3rd brew day.

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cheesehed007

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Just fished my 3rd brew day. I made a NB White House Honey Ale. All went well. I held back 1/2 of the LME till 10 min left in the boil. All went well till it came time to pitch the yeast. I used Danstar Windsor pack. It's my 1st time rehydrating yeast. I boiled the 4 oz of water like it said, turned off heat, poured in packet, let it sit 15 min. Stired the mixture after the 15. I pitched kinda cool, tape thermometer said 56 when I pitched. Thanks to all for the help! Brew days get less and less stressful every time thanks to of you! Cheers!

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Like already said you let the boiling water cool down before you rehydrated the yeast correct? If not you prob killed the yeast and need to repitch. I usually cool mine down to 85-90 F before i put yeast in to rehydrate.
 
Sorry, yes water cooled before adding yeast, hopefully cooled enough. I have to say the instructions from Danstar are pretty cryptic, even on the web site.
 
brewkinger said:
I pitched dry yeast (Nottingham) on my first ever batch and had no problems. I would imagine that Windsor would not vary much.

Rehydrated is better, but not mandatory.

Thanks, my 1st 2 batches I pitched dry.
 
Supposedly pitching the dry yeast directly into the wort will result in 50% mortality of the yeast whereas rehydrating the yeast will leave you with almost no mortality. With that said, I've done both and can't tell the difference in my finished beer. I still do a mix of both ways.
 
So, no action yet this morning when I checked the fermentor. I pitched the yeast a 3pm yesterday. How long do I let it sit before I repitch more yeast? My LHBS doesn't open till tomorrow (Tuesday) so I can't get more yeast till then. Is it ok to sit till then? Temp said 60 on the carboy this morning when I checked.
 
It can take as long as 72 hours to show visible signs, but it may also never show signs (like if your bucket lid leaks). You could pop it open to check for krausen though.
 
I have a glass carboy, so I can see what's happening. Hopefully it'll be bubbling when I get home. But I'll stop by LHBS to pick up some yeast tomorrow. Thanks for the help!
 
I have a glass carboy, so I can see what's happening. Hopefully it'll be bubbling when I get home. But I'll stop by LHBS to pick up some yeast tomorrow. Thanks for the help!

It's a good idea to pick up some more yeast. Then while you are waiting for the first brew to get going you can make another. They really rarely fail to take off but sometimes the wait can seem interminable.

Here is a good explanation of what is going on in your carboy and why you need to wait. http://www.brewgeeks.com/the-life-cycle-of-yeast.html
 
dstranger99 said:
I rehydrate between 90-100 degress, let it sit for 15 minutes, swirl & pour it in.......

I did just as you say, the only thing is I'm not positive on is the temp.... Oh we'll, give me a good reason to go shopping for more "stuff". Thanks!
 
Ideal yeast re-hydration temp is 95-105 F...so if you were in that range, it should be good.
 
I did just as you say, the only thing is I'm not positive on is the temp.... Oh we'll, give me a good reason to go shopping for more "stuff". Thanks!

lol...That's the most important thing, I use a digital thermometer, next time use one of those, got mine for $10 @ Walmart.
 
Just got home and checked the carboy. No action happening and no krousen. :-( temp says 64. Looks like I'm yeast shopping tomorrow. Major league bummed! Think I need a beer.
 
^

If you just did this batch yesterday 2/10. This can be perfectly normal.....I brewed yesterday as well, and mine isn't showing signs yet either, but by tomorrow (or tonight) the airlock is gonna bubble.........
 
Picked up some more yeast (and another beer kit) so now my question is. Do I re-aerate the wort after sitting for 2+days? What are the pro's and cons of doing so?
 
Picked up some more yeast (and another beer kit) so now my question is. Do I re-aerate the wort after sitting for 2+days? What are the pro's and cons of doing so?

The yeast producers claim that you don't even need to aerate the wort when you use dry yeast because it contains all it needs to ferment your batch. At this point I would venture a guess that aerating it wouldn't help and might do more harm than just leaving it.

When are you starting the next batch?
 
RM-MN said:
The yeast producers claim that you don't even need to aerate the wort when you use dry yeast because it contains all it needs to ferment your batch. At this point I would venture a guess that aerating it wouldn't help and might do more harm than just leaving it.

When are you starting the next batch?

Hopefully this weekend.
 
So I repitched yesterday (2/12) at about 5:30pm. Just checked it this morning at 6am. Nothing happening, not even a hint of krousen. So my next question. What do I do if this doesn't take off? How long can I safely wait? i know it can take some time for fermentation to start. Can I pitch for a 3rd time? I'll check it tonight when I get home from work. Hoping to see a little action going on.... Cheers!
 
How did you re-pitch? Did you just sprinkle it onto the wort? It's unlikely that the yeast is dead, I'd just give it more time. If you did re-hydrate, did you make sure the water was below 105 before putting the yeast in? What kind of yeast did you pitch?
 
gcdowd said:
How did you re-pitch? Did you just sprinkle it onto the wort? It's unlikely that the yeast is dead, I'd just give it more time. If you did re-hydrate, did you make sure the water was below 105 before putting the yeast in? What kind of yeast did you pitch?

Yes re-hydrated, yes water was at 90 deg. Pitched the same as original, Windsor. I'm sure I'm just a nervous nelly noob. Temp on the carboy says 64-66. Room temp at about 68. Hopefully I'll see bubbling when I get home from work. This whole beer making thing is like your first real girl friend... You want to be with them all the time, and when you're not. You want to know what they're doing every second... And in the end all you're really hoping for is some good head... :-0
 
Yes re-hydrated, yes water was at 90 deg. Pitched the same as original, Windsor. I'm sure I'm just a nervous nelly noob. Temp on the carboy says 64-66. Room temp at about 68. Hopefully I'll see bubbling when I get home from work. This whole beer making thing is like your first real girl friend... You want to be with them all the time, and when you're not. You want to know what they're doing every second... And in the end all you're really hoping for is some good head... :-0

Haha great analogy. I'm sure it'll be fine. Have you taken any gravity readings?
 
gcdowd said:
Haha great analogy. I'm sure it'll be fine. Have you taken any gravity readings?

Yes, OG was 1.060 with temp correction I think the recipe said OG should 1.062? I'll have to look when I get home. Thanks for all the help. Cheers
 

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