Fermentis Yeast

All;

I decided after much soul searching to give SafeAle yeast another go...my last experience with S-04 is still all over parts of my laundry room, when the PM/Extract beer I made krausened all over and eventually blew the top off the fermenter.

I am a little more experienced now...I am starting 11g of dry yeast in 2 qts of LDME, and the yeast is behaving itself in my AG IPA's (so far).

So my question is, since the Fermentis products are supposed to 'work' faster, and I usually let my beers sit in the primary for 10-14 days using Wyeast smacky-packs (started), what would be a good time frame to plan on racking to the secondary?

TIA;

Brother Ben

Well, if you really need/want to rack to secondary, you can do it once fermentation is complete and then give it an extra couple days... so maybe a week. But, for ales, I don't bother with secondary (or "clearing" vessel) anymore. I just keep it in the primary for three weeks and then bottle. A lot of homebrewers are skipping "secondary" these days because, for most ales, it just isn't necessary.

I wouldn't change your fermentation process just because you use dry yeast. 10 to 14 days if a good time frame. To avoid the mess of a blow off just use a blow off tube on every batch and there will be no worries in the future.

Don't use a starter with dry yeast. Simply rehydrate it in some clean, cool water. Dry yeast has a MUCH higher cell count than liquid yeast directly out of the package, and you may actually damage the cell walls by attempting to make a starter (rehydrating in a more dense solution than clean water).

Ben,

Fermintis safale 0-4 requires a 'blow off tube',
a section of 1" tubing, with the other end
going under 'sterile' water.
Safale 56 does not require the 'hose' but will work
with a fermintation lock.
I use a 7 gallon primary however with lots of room in there.
{use a blow off hose}.
A week in the {7 gallon} primary
and a week in the {5 gallon} secondary,
and then to bottles where after 3 days you can drink it,
but after a 1.5-2 months it is real good.
One can speed up this process by racking to secondary after the krousen has fallen. ie. 5 days.


J. Knife

you should not make a starter with fermentis the yeast can use up the metabolic nutrient reserves that the yeast company has put in your yeast cells. Just rehydrate it or just pitch it dry. I have pitched it dry a number of times and have always had excellent results. If you pitch dry just make sure to sprinkle it evenly on the wort then wait at least 30 minutes before aerating.