Pitching Kit Yeast

[Windy Hill]

Morning all ,

New member to the site/forum , back brewing after 3 yr lay off . Excellent site & resource .

Anyway , just wondering if there's a right or wrong way to pitch the kit yeast . Put a new brew down yesterday :

Muntons Mount Mellick Irish Cream Ale
500g Coopers LDM + 500g Brewcraft Amber Malt dry
250g Dextrose & 200g Dried Corn Syrup .

Pitched kit yeast straight on top at 22 deg C , this morning , approx 16 hrs later , there's nothing happening , so sterilized spoon , gave a stir and walah , away she goes .

Haven't always had to stir the yeast though , sometimes pitching straight on top is enough . There could be other reasons i'm overlooking hence posting the question ,

Many Thanks & Happy Brewing .

Brendan .

 

[Pennywise]

Welcome to the forums Brendan, 16hrs isn't really a long time to wait for any activity. What do you mean by no action? Bubbling airlock? Krausen? The airlock is in no way an indication of activity, it's soul purpose is to keep crap out of the wort. I'd wait another 24-36 hrs, the take a gravity reading, if it hasn't moved from the OG then start thinking about ways to get it going again.

 

[roverfj1200]

With a kit yeast I sprinkle it on the top. Wait a few minutes and stir.. most kit yeast go off no matter what you do though...

And welcome back to the darkside... :icon_drunk:

 

[Windy Hill]

Welcome to the forums Brendan, 16hrs isn't really a long time to wait for any activity. What do you mean by no action? Bubbling airlock? Krausen? The airlock is in no way an indication of activity, it's soul purpose is to keep crap out of the wort. I'd wait another 24-36 hrs, the take a gravity reading, if it hasn't moved from the OG then start thinking about ways to get it going again.

No worries , thanks for that . Yeah what I meant by ' action ' is bubbling airlock . Have probably been in the habit of looking to that as the best guide of ferment beginning , obviously not , so thats good news , learnt something today .

Just on the pitching of yeast , do you suggest simply to sprinkle on top ? No need to stir in ?

Regards ,

Brendan .

 

[Windy Hill]

Thanks roverfj1200 , info taken on board .

Cheers .

 

[keifer33]

Only recently have I started stirring and it does activate quicker but I have also done many brews without stirring.

 

[Shed101]

I've done the no stir thing too ... the stir thing ... and the rehydrate thing.

The experienced hb'ers on here will probably advise you, as to the packets of danstar yeasts, to rehydrate (pitch in 100ml of luke warm pre-boiled water, leave for 15 mins, swirl, leave to get to same temp. as wort and then add and swirl wort). That's what i'm doing now.

... have i noticed any difference in the final outcome between any of the methods?

Not sure that I have really although the yeasts haven't all been the same types so it might not be right to compare.

 

[Yeastie Beastie]

IMO kit yeast is pretty reliable but have a read of THIS. You will learn a lot from John Palmers writings. An essential reading for any brewer.
As for the airlock, ditch the lid and cover it with cling wrap, use the o ring from the fermentor lid as a big rubber band to secure the cling wrap. A lot of brewers here use this method as with I now. Also good to "see" what is going on in your fermentor, like the piccy below, just to make it clearer.

 

[DU99]

interesting reading about yeast..and the airlock one i might try next brew..thanks

 

[I_C_Wiener]

I would allways rehydrate my yeast when doing kits as I have read it is much better for the yeast and gives you a better beer.

+1 on throwing your lid in the bin and using cling wrap as yeastie advised, much better to be able to see whats going on in your fermenter.

 

[felten]

The thing about dry yeasts is that there is more than enough cells in there to do the job (20 billion per gram), so even if you throw it straight on top and maybe lose 40% (guestimate) of your yeast viability, there is still enough left alive in the end. It only really becomes an issue if the yeast is old, or you are brewing a high grav/low temp beer; and if you are seeing stalling problems in your beer you might want to try rehydrating.

There was a link Screwtop posted a while ago that is well worth a read, http://koehlerbeer.com/2008/06/07/rehydrat...r-clayton-cone/

 

[Windy Hill]

Thanks everyone for your advise , thanks to Yeastie for the link to John Palmers site , looks an excellent resource ,

Cheers ,

Brendan .

 

[mfdu]

if using kit yeast, i always rehydrate and use two packets.

but i never stir it into the wort.

 

[manticle]

If using kit yeast, I boil it up as a nutrient and use something else.

That might not be much help to you though.

Personally I can't see any issue with stirring if your equipment is clean and sanitary. Might not be necessary but if it works for you then go for it.

 

[kelbygreen]

I always use 2 packs as well and always rehydrate my dry yeast but only have for a few batches. I also buy coopers yeast off craftbrewer for my second pack but I have found that the yeast in coopers kits are half white half brown and the yeast from craft brewer is all brown I figure the kits have different yeast in it to make it more tolerant maybe?? not to sure but its different lol pack looks the same. I still brew kits as they are cheap and can buy just down the road but do 1 kit to 2-3 extract brews lol.

 

[Lodan]

I have been pitching the yeast on top with and without stirring. I'd say it's a time thing like HB79 suggested above.

@kelbygreen
not sure what of the coopers kits you have been using but some do come with a different yeast. I couldn't tell you if they came in the same colour packet though (only have tried the original series thus far)
http://www.coopers.com.au/the-brewers-guil...osts&t=1181

 

[kelbygreen]

well only kit I know of that comes with different yeast is coopers european ale its is meant to come with a true ale yeast. some lager beers have half half half lager but I only use the aussie ale which should come with ale yeast so cant see it being 2 different kinds as the ale yeast from ross is all brown

 

[kelbygreen]

ok reading that it comes with ale and lager yeast :S funny a ale coming with lager yeast but there you go

 

[michaelcocks]

An hour or two before pitch;
boil kettle
boiled water into small plastic container, lid on leave ten mins so lid gets steamed
now you have fresh boiled water and snitised conTainer
chuk it in the freezer for 30 mins or so (depends on volume of water) the ourside of the confined should feel tepid
sanitize outside of yeast packet, scissors and a clean egg whisk with iodophor solution
cut yeast pCket tip yeast into like warm water leave it stAnd for 20 to 30 mins with lid on
when ready to pitch whisk the wort like buggery for as long as you can before you get knackered
throw the contents of the container into the aerated wort
ferment usually starts inside 3 hrs with fermentis or danstar dried yeast

 

[michaelcocks]

Ooh and +1 for cling wrap

do it you'll never go back to that useless piece of kit called an airlock
they show you nothing ,(use your hydrometer) and trap bacteria, if you move you fermenter they can suck back scungy water into your brew
only thing worse for harbouring germs than an airlock is a lid and grommets
( unlike a lid, you can see through cling wrap)

Chuck em both
IMHO