Dry yeast aeration?

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Tarka

Tarka

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I'm planning on doing my first extract brew this weekend. I'm using an APA kit from the LHBS and it comes with Safale-US05. I've seen in passing somewhere that dry-yeast has been pre-aerated so the wort doesn't need aeration; is this true?

If not I may try the olive-oil-and-pin trick as sloshing a load of wort around seems like a recipe for trouble in a small kitchen :(

Thanks,
Steve
 
I have never heard of pre-aerated yeast.

When using dry yeast re-hydrate, which means putting the yeast into some warm (90 degree F) water and letting it come back to life gradually for 30 minutes before pitching.

I aerate all my wort before pitching though. I think this step is required for good results.
 
But aeration doesn't have to be a chore! You aerate when your pour the cooled wort from the brewpot into the fermenter. You aerate when you stir it with a sanitized spoon. It really doesn't take much for an extract brewer to aerate. If you're adding water to a wort (like if you boil 2 or 3 gallons, and then add water to bring you to 5 gallons), you aerate when you pour in that additional water.

I wouldn't add olive oil or anything to it until you are doing full all grain brewing and find that you need to do that. I don't add any substance to my beer to aerate.
 
An air pump would safe you a lot of work aerating your wort. I am thinking of getting one myself. Shaking 23 litres of wort like crazy is very hard work.
 
Yooper's right, aeration isn't a chore....After you pour and slosh your boiled wort into your top off water you're almost done aerating...Now you have to thoroughly mix the wort with the top off water, so you can get an accurate hydro reading anyway. I use long handled slotted stirrer from my LHBS;

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I "whip" my beer for about 5 minutes, then take my gravity reading and pitch my yeast.

Viola...It's aerated! :D
 
I think you are confusing aeration with a starter. Dry yeast shouldn't be used to make a starter as it has been grown under ideal conditions to maximize energy stores and lipid stores so it is ready to go. You still need aerated wort for it to be pitched into so it can reproduce a few generations before switching over to fermentation.

GT
 
Got Trub? said:
I think you are confusing aeration with a starter. Dry yeast shouldn't be used to make a starter as it has been grown under ideal conditions to maximize energy stores and lipid stores so it is ready to go. You still need aerated wort for it to be pitched into so it can reproduce a few generations before switching over to fermentation.

GT
Click to expand...
I think where I've got the wrong end of the stick is the lipid issue. My understanding is that aerating the wort is necessary as the yeast need the oxygen to generate lipids for budding during the initial growth phase. If, as you say, the dried yeast already has lipids supplied during preparation then the oxygen shouldn't be necessary? This is where the olive-oil comes in, it can supply the lipids so aeration can be skipped, which is desirable for long-term stability. More info here if you haven't already seen it.

Thanks,
Steve
 
s3n8 said:
When using dry yeast re-hydrate, which means putting the yeast into some warm (90 degree F) water and letting it come back to life gradually for 30 minutes before pitching.
Click to expand...
This bit confuses me. I see this a lot, including in John Palmer's book, but the yeast instructions say to pitch directly into the wort?
 
Well, yes, the yeast need lipids, but that is sort of a separate issue from the O2 angle. I know that there is discussion of using olive oil in lieu of aeration in big breweries. Still, the way the yeast (dry yeast that is) is produced, adding a little o2 for homebrewers is the preferred method. Here's some reading on it:
http://www.danstaryeast.com/library/aeration_vs_wort.html
 
YooperBrew said:
Well, yes, the yeast need lipids, but that is sort of a separate issue from the O2 angle. I know that there is discussion of using olive oil in lieu of aeration in big breweries. Still, the way the yeast (dry yeast that is) is produced, adding a little o2 for homebrewers is the preferred method. Here's some reading on it:
http://www.danstaryeast.com/library/aeration_vs_wort.html
Click to expand...

Good link, thanks.
 
Depending on the volume of wort the aerating be quite simple. I made my first batch with the instructions by John Palmer's book. You first boil 2 gallons of water and put that in the fermenter, then you boil 3 gallons with your extract to get your wort. Prior to adding the wort to the fermenter, I shook the heck out of the 2 gallons of water in the fermenter. There is more air in the fermenter at this time than liquid and so you can very easily and quickly aerate the water. Then add your wort in and gently swirl to mix evenly, add your yeast and then swirl again. That should be enough O2. Trying to shake a full carboy/fermenter with 5+ gallons of liquid would not be easy nor that fruitful (since there will be more liquid than air).

HTH
 
YooperBrew said:
But aeration doesn't have to be a chore! You aerate when your pour the cooled wort from the brewpot into the fermenter. You aerate when you stir it with a sanitized spoon. It really doesn't take much for an extract brewer to aerate. If you're adding water to a wort (like if you boil 2 or 3 gallons, and then add water to bring you to 5 gallons), you aerate when you pour in that additional water.
+1 on this. I don't find any reason to aerate. yes, do hydrate your yeast, it'll start a bit faster.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
tranceamerica said:
+1 on this. I don't find any reason to aerate. yes, do hydrate your yeast, it'll start a bit faster.
Click to expand...

Oh, but I DO aerate now. When I went all-grain, I found that shaking, stirring, etc isn't enough anymore. When you're doing partial boils, you can pour/shake, etc. to get some aeration. But since I can't really lift and pour 5.25 gallons, I bought an aquarium aerator, and let that run while I do some cleaning up.

I guess what ever works is what I"m saying!
 

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