Muntons Smugglers Gold - just chuck the yeast in?

[pidgeonpost]

'morning all....I normally do AG brews, but time pressures have had me making kits for the last year or so. I'm just about to kick off a brew of Muntons Smugglers Gold. It comes with a sachet of dried yeast, but the instructions say to 'add the rehydrated yeast'. Normally I'd just pitch in the dried yeast and give it a good stir. Am I missing something? Surely I don't need to 'rehydrate' the yeast?
Have searched the forum for 'Smugglers Gold' - plenty of good reports, but also a few bad ones on stuck fermentations, so any tips or tricks appreciated.

Many thanks folks.... :thumb:

 

[Sean_Mc]

I re-hydrate when pitching dried yeast in an aerated wort as it will pass through the bubbles that have been caused by vigorous stirring

 

[pidgeonpost]

Thanks for that - so how to you go about rehydrating it then please? Must say it's news to me, but I want to give the brew the best possible chance of success. I'm actually out of home brew for the first time in years, and I'm gagging to get some more on the go.

Cheers.....

 

[pidgeonpost]

Apologies for replying to my own post. Just searched the forum on rehydration - some say not necessary, but think I'll rehydrate with cooled boiled water - unless anyone can convince me otherwise in the next half-hour.... :)

 

[bomberns127]

not often i see a brewer going in reverse!, normally kits to AG not the other way around, maybe this could be a trend! lol, what type of yeast did you use with the AG? all forms of yeast will be fine with any type of brewing, pitching dried into kits or AG works fine, rehydrated yeasts work fine, shop bought sachets of live culture works fine, check the records you have on your AG you will probably have a favourite yeast you liked to use, use that.

when i have rehydrated yeasts to pitch in i have not found any advantage to it only that i could add an infection to the wort, so i add the dried yeast straight from the packet then a good stir, that's it.

 

[Sean_Mc]

Yeah, cooled water from the kettle is fine :thumb:

Just done a coopers kit myself

 

[Sean_Mc]

when i have rehydrated yeasts to pitch in i have not found any advantage to it only that i could add an infection to the wort, so i add the dried yeast straight from the packet then a good stir, that's it.

Can't really see how its an added risk of infection just use sterilized jug and water. It probably reduces the risk of infection as the yeast is already hydrated and will responded quicker to the wort, and its not all caught up in bubbles, straight in the wort.
We're all different, just made sense to me when told about it.

 

[pidgeonpost]

For more years than I like to think about I've had to juggle beer making with a load of other stuff, so for a long while now my 'everyday' brew has been the Fullers ESB lookalike from 'Brewing beers like Those you Buy'. It's proved to be a likeable and pretty consistent brew that I've been able to fit into the available time without fuss. The yeast I used was just a dried one - Safale Yeast S-04 - which I simply stirred into the wort.

Then last year when I was already low on beer, disaster struck - a new brew developed an infection, I had to chuck it. I was totally beerless. I needed more ingredients, my nearest homebrew shop is 20 miles away, so with no time for a visit, and even less time to commit to brewing, I ordered a kit, and have just done kits this year. They have come a long way since I started with the 'Geordie' and 'Tom caxton' kits in the 1970's.

I've now pitched the rehydrated yeast, and looking forward to trying the finished product. I'm planning to transfer it to a 'Betterbottle' in 3 days to finish fermentation, as they suggest on the instructions. It will then go into a Cornelius keg to rehydrate me eventually! :grin: