Pitching Yeast

[MrIrish]

Need some advice as I keep killing my yeast!

I did an extract brew at the weekend, American Pale Ale and I want to use US 05 dry yeast
I've had 2 goes at rehydrating it and not getting anywhere

First attempt
Boiled a cup of water
Let it cool to 40 degrees
Stirred in the yeast until it wasnt lumpy
Then boil 1/4 cup of water and added some sugar
Added this once it cooled
Then coverd it up and let it sit for 30 minutes
I didnt see any activation and there clumps at the bottom of the jar
I added it to the fermentor anyway (as this is my first time doing it) but nothing happened
The yeast came with the extract so I put this down to it being dead

Second attempt
Bought some more yeast
In the shop they advised to cool the water it to 20 degrees (room temp)
Did this and added the yeast
Stirred in the yeast until it wasnt lumpy
Didnt add any sugar as the shop advised against it to
Then coverd it up and let it sit for 30 minutes
Still no activation!!



What am I doing wrong here?

 

[bum]

What do you mean by "activiation"? It is just meant to swell a bit, basically. You're not supposed to get a big foamy mess - you want that to happen in the fermenter.

Does your LHB keep their yeast in the fridge? Do you?

 

[slash22000]

What exactly do you mean by "activation"?

1) Do not stir the yeast

2) Do not add sugar (ever)

3) Do not rehydrate at 20ºC, rehydrate at 35ºC - 40ºC (40 being the absolute absolute maximum, safer to go with 35)

4) Store your yeast in the fridge at all times until you need to use it

5) Let the yeast warm up to room temperature in the packet before you add it to your hot water

 

[MrIrish]

What do you mean by "activiation"? It is just meant to swell a bit, basically. You're not supposed to get a big foamy mess - you want that to happen in the fermenter.

Does your LHB keep their yeast in the fridge? Do you?

When I say activation, I mean a visible reaction at the top of the jar ie. sort of foaming, I'm not seeing this, not even a small bit
Yes they keep it in the fridge and so do I

 

[MrIrish]

What exactly do you mean by "activation"?

1) Do not stir the yeast

2) Do not add sugar (ever)

3) Do not rehydrate at 20ºC, rehydrate at 35ºC - 40ºC (40 being the absolute absolute maximum, safer to go with 35)

4) Store your yeast in the fridge at all times until you need to use it

5) Let the yeast warm up to room temperature in the packet before you add it to your hot water

I was following instructions from Palmers book and that says to stir in the yeast, maybe I've stirred it too much and thats why its not working

 

[Bribie G]

I sprinkle mine into a little bowl of blood-heat water and leave it for five minutes to let the granules start to disintegrate, then just a couple of stirs to make sure it's liquefied. By that time it's usually starting to get a creamy head building up, so straight into the brew.

 

[tanukibrewer]

Lots of info on yeast and yeast starters on this site
http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/71980-beginner-yeast-questions/?hl=%2Byeast+%2Bstarter#entry1027217
http://aussiehomebrewer.com/index.php?app=core&module=search&do=search&fromMainBar=1
http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/71908-single-smack-pack-single-starter/?hl=%2Byeast+%2Bstarter

 

[Truman42]

Read this from the Fermentis website. Then click on the tips and tricks link to read some other great information.

http://www.brewwithfermentis.com/tips-tricks/yeast-rehydration/

 

[GalBrew]

Rehydrating yeast does not result in "activation". You will require some sort of yeast food for them to foam. You don't really want to do that for reasons that I am sure you will discover in the various links posted above.

 

[dammag]

I sanitise a 500mL pyrex jug with starsan then boiling water. I empty the boiling water out and fill with about 120mL of filtered tap water. Immediately put a piece of starsan'ed foil over the top. Let it cool to room temp (QLD room temp). Sanitise the dry yeast pack which is also at room temp. Chuck the yeast in the jug. Put the foil back on. Give it a gentle swirl after 30 minutes and pitch it. Never had a problem

 

[manticle]

Stop rehydrating till you know how to do it properly.

The instructions from the fermentis website, linked above by truman is what you should be following - otherwise just aerate your wort well and sprinkle.

Palmer's instructions in the free online book are considered outdated by many including him.

 

[adryargument]

So much effort!!!

When using dry yeast... am i the only one who simply splits the packet and throws it in the fermenter?
Its a bug, it eats, multiplies and then creates alcohol... rinse and repeat....

At the end of the day your using US-05 / Can packet yeasts, the above process is all well and good when your nursing a sad colony of super rare stout-yeasts from copenhagen who just got off the boat.
But its US-05!! Super yeast thats made to be dropped on the floor, scrapped off your boot straight into the fermenter!

 

[pcmfisher]

See these instructions.

Note the stir for 30 mins bit.

 

[professional_drunk]

The yeast may be working even though it's not very visible until you pitch it into the wort. If I'm making a starter, I look for these signs to tell me whether they are alive:
1. A line of lighter sediment at the bottom
2. Fine bubbles rising.

Most times I don't get any krausen.

For us05 just throw it straight into your cooled wort.

 

[Bribie G]

The idea of rehydrating in water is that when you sprinkle, you are rehydrating in wort, not water. According to some authors such as Chris White in his Yeast book - and he should know - when you rehydrate in wort, the sudden exposure to the sugar solution can rupture cell walls and kill up to half the yeast straight up. So you are effectively under pitching.

However, it has been pointed out by the sceptics that Chris (Whitelabs) is in the business of flogging you liquid yeasts.

I'd do what Manticle suggests, with an 11g pack of dried yeast you will get a good kick-off despite maybe losing cells.

The Yeast Book is brilliant guide to fermentation in general. You shouldn't see krausen for the first 12 to 24 hours anyway as the yeast is in its lag phase and budding mightily, then when it has used up the available oxygen in the wort it gets into fermenting.

From a beginner's point of view it's probably more important to have well oxygenated wort and well sanitised equipment, and leave the yeast to do it's thing for the time being.

 

[manticle]

When using dry yeast... am i the only one who simply splits the packet and throws it in the fermenter?

No. I'm a sprinkler.

If you are going to rehydrate (and there are theoretical reasons as to why you should which bribie outlined) you should follow the manufacturer's instructions. If you're not going to do that you should either buy a second pack or, like me (and you) just sprinkle it in.

I rarely use dry yeast anymore but when I used 05 more often, that's what I did.