Hi this is my third brew, in the past no sign of fermentation in the bubble lock, this time I rehydrated the yeast and it is bubbling away nicely. The past brews so far have tasted great and carbonated well, any advice would be thankfully accepted.
Rehydrating Yeast
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Well, that's good to hear. Glad it is fermenting.
carnevoodoo
Well-Known Member
Typically, sure. It gives the yeast some time to wake up so they're ready to work on the wort to convert the sugars.
What are you fermenting in? I'm guessing a bucket. You likely didn't seal it all the way the first two times. Airlock activity is in no way a sign of active fermentation.
Jesse Seymour
Member
+1 on the re-hydrating your yeast comment
Besides waking the yeast up re-hydrating will tell if you still have viable yeast - if you mix the yeast and warm water together but don't get any activity then you may have dead yeast.
Dried yeast is only good for so long and if you pitch dead yeast you may not get any fermentation.
If you want a really fun experience though (well, at least it is fun for me) is to harvest yeast from the bottom of your fermenter for your next batch. Search around on the forums for the yeast washing tutorial.
The benefit of this is that you save some money ($6 if you buy liquid yeast) and due to yeast mutations between generations you can come up with some pretty unique beer. I've re-used yeast for a few batches now and I possibly won't go back to using dried yeast ever again.
Besides waking the yeast up re-hydrating will tell if you still have viable yeast - if you mix the yeast and warm water together but don't get any activity then you may have dead yeast.
Dried yeast is only good for so long and if you pitch dead yeast you may not get any fermentation.
If you want a really fun experience though (well, at least it is fun for me) is to harvest yeast from the bottom of your fermenter for your next batch. Search around on the forums for the yeast washing tutorial.
The benefit of this is that you save some money ($6 if you buy liquid yeast) and due to yeast mutations between generations you can come up with some pretty unique beer. I've re-used yeast for a few batches now and I possibly won't go back to using dried yeast ever again.
Austinhomebrew
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This is quoted from Winexpert and it applies to Beer as well as Wine:
Q: What is the best way to handle the yeast?
A: If you look at the instructions in your wine kit (and please, do), they will likely instruct you to sprinkle your packet of yeast directly on to the must. Yet if you read the yeast package (and many winemaking textbooks) they recommend rehydrating the yeast. If the objective is to deliver the maximum number of yeast cells to the must, which technique is best?
It turns out that the answer is not as simple as one or the other, but the main point is that rehydration is not really necessary. You can rehydrate your yeast if you absolutely want to, but be sure to do it accurately and precisely, as explained further below. The rest of us will tear open the package and dump it in, and spend the extra time sampling our last batch!
When performed correctly, rehydrating gives the highest live cell counts, and the quickest, most thorough fermentation. The catch is, it has to be done precisely correctly. Lalvin EC 1118 champagne yeast, for instance, asks you to add the yeast to 10 times its weight in water at 40-43°C (104-109°F).
Breaking it down, the amount of '10 times' is important if you're trying to maximise live cell counts. That's because the yeast is dried on a substrate of nutrients and sugars. At a ratio of 10:1 water/yeast, the osmotic pressure allows for maximum nutrient uptake (osmotic pressure is influenced by the dissolved solids in the water, like nutrients and sugars). If too much water is used, the yeast will grow only sluggishly. If too little water is used, the cells may burst from the flood of liquid and nutrients forced into them.
Secondly, the temperature range is inflexible. The outer integument of a yeast cell is made up of two layers of fatty acids. These layers soften best in warm water, much as greasy film will come off of dishes best in warm water. Once it has softened up, it will allow the passage of nutrients and waste products in and out of the cell much more efficiently. If the water isn't warm enough, the cell won't soften. If it's too warm, generally anywhere above 52°C (125.6°F) the yeast cell will cook and die.
The next thing you have to worry about is temperature shear. Yeast is terrifically sensitive to environmental conditions. If it goes too quickly from a favourable temperature to a less favourable one, weakened cells may die, and others may go dormant, in an attempt to ride out the temperature shift. This reduces the numbers of live, viable cells available to ferment the must, and gives spoilage organisms a chance to get a foothold, and potentially ruin your wine. So if you are rehydrating your yeast, you'll have to wait as the yeast cools to within two degrees of your must temperature before adding it: accuracy counts!
On the other hand, simply dumping the yeast onto the top of the must should result in lower cell counts. Empirical evidence shows this isn't the case: the yeast appear to know what they're doing. Generally, a five-gram packet of yeast will have less than a six-hour lag phase on an average wine kit. This is perfectly acceptable, and isn't long enough to allow spoilage organisms to get a foothold in your wine. Plus, it's a heck of a lot simpler than going through the rehydrating process, fraught as it is with risks.
Q: What is the best way to handle the yeast?
A: If you look at the instructions in your wine kit (and please, do), they will likely instruct you to sprinkle your packet of yeast directly on to the must. Yet if you read the yeast package (and many winemaking textbooks) they recommend rehydrating the yeast. If the objective is to deliver the maximum number of yeast cells to the must, which technique is best?
It turns out that the answer is not as simple as one or the other, but the main point is that rehydration is not really necessary. You can rehydrate your yeast if you absolutely want to, but be sure to do it accurately and precisely, as explained further below. The rest of us will tear open the package and dump it in, and spend the extra time sampling our last batch!
When performed correctly, rehydrating gives the highest live cell counts, and the quickest, most thorough fermentation. The catch is, it has to be done precisely correctly. Lalvin EC 1118 champagne yeast, for instance, asks you to add the yeast to 10 times its weight in water at 40-43°C (104-109°F).
Breaking it down, the amount of '10 times' is important if you're trying to maximise live cell counts. That's because the yeast is dried on a substrate of nutrients and sugars. At a ratio of 10:1 water/yeast, the osmotic pressure allows for maximum nutrient uptake (osmotic pressure is influenced by the dissolved solids in the water, like nutrients and sugars). If too much water is used, the yeast will grow only sluggishly. If too little water is used, the cells may burst from the flood of liquid and nutrients forced into them.
Secondly, the temperature range is inflexible. The outer integument of a yeast cell is made up of two layers of fatty acids. These layers soften best in warm water, much as greasy film will come off of dishes best in warm water. Once it has softened up, it will allow the passage of nutrients and waste products in and out of the cell much more efficiently. If the water isn't warm enough, the cell won't soften. If it's too warm, generally anywhere above 52°C (125.6°F) the yeast cell will cook and die.
The next thing you have to worry about is temperature shear. Yeast is terrifically sensitive to environmental conditions. If it goes too quickly from a favourable temperature to a less favourable one, weakened cells may die, and others may go dormant, in an attempt to ride out the temperature shift. This reduces the numbers of live, viable cells available to ferment the must, and gives spoilage organisms a chance to get a foothold, and potentially ruin your wine. So if you are rehydrating your yeast, you'll have to wait as the yeast cools to within two degrees of your must temperature before adding it: accuracy counts!
On the other hand, simply dumping the yeast onto the top of the must should result in lower cell counts. Empirical evidence shows this isn't the case: the yeast appear to know what they're doing. Generally, a five-gram packet of yeast will have less than a six-hour lag phase on an average wine kit. This is perfectly acceptable, and isn't long enough to allow spoilage organisms to get a foothold in your wine. Plus, it's a heck of a lot simpler than going through the rehydrating process, fraught as it is with risks.
sladek
Well-Known Member
Always rehydrate your dry yeast! Pitching without hydration will/can result in a lot of dead yeast and possible fermentation problems. 104 degree water add Goferm mix then add yeast to top of mix in a cake pan, do not stir, hydrate for 20 min. add some must/wort to yeast for 20-30 minutes to acclimate the yeast to its new home, then add to your very well aerated wort/must. Mead...after 6-8 hour lag add 1/2 tsp DAP and 1/4 tsp Fermaid K aerate wort. lid/airlock repeat 3 more times every 24 hours over 72 hours (4 additions/72 hours)
GlowWorm821
Member
Never re hydrated. Never had a problem. Sure...it's not exactly a scientific answer, but it's the one I've got.
Porter0220
Member
I've done both, and in both cases my beer fermented fine. I did have 2 batches in a row show no sign of fermentation which was alarming. After taking a hydro reading it turns out it was fine. Got a new fermenting bucket and the problem has been resolved. If you are re racking or bottling in the proper time frames you really shoudn't have anything to worry about.
Suggestion, get a new bucket or move to glass....better seal in a carbouy
Suggestion, get a new bucket or move to glass....better seal in a carbouy
Surveyor06
Member
I havnt been on the board very long, but I have noticed this question pop up pretty often. It seems with all the information out there stating rehydrating yeast is a good thing there are still folks that will argue the point. I've only made 4 batches and have rehydrated all four times. I read How to Brew front to back before starting into home brewing because I wanted to do it right. John Palmer (who seems to know his craft) says its a good thing. We spend a lot of time making wort, wouldn't you want to safe guard it? Its not like rehydrating takes that long, and of all the things we do on brew day, its pretty easy. I do everything possible to ensure my beer turns out well, why not rehydrate. Just my two cents.
I recently decided to really learn the right way to rehydrate. I found this link with expert advice.
http://koehlerbeer.com/2008/06/07/rehydrating-dry-yeast-with-dr-clayton-cone/
Btw, on page 80/81 in the third edition of Charlie Papazian book, the complete joy of homebrewing he describes the process. I than read in the book, Yeast, by white and Jamil that often an expert will advise to just sprinkle yeast on the top of the wort and add more yeast because the beginner might not have down a proper sanitary process. he describes,
1. Warm the dry yeast to room temp
2. In a sanitized container , prepare an amount of sterilized tap water at 105 degrees, f (41c) equal to ten times of the yeast.( 10 ml/gram of yeast)
3. Sprinkle the dry yeast on top of the water. Trying to avoid setting up large dry clumps. Let sit 15 minutes , gently stir.
4. Once the yeast has reconstituted, gently stir once again to form a creme, let sit five more minutes.
5. Carefully and slowly , adjust the temperature of the yeast to within 15 degrees F, (8 c) of the wort temp.
6. Pitch the resultant creme into the fermentation vessel, ideally as soon as possible.
That book goes on with more detail on the why and also discusses using go-ferm, bio available nutrients and about how to avoid yeast mutants and death of the yeast cells. Temperature is stressed as very important. Cold water in yeast rehydration can kill half of your cells.
I hope this helps. If your very curious into the how and why read the yeast book, if you just want to get her done , follow the Papazian book.
I followed the process above and I had to use the blow off tube. In the bottom of the jar of sanitizer containing the blow off tube as a very lovely thick layer of creamy yeast.
http://koehlerbeer.com/2008/06/07/rehydrating-dry-yeast-with-dr-clayton-cone/
Btw, on page 80/81 in the third edition of Charlie Papazian book, the complete joy of homebrewing he describes the process. I than read in the book, Yeast, by white and Jamil that often an expert will advise to just sprinkle yeast on the top of the wort and add more yeast because the beginner might not have down a proper sanitary process. he describes,
1. Warm the dry yeast to room temp
2. In a sanitized container , prepare an amount of sterilized tap water at 105 degrees, f (41c) equal to ten times of the yeast.( 10 ml/gram of yeast)
3. Sprinkle the dry yeast on top of the water. Trying to avoid setting up large dry clumps. Let sit 15 minutes , gently stir.
4. Once the yeast has reconstituted, gently stir once again to form a creme, let sit five more minutes.
5. Carefully and slowly , adjust the temperature of the yeast to within 15 degrees F, (8 c) of the wort temp.
6. Pitch the resultant creme into the fermentation vessel, ideally as soon as possible.
That book goes on with more detail on the why and also discusses using go-ferm, bio available nutrients and about how to avoid yeast mutants and death of the yeast cells. Temperature is stressed as very important. Cold water in yeast rehydration can kill half of your cells.
I hope this helps. If your very curious into the how and why read the yeast book, if you just want to get her done , follow the Papazian book.
I followed the process above and I had to use the blow off tube. In the bottom of the jar of sanitizer containing the blow off tube as a very lovely thick layer of creamy yeast.
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