Rehydrating yeast

Should I rehydrate my yeast before adding yeast? How do I rehydrate my yeast for an ale?

One cup of water around 80-90 degrees, mix in the dry yeast, stir it up a little, let it sit for ~20 minutes then pitch. It's never failed me. My hot tap water typically comes out around the perfect temp if it's not scorching.

Check the web site for the spec sheet for the yeast you are using for the temperature. Different yeast have different temperatures.

This is per the Lellamand / Danstar website:

Pitching Rate: 1g/L

Step 1.
Sprinkle the yeast on the surface of ten (10) times its weight of clean, sterilized (boiled) tap water at 30 - 35°C (86° - 95°F)
DO NOT STIR !!!
Leave undisturbed for 15 minutes at 30 - 35°C (86° - 95°F)
Foam or no foam is not an indication of vitality


Step 2.
After 15 minutes stir until all yeast is suspended
Leave undisturbed for another 5 minutes.
Adjust temperature of solution to that of the wort in 10°C (18°F) steps, by adding small amounts
of wort at 5 minutes intervals and mixing gently (ATTEMPERATION)


Step 3.
After attemperation inoculate without delay.
Aeration of wort is not necessary.

Right, but if you look up SafAle it is 10 degrees cooler, and SafLager is 10 degrees cooler than that.

Put 2 cups boiled, room temperature water in a quart zip-loc bag. Add the yeast. Seal the bag removing as much air as possible. Let it sit for 10 minutes. Squish the bag until well mixed. Pitch after 30 minutes...

signmastr said:

Put 2 cups boiled, room temperature water in a quart zip-loc bag. Add the yeast. Seal the bag removing as much air as possible. Let it sit for 10 minutes. Squish the bag until well mixed. Pitch after 30 minutes...

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Thats about 4 times as much water as recommended. 10x the weight of a standard 11.5g packet is 115ml, about 1/2 a cup

signmastr said:

Put 2 cups boiled, room temperature water in a quart zip-loc bag. Add the yeast. Seal the bag removing as much air as possible. Let it sit for 10 minutes. Squish the bag until well mixed. Pitch after 30 minutes...

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That is way too much work. Why boil it? Why squeeze the air out of the bag?
Yeast need oxygen.

aielloc said:

Should I rehydrate my yeast before adding yeast? How do I rehydrate my yeast for an ale?

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It isn't necessary to rehydrate before pitching. If I'm using a dry yeast for a brew, wine or mead I just slowly pour the packet through the neck of the carboy.

Wine kits instructions, if I ever read them, say to just sprinkle the yeast on top like I've been doing for years.

I haven't rehydrated yeast in years and always get fast starts. 4-8 hour starts.

I never rehydrate dry yeast before pitching. Why bother?- It's gonna rehydrate in the wort anyway, and the wort is already yeast food (obviously) that's already at pitching temp (obviously). I see no need to use an extra process that may introduce another possible source of infection or temperature shock. Although it's hard to say exactly when my ferm "starts," I always have good airlock activity by the next morning.

Having said that, let me make clear that I'll make no claims to my way being "right" or better than any other way- it's just the way I do it, and I want to stand together with my fellow "dry-pitchers" to let you know that there are plenty of us who don't rehydrate.

However you choose to pitch, your beer will be good.

HeadyKilowatt said:

I never rehydrate dry yeast before pitching. Why bother?- It's gonna rehydrate in the wort anyway, and the wort is already yeast food (obviously) that's already at pitching temp (obviously). I see no need to use an extra process that may introduce another possible source of infection or temperature shock. Although it's hard to say exactly when my ferm "starts," I always have good airlock activity by the next morning.

Having said that, let me make clear that I'll make no claims to my way being "right" or better than any other way- it's just the way I do it, and I want to stand together with my fellow "dry-pitchers" to let you know that there are plenty of us who don't rehydrate.

However you choose to pitch, your beer will be good.

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+1 I have been just pitching dry yeast in my wort and sticking it in my fermentation chamber. Even when i pitch at 80.....i think that gives it a nice warm place till my chamber brings it down.

I'll stick to the manufactures recommendations considering they're the experts.

I won't pretend to be know more than the scientists that work with it every day.

That being said, the Brewing Radio experiment on this exact topic showed no real conclusive difference in the outcome.

I guess Papa was right all along!

Bull

here's the best article on reason's why you should hydrate:

http://koehlerbeer.com/2008/06/07/rehydrating-dry-yeast-with-dr-clayton-cone/

everyone is going to do what they think best but when the professionals and yeast companies make the suggestion, the extra 30-45min of work is well worth the healthy cells to me

Why not just throw half the pack down the sink? It will probably still ferment and then you guys will have a new anecdote.

If over the years I noticed ANY benefit to rehydrating in beer/mead/wine I'd do it.
faster starts, cleaner ferments, better clearing , reduction in off-flavors, anything, I'd do it. I don't see it, ever.
I have a 1.100 pumpkin brew krausening right now(crawling up the blow off tube) that's 18 hours old on a dry pitch of S-05. not even stirred in, just dumped in the carboy before placing the hose.

amandabab said:

If over the years I noticed ANY benefit to rehydrating in beer/mead/wine I'd do it.
faster starts, cleaner ferments, better clearing , reduction in off-flavors, anything, I'd do it. I don't see it, ever.
I have a 1.100 pumpkin brew krausening right now(crawling up the blow off tube) that's 18 hours old on a dry pitch of S-05. not even stirred in, just dumped in the carboy before placing the hose.

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So do you have a second batch next to it with rehydrated yeast so you can compare the two?

I've always rehydrated because somewhere along the line, here or in another article or something that laid out the science, I was convinced that it was the proper way to prepare the yeast. I use water at 95F because it allows the yeast to come to without taking on any unregulated solutes. I sprinkle the room- temperature yeast in and leave it for 15 minutes, then swirl it up and wait up to 15 minutes more before pitching. Never had a problem. It doesn't take any extra time because I just do it while I'm either near the end of the boil or while I'm cooling the wort.

Not everybody brews like it's a scientific process, but I do because I'm a nerd and it makes it fun.

SilverZero said:

So do you have a second batch next to it with rehydrated yeast so you can compare the two?

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not now, but in the past yes.

Check this out on Basic Brewing;
July 28, 2011 - BYO-BBR Yeast Rehydration Experiment.

Go ahead and do a side by side using the same wort. You will absolutely find the rehydrated sample will start faster. You are starting with more viable cells.

Bobby_M said:

Why not just throw half the pack down the sink? It will probably still ferment and then you guys will have a new anecdote.

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They're already doing that! Oh, wait, perhaps if you look at the pint half full, they're adding the active yeast's weight in yeast nutrient (dead cells)...

Bobby_M said:

Go ahead and do a side by side using the same wort. You will absolutely find the rehydrated sample will start faster.

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as I've said before, done many side by side tests dry vs rehydrated.
It may just be that the two brands (many strains)of yeast I use are just as viable dry. Fermentis and Lalvin.