Yeast 🤷‍♂️

[canairyman]

Hi
Is this a dry yeast you can just sprinkle in or do I have to mix it with water? If so how much water and at what temp??

 

[RichardM]

According to the instructions you can pitch it directly without rehydrating.
If you want to rehydrate, then assuming it is an 11g pack sprinkle it on to about 100ml of water at about 25c. Leave if for a few minutes then stir, then leave it for a few more minutes and pitch when it is close to the same temperature as the wort

 

[canairyman]

According to the instructions you can pitch it directly without rehydrating.
If you want to rehydrate, then assuming it is an 11g pack sprinkle it on to about 100ml of water at about 25c. Leave if for a few minutes then stir, then leave it for a few more minutes and pitch when it is close to the same temperature as the wort

Thank you

 

[Agentgonzo]

According to the instructions you can pitch it directly without rehydrating.
If you want to rehydrate, then assuming it is an 11g pack sprinkle it on to about 100ml of water at about 25c. Leave if for a few minutes then stir, then leave it for a few more minutes and pitch when it is close to the same temperature as the wort

If you want to be super cautious. Boil the water first, pour it into something and cover it with a plate/tin foil etc to stop things falling in. Let it naturally cool to 25° then proceed as Richard says.

 

[MashBag]

Behave

Sprinkle, leave for 15 and then stir or whisk the beejeebers out of it, if the wife has upset you

 

[Bzee]

Just as my wort comes to the boil I draw off like 300 ml and mix with same amount boiled water let cool to 30ish and add yeast thus when my wort has cooled to pitching temp I have a rageing starter

 

[Hoppy]

If you want to be even more cautious, just sprinkle in and mix as @MashBag says. You are just risking infection with other methods. Packet yeast has all the nutrient it needs to get going.
Many yeast manufacturers are recommending staight in now.

 

[MashBag]

Many yeast manufacturers are recommending staight in now.

And some of us have evidence going back years.

 

[Hoppy]

Yes, me too! 32years ago when I started commercially. That said, when i started we mainly used a house strain and managed it properly. Propagating, acid washing, viability tests and therefore pitching rates etc.
Only really used packet/dried for one off brews, as our strain gave up at 6% abv.
Many brewers see themselves as yeast wranglers foremost!

 

[Agentgonzo]

Many yeast manufacturers are recommending staight in now.

And some of us have evidence going back years.

I'm still curious as to the deep reasons for the change in recommended "just pitch" approach from the manufacturers and what it means for us homebrewers, especially when compared with experiments that people have done to assess the viability of yeast when direct pitching vs rehydrating. Presumably there is a reason that manufacturers advise direct pitching (we can guess at why, but we don't actually know why they recommend this). But we also can't discount evidence that shows viability decreases if pitching directly into wort (just because the person doing the experiment doesn't have a PhD doesn't mean we can just ignore their results - that's not how science works).

Does the cell viability/count indeed decrease when direct pitching, but it doesn't have a material impact on the finished product and/or is it just minor?
Does the recommendation to direct pitch only apply to "new" yeast straight from the factory, or will it still apply to yeast that's been sat on a homebrew shop's shelf for a year?
Is rehydration of dry yeast "actually better if you do it properly" but the recommendation to direct pitch is much safer because the risks are higher and most people will screw it up?

 

[Hoppy]

I recommend you read the answers below the 'report'. No mention is made of the wort strength in the trial.
If you were to produce a high gravity brew, yes viability will drop as mentioned in the answers, this would happen to a 'normal' yeast. You increase the pitching rate accordingly.
If yeast has been sat on a shelf for a year, choose another supplier. It should be kept below 4C. This temp keeps the yeast in 'stasis'.
Simple, the loss in viability is less of an issue compared to the the risk of infection.
The loss can be made up with oxygenation, ego propagation.

 

[MashBag]

I can only repeat from my enology courses... Something like.... There is less shock to the yeast when sprinkled, because it only has 1 environment to adapt to. Hence 1 lag. If you make a starter it will adapt to that env and then have to repeat that again when it goes into product....or something very similar.

 

[Agentgonzo]

I can only repeat from my enology courses... Something like.... There is less shock to the yeast when sprinkled, because it only has 1 environment to adapt to. Hence 1 lag. If you make a starter it will adapt to that env and then have to repeat that again when it goes into product....or something very similar.

That makes perfect sense! Thanks

 

[MashBag]

Perhaps not verbatim, but you get the drift.

 

[Twostage]

One thing you must do if you are making a Scandinavian farmhouse ale is scream when you pitch the yeast. Keeps the evil troll/elf thing away apparently.

 

[Agentgonzo]

Perhaps not verbatim, but you get the drift.

Indeed.

 

[Hoppy]

Males sense, most who do a starter, the sugar content is higher than the beer it is going to be pitched into, creating osmotic shock.

 

[MashBag]

Thank you @Hoppy "osmotic shock".. I just couldn't think of the words. Cheers

 

[Agentgonzo]

Thank you @Hoppy "osmotic shock".. I just couldn't think of the words. Cheers

I think I went to one of their gigs in the 90s

 

[MashBag]

... And didn't she look the part in those tight leather jeans