Pitching Dry Yeast ?

[riverside]

Quick question guys, i was wondering what is the best way to pitch a dry yeast pack. For years i have just sprinked mine on the top of the wort,just wondering if it is better or any advantage to stir it in,before pitching i always give a good stir to airate. Would like to hear how other people pitch theres....Cheers

 

[mwd]

Quick question guys, i was wondering what is the best way to pitch a dry yeast pack. For years i have just sprinked mine on the top of the wort,just wondering if it is better or any advantage to stir it in,before pitching i always give a good stir to airate. Would like to hear how other people pitch theres....Cheers

rehydrate in boiled water at around 30C leave for about 30 mins and then add to fermenter.

 

[Wolfy]

If the wort is well aerated, sprinkling the yeast on-top or stirring it in will make little difference, the convection currents and other currents from the active yeast will mix things up without any need for you to worry about it.

However as Tropical_Brews suggested correctly re-hydrating your yeast will make a difference, the re-hydration procedure should provide more healthy and active yeast than simply sprinkling the dry yeast on-top of the wort.

 

[Newbee(r)]

rehydrate in boiled water at around 30C leave for about 30 mins and then add to fermenter.

I do this but a bit more - perhaps overkill but I'm getting results so going with it.

I have a 1.5L glass carafe that I found at Kmart for 10 bucks with a rubber lid. Plugged an airlock in it.

My brew morning starts with tap water at around 30C, add the yeast, let it sit for 15 minutes, then give it a swirl to mix in the remainder of whats on top. I haven't found the need to boil the water first.

I then put some light malt extract in about 2 cups water, heat it up in a saucepan to dissolve it and then add it to the carafe about 1/2 hour later at 30C. I swirl it in between tasks, and by the time the wort is ready the yeast is bubbling away, multiplying and feeding. I haven't had a stalled yeast since and am regularly hitting my FG.

+ 1 for aeration though. Learnt that one the hard way but thankfully PET'd not glass...

 

[jkeske]

This was a topic on the July 28 Basic Brewing podcast
seems sprinkling on top works just fine

July 28, 2011 - BYO-BBR Yeast Rehydration Experiment
http://www.basicbrewing.com/index.php?page=radio

 

[big78sam]

I used to be a believer in the "sprinkle" method and you'll get varying comments here about whether to rehydrate. Some say it's a waste of time and just adds another possible source of contamination. However, I was reading the Chris White and Jamil yeast book recently and they say "failure to rehydrate dry yeast properly will result in the death of approximately half the cells". Rehydration for me now.

 

[riverside]

Hmm, intresting guys think i might start hydrating my yeast !

 

[Wolfy]

.... However, I was reading the Chris White and Jamil yeast book recently and they say "failure to rehydrate dry yeast properly will result in the death of approximately half the cells". Rehydration for me now.

Yep, but read the .pdf file from the pod-cast linked above, according to a bunch of Dutch home brewers (who brewed 247 beers) and ran a few other experiments and you'll see that their data (in a home-brew type scenario) shows that not re-hydrating yeast makes little difference to cell counts and for some yeasts it can actually reduce the level of attenuation of the final beer ... I've yet to listen to the podcast, might do that if/when the football on TV gets boring.

 

[manticle]

I sprinkle. Even if half the cells have died, I havent noticed yeast stress related flavours in the resulting beer.

Doing a chill vs no chill side by side experiment at the moment.
Might do a hydrated vs sprinkled side by side experiment next to say what discernible diffeerence it makes to my brews.

 

[Aleosaurus cervisiae]

I just don't see how re-hydration beforehand is different from pitching dry, won't the yeast get re-hydrated in the wort just like it would in the separate container? Also, if half of the yeasties are going to die when pitched directly into the wort, what will prevent same thing happening when you put them into water? Adding malt to it before pitching makes more sense, so the yeast is actively replicating and you pitch with a high number of already active yeast, but that is a starter, not re-hydration.
NB This is only a theoretical consideration, I have never tried the proper experiment, so I might be talking through my derriere...

 

[jacknohe]

I've started re-hydrating my dry yeast in my last four brews as per the instructions on CB. I haven't done a full on test and compared. But... from my recent experience, rehydrating has made a massive improvement in consistency of yeast esters, or lack of. Very clean brews. Maybe its just something else I've improved, who knows. But its working for me and I'm not going to change something if it aint broke. ^_^

 

[Yob]

just to add a sideways... I always rehydrate, I always proof..

quite often the wort im pitching to is not near the reccomended temps for rehydraion.. The back of a windsor packet of dried suggests that you sould rehydrate at 30-35'c and then add runnings to the yeast (slowly) to bring the yeast to wort temps. I can see the logic here.

Ive used this method for a long time now and have always had a reduced (perhaps percived) lag time from that of just sprinkled to the brew.

I do seem to get a nice kick off overnight if I have let the yeast 'taste' for an hour or so what they are headed into.. well thats my perception anyway..

Yob

 

[davo4772]

I just don't see how re-hydration beforehand is different from pitching dry, won't the yeast get re-hydrated in the wort just like it would in the separate container? Also, if half of the yeasties are going to die when pitched directly into the wort, what will prevent same thing happening when you put them into water? Adding malt to it before pitching makes more sense, so the yeast is actively replicating and you pitch with a high number of already active yeast, but that is a starter, not re-hydration.
NB This is only a theoretical consideration, I have never tried the proper experiment, so I might be talking through my derriere...

My understanding is that when rehydrating yeast you want the water to move into the cell membrane. Water does this much better than sugary wort. Something to do with osmotic pressure. I believe that is why salt water fish will die in fresh water.

 

[Yob]

I just don't see how re-hydration beforehand is different from pitching dry, won't the yeast get re-hydrated in the wort just like it would in the separate container? Also, if half of the yeasties are going to die when pitched directly into the wort, what will prevent same thing happening when you put them into water? Adding malt to it before pitching makes more sense, so the yeast is actively replicating and you pitch with a high number of already active yeast, but that is a starter, not re-hydration.
NB This is only a theoretical consideration, I have never tried the proper experiment, so I might be talking through my derriere...

Now feel free to jump in and kick me when I get this wrong folks..

Manufacturers of dried yeast have packaged them up with enogh nutrient to get them going, the rehydration instruction from the manufacturer often if not always recomend a water start at a certain temp. It is a critical time, in the first few seconds to minutes, of activating yeast that determines what goes through the cell wall, this is why the dry yeast comes with it's own 'starter meal'... it is often then recomended that the wort you are pithing to is added to the rehydrated yeast (after say in Windsors case 15min) to get them 'used to' where they will be going... there is also theory behind not pitching to a full strength wort..

frankly, my wort is always at a lower temp than the recomended rehydration temps given, so a 'step' to get temps down (carefully) is always required... Ive never sprinkled onto a 30+'c wort...

yob

 

[felten]

I just don't see how re-hydration beforehand is different from pitching dry, won't the yeast get re-hydrated in the wort just like it would in the separate container? Also, if half of the yeasties are going to die when pitched directly into the wort, what will prevent same thing happening when you put them into water? Adding malt to it before pitching makes more sense, so the yeast is actively replicating and you pitch with a high number of already active yeast, but that is a starter, not re-hydration.
NB This is only a theoretical consideration, I have never tried the proper experiment, so I might be talking through my derriere...

check this out http://koehlerbeer.com/2008/06/07/rehydrat...r-clayton-cone/

 

[Newbee(r)]

just to add a sideways... I always rehydrate, I always proof..

quite often the wort im pitching to is not near the reccomended temps for rehydraion.. The back of a windsor packet of dried suggests that you sould rehydrate at 30-35'c and then add runnings to the yeast (slowly) to bring the yeast to wort temps. I can see the logic here.

Ive used this method for a long time now and have always had a reduced (perhaps percived) lag time from that of just sprinkled to the brew.

I do seem to get a nice kick off overnight if I have let the yeast 'taste' for an hour or so what they are headed into.. well thats my perception anyway..

Yob

Absolutely . With the approach I use (earlier post in the thread) I have found that it averages about 3 hours after pitching before the airlock starts going steadily, whereas before when I just rehydrated it was invariably overnight.

I guess it is a starter as an earlier post suggested, but not what I would normally associate with a starter process given its a 1/2 day start up.

Far from an expert (hence my username) So I guess as long as you are happy with the results you are getting, keep doing it is the bottom line!

 

[flano]

this questions is answered by either palmer or the other fella with the um..hard to remember last name in homebrewer magazine 2011 winter edition.

It gives a great step by step lesson on how to do it.

It mentions dry yeast sprinkled on top has a chance of giving off flavours.

 

[DUANNE]

acording to jamil and white sprinkling will give a 50 percent death rate with the yeast. on the recent bbr podcast a bloke also measured the cell health in sprinkled and rehydrated yeast with similar results. i think the consensus was sprinkling could actually give a better ferment but would you like to have all the dead cells giving of the off flavours in your beer? my personal preferance is to rehydrate and it seems to work and be worth the minimal extra effort.