First Time Using Dry Yeast

This board has been incredibly helpful so far and I have yet another question to pose. All the beers I've brewed so far have used some sort of Wyeast liquid yeast, but the last time we ordered our beer kits from Northern Brewer, the liquid yeast was almost hot to the touch. We are anxiously waiting to see if the beer turns out weird or strange flavored with baited breath (let the offers to "dispose" of any unwanted beer start!! haha!).

To keep shipping costs to a minimum, we ordered eight kits with dry yeast, but after reading the directions, it almost seems too easy to toss the yeast into some warm water 15 minutes before pitching and you are golden after that. Can anyone share any tips to use with dry yeast? All advice is much appreciated!!

I am new to this too. So, look for some confirmation from others here. I think it is a good idea to add some of the wort to the yeast and water mix a bit at a time to make sure the temps are the same. That way, the yeast won't become shocked when you pour them into the wort. If the temps are already the same, it is probably okay to skip this.

I used dry nottingham for my first batch and did the whole add the yeast to warm water thing, added wort to the mix a bit at a time, and threw them in the wort after 15 min. It was bubbling away in no time and had finished out in about 3 days. It worked great and made some damn fine beer!

Toss is in some warm water for about 15 minutes, give it a stir and pitch. There really isn't any more to it than that. Don't forget to sanitize the cup you are using to rehydrate the yeast.

Don't add anything other than water. Your goal is to gently rehydrate the yeast only, not to feed it or get it reproducing.

I just rehydrated dry yeast like you said, warm water and pitch, first batch I did that with and it turned out pretty good.

I have done it both ways - tossed directly into the wort and also rehydrated. The only thing I noticed is everytime I rehydrated my yest got off to slightly quicker start (6hrs compared to 12hrs).....other than that no problems either way for me.

That is all that you need to do. Dry yeast truly is much easier, but generally speaking it isn't as versatile, or as good. Many use it exclusively though and to great effect.

WorryWort said:

That is all that you need to do. Dry yeast truly is much easier, but generally speaking it isn't as versatile, or as good. Many use it exclusively though and to great effect.

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I disagree with the not as good statement. Certainly there are not as many varieties of dry as there are liquid but I've never found that dry didn't work as well as liquid.

I also disagree with WorryWort. If you have a dry yeast in the style that you want, it will be just as good as the liquids. Obviously there isn't as much variety.

For the most part, I've just followed the instructions on the package when it came to dry yeasts. Some suggest rehydrating, others don't.

craven_morhead said:

I also disagree with WorryWort. If you have a dry yeast in the style that you want, it will be just as good as the liquids. Obviously there isn't as much variety.

For the most part, I've just followed the instructions on the package when it came to dry yeasts. Some suggest rehydrating, others don't.

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Fair enough guys, more accurately I should say that I prefer the results from liquid. That doesn't make it better though. Dry yeast will certainly 'work' as well as liquid, but there's no question the results will be slightly different - whether those differences are good, or bad, is only for the drinker to decide.

I personally would use a Wyeast product over Notty any day, even though it costs 5 times as much! Just my opinion though. Obviously lots of people love Notty.

I think that the biggest issue when using dry yeast is that the results are a bit inconsistent from batch to batch. If you're trying to target a single recipe to be used in a competition, then you'll be better off spending a few extra dollars and buying liquid yeast and using a starter (though White Labs suggests that theirs doesn't need a starter).

I love using dry, though. So easy. HOWEVER, the last batch I did used Nottingham (normally I use Safale 04 or 05). It took 96 hours to start bubbling, and now it's churning like mad! I believe I might have had some from a known bad batch, but I tossed the packet. In BeerAlchemy I will now start logging batch codes from the packets I use.

I've been doing this for a long time and I can count on one hand the times I've used liquid yeast. Not that it's bad, it's just more expensive.

I used Muttons for a long time but now Nottingham is my dry yeast of choice, and I sometimes mix in a packet of Safeale-S? once and awhile. Muttons/Coopers are imo crap dry yeast and Nottingham is the head of the class.

I've always just pitched the dry yeast directly to the wort, and it's always worked, and worked well.

I guess I'm evolving because I just bought a stirplate and plan to use starters from now on, even with dry yeast. Any liquid yeasts I buy will be recultured to make it worth the $$$.