Pitching the right amount of yeast is essential for predictable fermentations and product quality and consistency. You can use this yeast starter calculator whether you’re pitching by volume or by weight, as you will get the results in different units.

One thing to consider is that the more data you input (including for the optional fields, such as “Viability”), and the more reliable that data is, the more accurate the results will be. This often means that you have to know that you can rely on the information you’re receiving from your yeast supplier.

For complete control over your yeast, though, and, implicitly, over how much you’re pitching, you’ll need to do what most breweries do nowadays, which is to verify the yeast viability and yeast concentration on-site. If you don’t have a method in place for that yet, you can request a Free Demo Account for our Automated Yeast Cell Counter which also contains the most convenient and accurate Yeast Pitch Rate Calculator.

And if you’re unsure about anything, just drop us an email at [email protected] and we’ll be happy to assist you.

You’ll receive the results via email in this format:

A yeast starter: how to make it and do you even need one?

The calculator above will tell you exactly how much yeast to pitch by volume of yeast or by weight of the yeast. Once you know that, you can choose to pitch your yeast as it is or to do what brewers call a yeast starter.

But do you even need a yeast starter? Well, it’s debatable. Some brewers argue that if you’re already reusing your yeast, then you have the advantage (among many other benefits of repitching) that the later generations will perform better than what you would normally get by pitching fresh yeast. This means that the yeast would start doing its job right away, hence there’s no need for a starter.

If you’re not reusing your yeast, though, then (again, some) brewers will argue that a yeast starter can only help.

Now, creating a yeast starter is the most basic method of propagating yeast. So if you’re not sure how to do it, check out this article: How to Propagate Yeast for Brewing

Again, preparing a yeast starter is optional and may often be unnecessary when repitching. Especially when you plan to make another batch of the same beer. Nevertheless, yeast starter or not, you need to know exactly how much yeast to pitch, and for that, you can use the calculator above.