No need to aereate?

Brewer's Friend 728
Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
rcrabb22

rcrabb22

Supporting Member
HBT Supporter
Joined
Jun 23, 2008
Messages
716
Reaction score
25
Location
Illinois
I was looking at the FAQ on the Lallemand Yeast Co. (They make Danstar Nottingham, Winsdor, dry yeast) website and they answer an aeration question saying no need to do so. Very interesting answer. Here is the question and their answer:


Q: "I always aerate my wort when using liquid yeast. Do I need to aerate the wort before pitching dry yeast?"

A: "No, there is no need to aerate the wort but it does not harm the yeast either. During its aerobic production, dry yeast accumulates sufficient amounts of unsaturated fatty acids and sterols to produce enough biomass in the first stage of fermentation. The only reason to aerate the wort when using wet yeast is to provide the yeast with oxygen so that it can produce sterols and unsaturated fatty acids which are important parts of the cell membrane and therefore essential for biomass production.

If the slurry from dry yeast fermentation is re-pitched from one batch of beer to another, the wort has to be aerated as with any liquid yeast."
 
Googling Dry yeast aeration I found this on another board.

Dry yeast used to be taboo in the world of homebrewing. Questionable purity and poor viability made switching to liquid yeast an all but mandatory step in the progression of a homebrewer. However, a few yeast suppliers have overcome these problems and are now offering excellent quality dry yeast for homebrewing for a fraction of the cost of comparable liquid strains.

Nottingham dry ale yeast is a very neutral yeast which is perfect for American Pale Ales and IPAs where the hops are the highlights. This yeast starts very quickly, attenuates fully, and flocculates very well. Most of my fermentations have taken between 2-4 days even with moderate gravity worts.

One of the best parts about using dry yeast is that you don't have to make a starter. One 11g packet provides an optimal pitch rate. At the factory the yeast are pumped full of the components they need to finish a regular strength beer. This means no starter and no aeration! You can also re-use this yeast for future batches but you must then make a starter since the yeast have used up their reserves finishing the last batch.

It is important to properly rehydrate the yeast to optimize viable cell count. Between the time that the yeast are first introduced into liquid and the time they are fully rehydrated they cannot regulate what passes through their partially hydrated membranes. If you pitch the dry yeast directly into wort, all the sugars and proteins and everything else rushes into the cell which kills some of the cells. So, make sure to properly rehydrate the yeast according to the instructions to get the most viable cells into your wort.

Some brewers have reported that you can get banana flavors by fermenting at too high a temperature with this yeast so you want to make sure you're under 72F or so.

For 1/3 the cost of a comparable, low yeast flavor profile liquid strain you can purchase one 11 gram packet of Nottingham dry yeast which does not require a starter or aeration to fully ferment your standard gravity ale. That makes sense to me!
Click to expand...

The thing is, since it "doesn't harm it" and we know that proper aeration is necessary for good fermentation...

I'll continue to aerate all my beers, both those with liquid yeast and those pitching dry. My belief is that you can never have too much of a good thing...whether that's in sanitization or aeration, diacytel rests for lagers, or simply patience....if it doesn't hurt it, and doesn't take much to do something like it, then if it has the slightest benefit, it is worth it.
 
Short answer: no
Long answer: no, but you'll get a stronger fermentation if you do.
 
I just recently used a dry yeast where the packet ask me to put in warm water, wait 15 minutes and mix and then pitch. It wont hurt anything will it?
 
FireNightFly said:
I just recently used a dry yeast where the packet ask me to put in warm water, wait 15 minutes and mix and then pitch. It wont hurt anything will it?
Click to expand...

That's called re-hydrating or proofing the yeast...That's a preffered method of handling dry yeast. There are many methods and pohilosophies and ways to do that. Some just pitch it dry, others like me, do a "rehydrate with wort" thing, sprinkle it on the aerated wort, close up the fermenter, leave it alone for 15 to 30 minutes while we clean up, then shake the fermenter lightly to mix the yeast in (this was was one of the recommended methods on Fermentis' website, and I've been doing it that for for several years now and my beers turn out great.)

This is one of those "many ways to skin a kat" deals. They all work.
 
FireNightFly said:
I just recently used a dry yeast where the packet ask me to put in warm water, wait 15 minutes and mix and then pitch. It wont hurt anything will it?
Click to expand...

No, that's rehydrating the yeast and it's recommended.
Damn you Revvy!:D
 
I no longer bother with any extra effort to aerate. However, I do let the wort splash into the fermenter during siphoning/pumping, I slightly overpitch with rehydrated dry yeast, and I control the fermentation temperature as closely as possible. I always wind up with a very clean flavor profile using these techniques.
 

Similar threads

P
Shaken Not Stirred (SNS) Starter Question
Replies
24
Views
2K
rallenhall
rallenhall
mongoose33
Oxygenating Dry Yeast issue
Replies
9
Views
967
Red over White
Red over White
L
Nottingham underattenuation issues
Replies
21
Views
2K
jambop
J
Kristoffer84
S04 (and others) When is it overpitch with negative consequences?
Replies
12
Views
2K
hotbeer
hotbeer
MightyMosin
My yeast notes
Replies
3
Views
2K
MightyMosin
MightyMosin
InkBird 300

Latest posts

Back
Top