Why Do We Change Things That Work

[fergi]

just put down that coopers pale ale that i wrote about yesterday.anyway usually with my dry yeast i just put it straight into my wert and usually within 6 hours or so its starting to work,well today i thought ill try something different so ill rehydrate the yeast,boiled some water put it in a sterile glass in freezer brought it down to 20 deg ,same as the wert stuck the dry yeast in ,covered with gladwrap for 20 mins,added about 100 ml of the wert from fermentor to the yeast jar,left it for another 15 mins then chucked it into the fermentor,guess what ,8 hours later and the bloody lazy little mongrel is still sleeping,,,NOTHING,,jack shit..well ive got some ale yeast from one of my grumpy,s tins that i have had in the fridge so i am lying on the bed watching the bears thump st kilda thinking about the lazy yeast ,dog lying at the end of my bed taking up all the foot room so i have crabbed the dry yeast packs out of the fridge and to bring them up a bit in temperature i have slid them under the dog to warm them up a bit,,,bloody jack russell is as sleepy as my coopers yeast.ill leave them under him for 30 mins then put them out in the kitchen,if lazy yeast hasnt woken up by the morning ill put the 2 pks of grumpy,s yeast in and get it going that wayfrom what i can see if it aint broke dont fix it,i know that they recomend to rehydrate the dry yeast but never had a failure yet with it except this time when i changed procedure
cheers
fergi

 

[Hopeye]

HI Fergi,
I always re-hydrate dry yeast to enable me to proof it. If after an hour the yeast is not showing any signs of activity (krausen like) and it smells kinda funny, then I'll toss the yeast down the drain and start another one. I had a couple of bad batches of dry yeast, that's why I'll always re-hydrate even SAF.

 

[dreamboat]

I was forced into using a Saf recently for an emergency minimash. Tossed it into a couple of tablespoons of warmish water for about 15 minutes..... it was showing all the right signs after that time, and had turned into a thick pasty goo.
Did the job too, around 5 days at 18C to ferment out a 1045 pale ale.



dreamboat

 

[normell]

G'day Fergi
I've always just sprinkled the dry yeast on top. Not one falure yet in about 30 brews.
Normell

 

[dicko]

Hi Fergi,

The reason that it is recommended to re hydrate dried yeast ist to allow the cell walls of the yeast to re absorb moisture to bring it back to its liquid state.

It is suggested by the yeast manufacturers to use plain ( boiled and cooled) water because of the fact that the surface tension of the plain water is a lot less than a wort of say 1.045 SG thus allowing easier absorbsion of the water into the cell.

The instructions on the tin say to just throw it in because if they said to re hydrate it first they would then have to explain how to do it and may put people off their product.

The quality of the yeast in the packet under any tin of extract is doubtful due to storage temperatures, age etc and this should be considered when choosing which yeast to use.

A reputable brand of yeast from a reputable HB shop with correct storage is advisable for consistent brewing.

When starting out on the HB path most newbies do not understand the importance of oxygenating the wort prior to pitching the yeast.
Oxygen is EXTREMELY important for yeast growth and even more so if you are pitching the small packet of kit yeast that is usually only about half of the required count of yeast cells for a 22/23 litre brew at 1.045 SG.

You could use an air pump and air stone to achieve the oxygenation, or as most HB'ers at the kit level do is just use the Garden hose nozzle and jet the top up water into the fermenter or transfer the prepared wort from one fermenter to another from a height so as to cause lots of foaming.

With any method you use sanitation is still paramount.

I heard the other day that Coopers are thinking of changing their instructions for the yeast on their premium kits - we'll wait and see!!!

Cheers and good luck

 

[Jovial_Monk]

20C is rather cool for yeast rehydration. According to Lallemand, that could reduce the vitality of the yeast.

never thought of warming yeast up under my chihuahua

Jovial Monk

 

[dicko]

20C is rather cool for yeast rehydration. According to Lallemand, that could reduce the vitality of the yeast.

Jovial Monk

[post="50691"][/post]​

I dont think that fergi was using Lallemand yeast JM, but it is important that the re hydrated yeast is close to the same temp as the wort.

As I said in my above post Fergi

The quality of the yeast in the packet under any tin of extract is doubtful due to storage temperatures, age etc and this should be considered when choosing which yeast to use.

Cheers

 

[warrenlw63]

When rehydrating dried yeast If you can't be stuffed (or don't have the time) to be bothered boiling and cooling water, sanitizing something to put it into etc. Get yourself a couple of those 500ml bottles of plain spring water and just keep them in the cupboard.

All I do is sit one in a sink of hot tap water (measure about 35c with thermometer) for about 20 mins to get it a little above room temp. Open the top, pour half the water out put the sachet of yeast in and wait the prescribed time.

Not as risky as dumping the sachet onto the wort and not as much mucking around as boiling cooling, waiting etc. Spring water would have to be as sanitary as boiled water. B)

Warren -

 

[dicko]

That sounds easy Warren,
better than mucking around with boiling water etc.
Cheers

 

[Ross]

I don't know what the rules are in aus - but in the UK, spring water used to be just that - water bottled direct from the spring, with no sterilisation....

 

[warrenlw63]

Not quite the same here I think Ross,

Pretty sure that "most" bottled water gets UV treated first. I've found the above mentioned method to be safe. Hasn't infected any beers yet. I've even used homebrand bottled water to top up fermenters if my finished volume falls a little short.

$1.50 or so for two litres is easier than stuffing around for lazy blokes like me.

Warren -

 

[Tim]

bottled water here in Aus is usually treated through a carbon filter and sterilized by ozanolysis

 

[Kai]

Why do we change things that work? Because we can make them work better, or work easier.

If I didn't change things that worked, I'd still be making kit and kilos with dry yeast and bottle priming. Actually, I wouldn't be as I'd have quit by now.

It's fun to change things, both because you can improve things and simply because you can. But, if you're comfortable with how you do it then stick with it. And even if a new method screws up when you first try it, that doesn't mean it's bunk... sometimes it takes a little more care effort when you're first learning the ropes.

 

[fergi]

just an update on my yeast rehydration well when i got up the next morning it was bubbling away, quite happy it was ,so this procedure of rehydrating did work though not sure that it started any quicker than just tossing in the dried yeast,maybe next time i will put the pkt yeast in to slightly warmer water say 25 deg and after it has been in there for 20 mins i will add some wert to it to bring it down closer to my brew temp before tossing it in
cheers
fergi

 

[dicko]

Fergi,

Oxygen is EXTREMELY important for yeast growth and even more so if you are pitching the small packet of kit yeast that is usually only about half of the required count of yeast cells for a 22/23 litre brew at 1.045 SG.

Just something else to remember

Cheers

 

[fergi]

dicko are we talking aerating the wert after adding yeast or aerating the yeast while rehydrating,i always aerate my wert when i pour the water in to bring it up to my required level
cheers
fergi

 

[Jovial_Monk]

Fergi, that revised procedure you just mentioned is in fact the recommended way of doing it!

Now, a long lag time is not necessarily bad! You have rehydrated your yeast and aerated your wort: upon pitching the yeast will bud-off more yeast cells while there is oxygen in your wort, the lag phase. while it is budding off more cells it is dropping the wort pH to a level where most bacteria are very unhappy. All of this then makes for a strong sound ferment.

Jovial Monk

 

[dicko]

Fergi,
Yep spot on, aerate the wort while the yeast is re hydrating.
Cheers