White Yeast

[Zipster]

Hi there,

A good mate of mine gave me this sachet of white beer yeast imported from north France. Can I use it instead of the provided yeast on the Cooper's pale malt extract? Will I get white beer out of it?

.z

 

[pimpsqueak]

No. Your beer will not be white.

You're sure it's beer yeast? Any details about the manufacturer, or the strain? Maybe a pic?

 

[Pennywise]

If it's beer yeast dare I say you'll end with beer if you use it. The strain & beer style should be considered when making the descision to use it or not, do you know these things?

 

[QldKev]

White beer is weizen aka wheat beer. So if you are making a wheat beer go for it. Not real good for a Coopers Pale.

Do you know which strain of yeast it is / any numbers on the packet?

QldKev

 

[Zipster]

So what is special with that yeast? What if I brew malt with it instead of wheat?

Looks like we're slightly off the date!

 

[pimpsqueak]

It is going to impart some flavours to your beer that are synonymous with wheat beers. (banana, clove etc) You will still end up with a beer, but honestly given how old it is, you will be better off ditching it and buying a fresh pack of dry yeast that suits the beer style you are aiming for.

 

[Zipster]

Is there a reliable way to "test" yeast?

I'm thinking of just adding a bit of warm water to it with a bit of sugar and see if it takes long to make bubbles. Would that be a good method?

 

[pimpsqueak]

Well, that is called 'proving' and if you end up with visible yeast activity it will only show you that there are some viable cells left, not how many.

 

[felten]

You don't want to rehydrate with any kind of sugar, just plain tap water at the temperature that fermentis recommends for that yeast strain.

 

[Zipster]

so if I want to do proving i just add some water to it and then what? how much water, like a spoonfull?

 

[manticle]

Read all of this

http://www.fermentis.com/fo/pdf/Tips-Tricks.pdf

 

[DUANNE]

http://www.grainandgrape.com.au/product_in...roducts_id=8536

if you want to make good beer is 6 bucks really that much? use the old pack as yeast nutrient and buy a new one.

 

[QldKev]

So it's a WB-06 strain, I would not use it for a normal beer it would come out completely wrong. For a wheat beer it would be ok; although I would most likely use 3068 as I love it in weizens. If you do want to try and make a wheat beer use about 50% wheat to 50%barley malts, and use that yeast. I don't know if you have had a wheat beer but they are very different to a normal beer.

The date is towards then end of life, it is has been kept in a fridge it entire life I would still look at using it. You could always drop it in a 1L starter. But for the $, you could just buy some fresh stuff. Here is a twin pack for $8.50
http://www.craftbrewer.com.au/shop/details.asp?PID=1026

QldKev

 

[Zipster]

Thanks Andrew for the link I'll read it tonight.

About the yeast I dont think it matters to keep it in the fridge when it's dry. The particles are anaerobic so therefore they can live hundreds of years in that state in theory. So I will definitely do a proving because it will be fun!

Then will go to the nearest town get the 50% wheat 50% barley on Monday if proving was positive.

Thanks for all chaps

 

[manticle]

About the yeast I dont think it matters to keep it in the fridge when it's dry. The particles are anaerobic so therefore they can live hundreds of years in that state in theory.

From here: http://www.fermentis.com/fo/60-Beer/60-32_faqIB.asp

9/ How long does the yeast last in storage?The sachets are stable for two years from date of manufacture with no significant loss of viability and fermentation activity. Fermentis dry yeast should be stored below 10C to ensure optimum fermentation performance.

Even bread yeast will be less efficient when stored in ambient conditions too long.

Store the yeast in the fridge mate. In hundreds of years you might still have a viable cell but you want the packet to have as many as possible, not just one. Yeast health and numbers directly affects the performance and flavour of a fermenting beer.

 

[Zipster]

still making noise dude?

 

[manticle]

Had a small break while finishing my Masters thesis. Aiming to buy new equipment and churning ideas around in my head.

New stuff happening this year, old stuff hopefully getting recorded.

I guess that's a yes and a no.

Core-tex still happning?

 

[Zipster]

Proofing was mostly negative so white beer will not be on the menu for next batch. But I will definately brew some white beer soon as it's one of my favourite.

Core-tex is still high and mighty, traffic is stable on website, the new stuff keeps happening every now and then. Go and listen to HFK he's the new lad. http://core-tex.org

Anywhere I can download some of yours?

 

[manticle]

See PM