Yeast Instructions Really Necessary?

[milob40]

just reading the instructions on us05 yeast
this takes an hour just to add the yeast ? wtf??
can't i just sprinkle over the wort like i normally do with kit yeasts, put the lid on and bung it in the fridge?
is there much benefit it doing this other than speeding up the start of fermentation?

 

[Punkal]

Sprinkling will work but helping your yeast out as much as you can will help you make a better tasting beer...

There is a lot of info here already try searching for pitching rate or starters that should be a good start... If you get into it you will probably be doing more than just hydrating your years.

 

[Ross]

just reading the instructions on us05 yeast
this takes an hour just to add the yeast ? wtf??
can't i just sprinkle over the wort like i normally do with kit yeasts, put the lid on and bung it in the fridge?
is there much benefit it doing this other than speeding up the start of fermentation?

...& they clearly state you can just sprinkle if you prefer.
Rehydrating first will give you maximum viabillity of your yeast, it will not produce better beer unless the resulting cell count of not rehydrating causes a serious under pitch. If your yeast is fresh & has been stored correctly, sprinkling is fine.

Cheers Ross

 

[brettprevans]

Given there is an AHB article on how to use glad wrap instead of a lid (which isn't rocket science), and you didn't read the instructions properly yourself, I'd say that they are probably necessary.

There are lots of things in this caper that u can 'just do' and it will get u beer. But it won't be the best possible beer that u can make. Some things are worth the effort.

 

[Punkal]

Put simply, when yeast are hydrating either in wort or plain water they draw water in through their "skin", the sugar in wort can get in the way and reducing the viability of some of the cells.

Mr Malty Pitching Rate Calculator suggests that a brew of 23L with a SG of 1.050 will need approx 213 billion viable cells.

A 11.5 gram pack of dried yeast will have approx 230 billion total yeast cells, with a viability of 90% that drops to 207 billion.

90% is the best possible viability you can expect to get from a pack of dried yeast. By pitching directly into wort you are reducing the viability further.

a 23L brew of 1.050 is not uncommon, 90% viability yest cells is, pitching the correct amount of viable yeast is important and will make better tasting beer...

 

[big78sam]

I used to be a believer in the "sprinkle" method and you'll get varying comments here about whether to rehydrate. Some say it's a waste of time and just adds another possible source of contamination. However, I was reading the Chris White and Jamil yeast book last night and they say "failure to rehydrate dry yeast properly will result in the death of approximately half the cells". In line with pitching rate comments above, it's rehydration all the way for me now when using dry yeast.

 

[///]

50% of cells can be killed by being lazy and not following the directions. Being lazy can equal 50% drop in quality of your beer ... simple equation to me.

 

[Pennywise]

Ha, I was reading the same bit last night. Made me have good hard look at my dry yeast managment.

 

[peaky]

50% of cells can be killed by being lazy and not following the directions. Being lazy can equal 50% drop in quality of your beer ... simple equation to me.

Yikes! I don't use dry yeast very often but when I do it just gets sprinkled. I'll be rehydrating from now on

 

[///]

Chris Whites new book goes into the subject and the affect of not hydrating.

 

[Online Brewing Supplies]

All the BOP's I have visited rehydrate. Must be some thing in it .
GB

 

[Bribie G]

Also according to the Yeast Book, nearly all the flavour components and character of the beer are firmly in place after the first three days, so it makes sense to get fermentation off to the best start possible. At the factory, dried yeast cells are all primed with lipids and sugars etc so they are all ready to go, like a huge parachute drop of marines - it would be a shame to have half of them shot down by the Taliban before they reach the ground.

 

[DU99]

i made a stir plate and rehydrate the dry yeast..normally starts bubbling within 2-3 hr's of pitching..i use to just throw it in
Fermentis

Re-hydrate the dry yeast into yeast cream in a stirred vessel prior to pitching. Sprinkle the dry
yeast in 10 times its own weight of sterile water or wort at 27C 3C.(80F 6F) Once the
expected weight of dry yeast is reconstituted into cream by this method (this takes about 15 to
30 minutes), maintain a gentle stirring for another 30 minutes. Then pitch the resultant cream
into the fermentation vessel.
Alternatively, pitch dry yeast directly in the fermentation vessel providing the temperature of
the wort is above 20C (68F). Progressively sprinkle the dry yeast into the wort ensuring the
yeast covers all the surface of wort available in order to avoid clumps. Leave for 30 minutes
and then mix the wort e.g. using aeration.

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

Also according to the Yeast Book, nearly all the flavour components and character of the beer are firmly in place after the first three days, so it makes sense to get fermentation off to the best start possible. At the factory, dried yeast cells are all primed with lipids and sugars etc so they are all ready to go, like a huge parachute drop of marines - it would be a shame to have half of them shot down by the Taliban before they reach the ground.

Or the German's and their french collaborators.

Sorry for being OT.

Goomba

 

[Pennywise]

Also according to the Yeast Book, nearly all the flavour components and character of the beer are firmly in place after the first three days, so it makes sense to get fermentation off to the best start possible. At the factory, dried yeast cells are all primed with lipids and sugars etc so they are all ready to go, like a huge parachute drop of marines - it would be a shame to have half of them shot down by the Taliban before they reach the ground.

Hopefully I'm remembering correctly, but he also goes on to say that if the yeast is just sprinkled on top it's detrimental to the strengthening of the cell walls, which can lead to unwanted byproducts leeching into the wort, which otherwise would not have been had it been done correctly. I think it was part of the bit your talking about Bribie, about when the flavor development is at it's most

 

[Bribie G]

Or the German's and their french collaborators.

Sorry for being OT.

Goomba

:icon_offtopic:
Listen carefully, I will say this just once................

PW - I was thinking more about the section where they mention starting off with one yeast to get a certain flavour profile, then finishing off with another strain (say Notto) to get higher attenuation and say that the flavour production is in the first couple of days mainly, then it's stable door/horse etc.

 

[DanRayner]

If you're lazy (don't rehydrate) and you want the best possible start to your beer with yeast that will be half as viable without rehydration just do like I do and use twice the volume of yeast (two packets) - easy

Laziness is expensive

 

[ekul]

I usually just sprinkle on top, but then i'll reuse the yeast 10+ times. Means that only the first brews yeast isn't hydrated, also means i only pay 50c a brew for yeast

 

[Bribie G]

I always run on my dried yeast for two or three generations, not so much for cost but to ensure quick starts.

 

[Nick JD]

When I bottle a cup o' slurry in a 300ml PET bottle, and am making the same (or very similar) recipe, I leave the bottle out of the fridge for a few hours to slowly warm up, open it and pour about 50ml into a glass to taste it and make sure it's okay - then I just shake the bugger up and pour it into the fermenter.

Works a treat. If the slurry PET is older than about 2 weeks then I decant all the beer off and pour it into 500ml of boiled cooled water with a tablespoon of LDME and it is usually going mental within an hour or two.

I pitch rehydrated dry yeast about 1 in 10 batches.