sprinkling yeast over wort - will my beer even brew now?

GinAndCoffee · 10-31-2009, 04:59 PM

So... I think I might have made a mistake. After I poured my wort into the primary fermenter (the beginnings of a dunkelweizen, if you are interested) the instructions for my Brewer's Best kit instructed me to "sprinkle the yeast packet" into the wort. So, I did.

But! I came on here and noticed that everyone readies their yeast in a cup of warm water... should I have done that? Will what I've done affect my beer's taste?

Thanks.

Parker36 · 10-31-2009, 05:14 PM

What yeast did you use? Normally the method you used should work fine, but the yeast itself might be garbage. The whole warm water thing is mostly to "proof" the yeast to make sure it is still viable along with "waking" the yeast and not shocking it, but those packets are made to be poured directly into the wort.

I would recommend not using the yeast that comes with the kits anymore. Pick up a pack of dry yeast (cost about $1) and it will make you beer infinitely better.

KhellendrosXS · 10-31-2009, 05:14 PM

I just did a Brewers Best kit (my first) three weeks ago. I did not re-hydrate the yeast and within 12 hours it was happily bubbling along.

All is well, after all, its what the instructions said to do.

RDWHAHB!

Dirt101 · 10-31-2009, 05:15 PM

I think itll be just fine, I always rehydrated (mostly Nottingham, until thier troubles started)..but three days ago sprinkled some S-05 after rehydrating 2 packets of Notty that just didnt look or act like what I was used too.. took off like crazy in about 18 hours...

GinAndCoffee · 10-31-2009, 05:19 PM

So the goal of proofing yeast in water is just to make sure it's alive? Does sprinkling vs. proofing affect the taste in any way?

elkdog · 10-31-2009, 05:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GinAndCoffee

So the goal of proofing yeast in water is just to make sure it's alive? Does sprinkling vs. proofing affect the taste in any way?

Minimally, if at all. Proofing the yeast can wake them up more gently so you get a higher number of viable yeast in your beer, but sprinkling it straight into the fermenter, which is what I usually do, will work fine.

**rlhvegas** · 10-31-2009, 05:42 PM

Sprinkle Away!

Rick500 · 10-31-2009, 05:47 PM

It'll work, but viability of the yeast is about half of what it would have been if you had rehydrated the yeast first. You'll get about half the amount of live yeast that you would have if you'd rehydrated.

From How to Brew by John Palmer:

Quote:

Dry yeast should be re-hydrated in water before pitching. Often the concentration of sugars in wort is high enough that the yeast can not draw enough water across the cell membranes to restart their metabolism.

So, your beer will ferment, but next time I certainly would rehydrate first to ensure you're not underpitching.

**Yuri_Rage** · 10-31-2009, 06:00 PM

There's some great info at this link:

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=38

bhs668 · 10-31-2009, 06:09 PM

I have never rehydrated on the 10 or so batches that I've made. Never had an issue.