Update 2 - Low Tech Helles

Helles brew day went into the books on Sunday past.  Full krausen within 36hrs.  Temperature holding steady at 12c/53.6F.  Starting to get the egg/sulfur smell :)

Update - Low Tech Helles

This morning I added the final volume to the starter.  After completing the first two steps, the starter was crashed cooled and decanted.  A final 2L of wort was added to the flask this morning.  The starter sits spinning on a stir plate.  The target cell counts is in the 400B ball-park.

I checked the gravity of the decanted spent beer, it had in fact fermented out to 1.008 (75% attenuated) which is bang on for WLP833.  It had that distinct sulfur/egg smell common to lagers.  I was a little concerned as I purchased this yeast on a clear out.  The best before date was Nov 11.  I have no idea what the real viability was so I assumed 10%.  Worst case, I'll end up with slightly more yeast then I bargained for which I understand isn't such a big deal for Lagers.

Tonight I crush my grain and prepare for tomorrow evenings brew-night!

Low Tech Helles - Brewing Soon!

Getting geared up for this weekend's brewday! I picked up a vial of WLP833 from BeerGrains which had been discounted on account of being past it's best before date.

In order to hit a suitable cell count, I opted to pitch the vial to a 1L starter which, as of last night, was stepped to another 1L starter.  Before brewing this weekend the yeast will get a final 2L step in hopes to pitch around 400B cells to my 1.050 Helles.

The recipe is based on "Chad's" internet famous 50pt Munich Helles Recipe.  Some substitutions have been made on account of inventory on hand.  Here's what I am running with:

Low Tech Helles

New Equipment!

Draft Lager coming soon to the Low Tech Brewery!

English Hopped Pale Ale

Volume Measurements - They are Important

Got together with a few gents yesterday and whipped up a batch of IPA.  Columbus, Centennial and Cascade took center stage.  The beer was suppose to clock in at 1.067 with a IBU rating of about 60.  Turns out, I collected too much and boiled too little, I ended with a gravity of 1.058-1.059.  Not sure what this has done to me hop utilization numbers but I imagine the end result will be a touch more bitter than intended.  My brew software puts me at 63 IBU or a BU:GU of 1.06

During my original calculations, I anticipated a 85% mash efficiency and a pre-boil volume of 31L.  I  actually collected between 32-33L, (my 34L boil kettle was full!) and the mash extraction efficiency was slightly lower, 81%.   In regards to the lower mash efficiency, I used a different base malt which had a slightly lower extraction (36 ppg vs 37 ppg) which alone may have accounted for a 1- 2pt loss on my final gravity numbers.

Techniques - Reusing Yeast

Being a cheap bugger, I am a big fan of (re)pitching/reusing yeast.  It's something I've practiced since the time I began brewing.  I've tried just dumping new wort onto a yeast cake from a previous batch; however, after reading this thread on Homebrewtalk.com, going forward I'll be utilizing a more measured approach.  I would highly recommend giving the first post a read, it's very informative.

Referencing "Bob's" information (noted above), I've simplified the (re)pitching rates for my brew system as follows:

"Industry” pitching rule:  1 million cells  x  1ml  x 1˚ Plato"

Example:  25L @ 12 ˚ Plato (1.048) = 1,00,000 cells x 25,000ml x 12˚ Plato = 300 Billion Cells 

Pitching Rates for 25L:

●        10˚ Plato (1.040) = 250ml slurry

●        12˚ Plato (1.048) = 300ml slurry

●        14˚ Plato (1.057) = 350ml slurry

●        16˚ Plato (1.065) = 400ml slurry

●        18˚ Plato (1.074) = 450ml slurry

●        20˚ Plato (1.083) = 500ml slurry

Note, online yeast calculators (YeastCalc, Mr Malty) actually recommend a slightly lower pitching rate for ales,  750k cells  x  1ml  x 1˚ Plato

To-date, I've only used dry yeast (or yeast harvested from bottle conditioned beers).  I finally ordered some liquid yeast which I hope I can use as a sort of" house strain", WLP007, White Labs Dry English Ale Yeast. 

The yeast has been described as follows:

"Clean, highly flocculent, and highly attenuative yeast. This yeast is similar to WLP002 in flavor profile, but is 10% more attenuative. This eliminates the residual sweetness, and makes the yeast well suited for high gravity ales. It is also reaches terminal gravity quickly. 80% attenuation will be reached even with 10% ABV beers.  

Attenuation: 70-80% 

Flocculation: Medium to High 

Optimum fermentation temperature: 65-70°F 

Alcohol Tolerance: Medium-High "

Having finally dropped the goods on a liquid strain, I began researching various reusing, re-pitching, harvesting techniques to prolong my meager investment.  Having purchased two vials, I hope to brew an entire years worth of beer from this yeast!  I stumbled across this thread which talks about "Splitting Starters".

Essentially, you make a large starter, more than what's required for the batch you intend to brew.  You reserve a portion of this starter for a future starter, the remaining content is pitched to your batch.  This process is repeated for each subsequent stater.

The problem I saw with this method is that to retain enough viable yeast for a future starter, I pegged this amount at 100B cells, you would not leave yourself with enough yeast for your current batch.  I determined that in the context of a 2L starter, reserving 700ml (100B cells), the remaining 1300ml would not contain enough cells (in my 25L system) to properly meet the pitching rate defined above.  To do so meant I would need to step-up this 1300ml with a second quantity of wort.  Based on this theory, I summarized...

1 vial of White Labs liquid yeast = 100B cells

100B cells into a 2L starter = 310B cells (YeastCalc) =  155M cells/1ml

700ml x 155M = 108.5B Cells (reserve for future starter)

1,300ml x 155M = 201.5B Cells (pitch/step for current batch)

Step-up amounts (25L Batch Size):

●        0ml = 201.5B cells ( < 1.043)

●        500ml = 240B cells (1.044 to 1.051)

●        750ml = 289B cells 1.052 to 1.063)

●        1L =  330B cells (1.063 to 1.072)

●        1.5L = 397B cells (1.073 to 1.088)

●        2L = 453B cells ( 1.089+)

For example, in the event I would brew a 1.060 beer, I would build a 2L starter, split and then step-up the 1300ml portion with an additional 750ml of wort.

Going forward I plan to combine the two techniques.  I will build and split starters for low gravity beers which require a minimal step-up.  For larger gravity beers (ie 1.060+), I will harvest slurry after primary fermentation and re-pitch.  The best of both worlds!

FYI, Yeast cell counts and step amount were calculated using: YeastCalc