Rehydrate yeast?

[stehowardtlr]

Is it best to rehydrate the yeast before I start my brew kit?

 

[stehowardtlr]

Is it worth using bottle water?

 

[danestead]

Yes

http://www.howtobrew.com/section1/chapter6-5.html

That link explains it all. Rehydrating in sterile water allows the dry yeast to rehydrate properly where if you rehydrate in wort or just sprinkle it in you fermenter you may lose half your yeast because the wort is too dense for the yeast to draw across its cell membrane.

 

[Yob]

no..

get a 3lt milk bottle and fill it with sterile water, either pressure cook some water or boil tap water 3 times, once a day for 3 days.

Use this for all yeast activities, rinsing, re-hydrating etc..

 

[Yob]

er..

bottled water is sterile?

 

[ManVsBeer]

I was thinking about it today for my brew, but looking at all the posts on here, it apparently doesn't make a difference.

 

[Florian]

MODERATION:

Ducatiboy Stu has been blocked from posting in this thread.

 

[Florian]

And how do you sterilise the milk bottle?

 

[ManVsBeer]

Damn, sucked in on my first helpful comment. That'll teach me to post on brew day.......actually, no it won't :lol:

 

[Yob]

Are you suggesting I require a stainless steel milk bottle?

 

[ManVsBeer]

My old man always used SS milk bottles. He said, bless his heart, "if those little bastards can permeate this, then I'm giving up smoking." He then died of lung cancer. Since then I have put his ashes in one and sold the rest to unsuspecting board members for cash to buy more extract. I still haven't tipped that milk bottle into Port Victoria yet.

 

[danestead]

And how do you sterilise the milk bottle?

Spray starsan in it as you would sanitise your fermenter?

 

[spryzie]

I simply place a small glass jar (and its lid or some foil) in a saucepan filled with water and bring to boil.

Boil for a minute or so (it's practically sterile once it reaches boiling but a few minutes can't hurt - it can help to remove chlorine to boil for a few minutes).

Yob is correct, but if you're rehyrdating immediately it's overkill.

I also place my thermometer in the boiling water for a minute. Boiling water sterilises everything well enough.

Remove jar with some tongs. Reserve enough water in jar for rehyrdation. Place thermometer into the water and cover with lid.

Put it in the fridge and cool to your rehyrdate temp (or leave it on the kitchen bench - but it takes a while to cool down to 25'ish degrees).

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

For years people have been re-hydrating yeast by using water straight from the tap..

Or even just sprinkling it straight on top of yhe wort...


The death rate from using those methods has remained extremly low.

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Really.

Now why would that be....

 

[stehowardtlr]

So when topping up my fermenter do I just use tap water or boil water and let it cool for hours?

 

[pnorkle]

Just use tap water, it'll be fine.

 

[lael]

For years people have been re-hydrating yeast by using water straight from the tap..

Or even just sprinkling it straight on top of yhe wort...


The death rate from using those methods has remained extremly low.

There's an awesome thread on this... lol

 

[verysupple]

It's probably best to rehydrate in sterile water. However it's up to each brewer to decide if the extra effort outweighs the risks.

Whatever microbial contamination there is in tap water isn't going to attack and kill the yeast, so the yeast will be fine. The contaminants may multiply and there's a risk that they can contribute off flavours later. But I'm not too worried about the small amount of water used for yeast rehydration seeing as I top up my FV with litres of water straight from the tap.

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

There's an awesome thread on this... lol

There is.

My point is that a newbie starting out gets bombarded with " you need an autoclave, pressure cooker scientific glass flaskes, your water needs to be sterilise andirradiated,..etc..etc.." I am suprised some brewers on here dont send their water to Lucas Heights to be fully irradiated then get it home and check ever ml under a microscope go check for any plausable sign of life

When all he really needs to do is grab a clean glass and some tap water.


Sure, there are those will disagree, and thats fine. But for someone just starting out and being bombarded with all this stuff about maximum sterilisation just to re-hydrate some dried yeast there just going to wonder is it really worth.