should i have rehydrated yeast for IPA?

ive never rehydrated yeast before. ive also brewed only low gravity beers (pale ales). after reading some threads i feel maybe i should have tried to rehydrate my yeast, but i want some opinions. OG came out to 1.067 for my IPA. according to mr. maltys pitching calculator i should have pitched 1.2 packs of 11.5g yeast packets. I pitched only 1 11.5g packet. the process i used to aerate the wort was dumping the wort in the primary vigorously, then dumping 2 gallons of bottled water vigorously on top of that, stirring a little, then pitching yeast on top. does this seem ok? i havent had a problem in the past w/ the APA's, but my airlock only bubbled for about 48 hours. as i know the airlock IS NOT a gauge for checking fermentation, most of my past brews went for a longer time bubbling. im also not a fan of opening up my fermenter to take a hydrometer reading due to infection risk or just plain messing with the wort for no reason. so my concerns are- did i aerate enough using that method? and is there enough yeast in there to do the job from just that 1 11.5g packet of yeast? i used US-05 if it makes a difference. and in the future should i look into using the rehydration method? does it really make much of a difference?

Zodiak-

I just used 1 packet of the US-05 for a 1.071 IPA, had vigerous fermentation for about 3 days and now it APPEARS to have slowed down a bit....I'll really know where it's at on Saturday when I transfer and dry hop.....then I am dumping a DC Vanilla Porter onto the 05 yeast cake. Sorry for the rambling....just make sure your final gravity is close to what it should be and that will tell you all you need to know.

Good Luck!

Yes, there is enough yeast to do the job.
Rehydrating is recommended, but not required. I think the issue with not rehydrating, is some of the yeast can die from the shock going into the wort. Going into water gives them a chance to wake up.
A hydrometer reading will take away the worry; I'd do it.

What temp are you fermenting at?
BTW, BYO recently had an article about pitching rates. Basically what they found was your pitching rate had no effect on FG. It did effect total fermentation time and aroma/flavor though.

DCP - not sure if you were asking me or not, but I am fermenting the IPA at 71, then the porter at closer to 67.

dcp27 said:

What temp are you fermenting at?
BTW, BYO recently had an article about pitching rates. Basically what they found was your pitching rate had no effect on FG. It did effect total fermentation time and aroma/flavor though.

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my house fluctuates between 55-75. i got a blanket wrapped around my fermenter though so i dont think temp is a big factor. us-05 seems to keep good under the conditions in my house...

Hydrating the yeast helps prevent them from getting stressed, which in turn lowers the chance of them producing off flavors. Like mentioned above, it's reccomended, but not neccesary.

I like to ferment most dry yeasts at lower temperatures (64-66), as many of them produce more off flavors at higher temps. Nottingham in particular tends to produce a lot of fusels over about 69. Is 71* the ambient temperature, or the temp of the beer? Fermentation produces heat and raises the beer temp by several degrees, so keep that in mind.

sorry durango, i meant zodiak, but good to know your in the right range.

Zodiak - i'd invest in a liquid crystal temperature gauge for your fermenter to make sure its staying steady as larger than 5 degree fluctuations can cause problems. If your temperature is dipping that low its possible your fermentation stalled. try agitating it lightly and warming it up a bit if you haven't reached the correct FG.

dcp27 said:

sorry durango, i meant zodiak, but good to know your in the right range.

Zodiak - i'd invest in a liquid crystal temperature gauge for your fermenter to make sure its staying steady as larger than 5 degree fluctuations can cause problems. If your temperature is dipping that low its possible your fermentation stalled. try agitating it lightly and warming it up a bit if you haven't reached the correct FG.

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it seems if i swirl the bucket around lightly the airlock starts again for a few hours. ive only done this twice and made sure not to shake up the wort. even though my house is fluctuating temp., i think the fermenter is keeping the same due to the thick blanket tightly wrapped around. i will however get myself a liquid crystal temp. gauge for my next batch, thanks..

sounds like you are just getting some trapped CO2. I'd check the FG

dcp27 said:

sounds like you are just getting some trapped CO2. I'd check the FG

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i used vodka instead of water to fill the airlock, this is the first time i did this. does that have any consideration?

zodiak3000 said:

i used vodka instead of water to fill the airlock, this is the first time i did this. does that have any consideration?

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no. lots of people use vodka