Today I present some of the major yeast feature changes in BeerSmith 4. BeerSmith 4 is the new desktop version of BeerSmith.
Yeast Packages, Milliliters and Grams
When I first wrote BeerSmith back in 2003, it was primarily written for homebrewers. As a result, the program used “packs” of yeast as the primary measure as the standard back then among homebrewers was a smack pack, small vial or sachet of dry yeast. I never imagined that someday thousands of professional breweries might be using BeerSmith to develop recipes.
Liquid yeast, in reality, is of course measured primarily in milliliters and liters. At the homebrew scale a package often consists of 70-200 ml of yeast, while professional breweries use sizes of 500ml to several liters per package. Various yeast labs also provide slightly different densities when it comes to yeast, usually quoted in billions of cells per ml. Yeast slurry harvested for reuse from a typical fermentation might have around 1 billion cells/ml, while a high end lab like White labs concentrates their yeast to approximately 2.14 billion cells/ml. Multiply the yeast quantity by the yeast density and you get an approximate cell count for the package.
Dry yeast is a bit of a different beast as it is sold by weight. Dry yeast at the homebrew level is sold in packages as small as 5 grams for wine, and often 10-15 grams for beer. Pro packages use 50-500g per pack or more. Dry yeast does not have a consistent cell density so the number of cells/gram can vary widely between strains and is often not even published. Dry yeast labs instead publish a recommended pitch rate, usually in grams per hectoliter (100 liters). A typical ale yeast might have a recommended pitch rate of 75 g/hL, while many lager yeasts use pitch rates in the 150-200 g/hL.
A Better Way to Handle Yeast in BeerSmith
BeerSmith 4 adds both liquid volumes and dry yeast weights. The yeast database was completely rewritten to properly handle this, along with the yeast pitch and starter tools. While you can still use the old packages, you can now specify yeast quantities in volumes and weights and all of the strains now include updated cell density, recommended pitch rates and viabilities.
The New Liquid Yeast Calculator
I consulted with pro brewers and yeast labs to develop the new yeast calculator. My goal was to reflect the best practices for home and pro brewers. For example here is the top section of the recipe yeast calculator for a simple recipe:
As you can see the yeast is listed in milliliters. A big change is that the yeast pitch rate is now adjustable using a simple slider. While BeerSmith still shows a recommended pitch rate based on the type of yeast and recipe (0.75 million cells/ml deg plato for an ale), you can adjust around that number to slightly under- or over-pitch. Critically the “Est Cells per ml” is shown calculated and shown. This is what most professional brewers are using now as the comparative measure of pitch rate when designing beers. This system gives you more flexibility to adjust pitch rate for the target beer style.
The above image is the bottom half of the yeast tab. The yeast viability model has been updated along with the viability data for various labs, and you now have the option to either calculate viability or not, depending on your needs. At the bottom you can calculate a one or two stage starter size, with or without a stir plate and have the option to use a starter size smaller or larger than recommended if you desire.
New Dry Yeast Calculator
Below is the same recipe, but this time using a dry yeast measured in grams. Note that this time the program shows the lab recommended pitch rate for the yeast strain you picked which in this case is 65 g/hL. You can use the slider to adjust the pitch rate and estimate the number of grams of dry yeast needed as well as the approximate pitch rate in cells/ml for the beer.
The new yeast calculator also estimates the cells/ml and yeast cells needed. As mentioned above, the yeast cell count is an approximation as cell counts for dry yeast are not always consistent, but if you are in line with the manufacturers recommended pitch rate in grams/hL, you should get a proper pitch rate into the beer. As with the liquid yeast there is also a section for estimating dry yeast viability and creating a single or two stage yeast starter with dry yeast, a feature that was not available in BeerSmith 3.
I hope you enjoyed this quick overview of the new yeast features in BeerSmith 4. If you want to learn more about BeerSmith or our web based version please check out our main site at BeerSmith.com.
