation.

Post #3 made 13 years ago
by BobBrews
jrodie,

The price of a smack pack makes your experiment costly. I hope you are going to save some yeast? I have done this with my brew club and it worked nicely. We had a joint big brew and every participant was given 5 gallons to ferment with (mostly) different yeasts. The beers once tested were found to vary by quite a lot even the beers that used the same yeast? So if the beers that both used the same yeast varied what did we prove? We proved that we had a great time with friends and that no two beers are alike, no matter what!
tap 1 Raspberry wine
tap 2 Bourbon Barrel Porter
tap 3 Czech Pilsner
tap 4 Triple IPA 11% ABV
Pipeline: Mulled Cider 10% ABV

http://cheesestradamus.com/ Brewers challenge!
    • SVA Brewer With Over 100 Brews From United States of America

Post #4 made 13 years ago
by shibolet
i too did this type of experiment with HB club. we did 200L split into 12.
i think a whole smack pack into 1.25 gallons would over pitching.
Cube:
fermenter: Sourdough Spelt Ale, Classic Lambic, Oud Brune, Barrel Aged Belgian Dubbel
Kegs: Bob's Black IPA, Blanc Blond, Soda...
to be brewed:

Post #5 made 13 years ago
by jrodie
I agree it well get pricey. I don't have a group of brewing buddies though to do it with. I am just not a fan of some of the smells I get from yeast sometimes and I want to bail down that one yeast that is for me once and for all. Maybe I can make another full 5 gallon beer on top of the winner.
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