Wyeast liquid yeast

I'm a new inexperienced brewer and thought I would try liquid yeast and see if it is worth double the cost I normally pay for dry yeast. I have to say the way my wort is fermenting is nothing like I have experienced to date and am very impressed. It is early days in the fermentation cycle but early signs look very promising.

Don't forget that if you are sanitary about handling the beer you can get several batches of brew from one yeast purchase. You can either take some excess yeast from the top of the primary contents and add it to a second batch, or carefully pour the sediment from the secondary into a sanitary jar and keep that in the fridge for a couple of weeks.

Or you could just use half of the vial and build a starter from it, saving the other half and getting 2 brews for close to the same price as dry. Or you could wash yeast from the yeast cake... Lots of ways to save with brewing if you are so inclined.

Thanks for the advice guys, I might just give this a try.

Further to my previous post, after 2 days of intense fermentation, it now appears to have stalled at 1.030 (OG was 1.054). I know it's only early days but I'm just paranoid as I am never able to get good FG's. I'm obviously doing something wrong as it is consistently bad.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Reared
Fursey

Four tips to getting consistent fermentations: aerate the wort well at proper pitching temps, pitch enough yeast (see Mr Malty app), use yeast nutrient in every batch, and do your best to control fermentation temps.

Did you aerate? If you didn't aerate and pitched only the wyeast packet without making a starter, your yeast had a difficult time reproducing. You need enough healthy yeast cells to finish the job. Having some yeast nutrient helps keep them healthy as well (I use the Wyeast vials, maybe 1/2 tsp per 5 gallons).

BTW, I really only use liquid yeast. I used notty the first batch, but actually save money by using liquid. I have a yeast bank of 5 or 6 strains and simply make starters to save on costs.

I let the wyeast packet expand for several hours like it said on the instructions. Should I actually make a yeast starter from it rather thank pitch the swollen packet?

Should I pitch some yeast nutrient now or is it too late?

Thanks for the advice.

Some controversy here on whether a WYeast Smack Pack is enough yeast for a 5 gallon batch. I'd say for low gravity beers (< 1.045) like wheats, bitters, cream ales, etc it is. For moderate gravity beers (1.045-1.055), I think you will get some additional esters, but should not have problems with getting a complete ferment. For beers over 1.060 you are certainly in starter territory. I make starters for most beers that are 1.045 and above. Just a habit I guess.

I wouldn't worry about yeast nutrient for this batch. Add it with 10 minutes left in the boil on your next batch. I also would not worry much on your current batch. Just keep it in the middle of the fermentation temp range and see if it continues to plug away. If it stalls with no drop in gravity, you can gently rouse the yeast back into suspension to see if it gets going again.

fursey said:

I let the wyeast packet expand for several hours like it said on the instructions. Should I actually make a yeast starter from it rather thank pitch the swollen packet?

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For virtually all beers over 1.04 OG a starter is recommended (even tho the pack says 1.06)

fursey said:

Should I pitch some yeast nutrient now or is it too late?

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The only yeast nutrient I've ever used ( and I use it every brew ) goes in the boil @ 15 min remaining

fursey said:

Thanks for the advice.

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see above

You definitely need to make a starter for all normal-gravity brews. If this is a problem use dry yeast then repitch your slurry.

Get into the habit of using a pitching rate calculator, like yeastcalc.com or mrmalty.com

Fermentation is everything. If you don't pitch enough yeast, you'll never make good beer.

fursey said:

Should I actually make a yeast starter from it rather thank pitch the swollen packet?

Should I pitch some yeast nutrient now or is it too late?

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you want to both swell the pack and make a starter, at least for any beer over 1.050. the swelling only proves that the cells are alive in there, it doesn't get them to reproduce - hence the need for a starter. as others have mentioned, use the calculator on mrmalty.com to figure out how big a starter to make. i find that yeastcalc.com to be very useful too, if only for its "how much DME for a starter" calculator on the left-hand side.

it's probably too late for the nutrient, since the yeast need it most during reproduction. can't hurt, either, as long as you sanitize it (boil it for 5 minutes).

Also, just because the most active signs of fermentation have ceased, it doesn't necessarily mean that ALL fermentaiton has ceased. Chances are good that 2-3 days isn't enough for your beer to reach FG. Give it another week and check again, and I'm pretty sure you'll find it's gotten well below 1.030.

Also - if you've gotten a run of beers not reaching FG: What are you using to measure FG?
- If you're using a refractometer, make sure you're correcting for alcohol content!
- If you're using a hydrometer, check it for accuracy with some water - it should measure 60F water at 1.000. It's possible that you have a hydrometer that reads high (mine reads .002 high, for instance).

logdrum said:

For virtually all beers over 1.04 OG a starter is recommended (even tho the pack says 1.06)

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Actually, if you're using appropriate ale pitching rates, in a five gal batch, anything over ~1.028 would require more yeast than even the freshest pack of Wy can provide. ~1.04 is a good cut off for "when to make a starter" if you're not going to make one for every batch. Personally, I make a starter for everything using liquid, regardless of gravity. No reason not to, and it makes me feel better, plus it's fun.

stratslinger said:

- If you're using a hydrometer, check it for accuracy with some water - it should measure 60F water at 1.000.

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Minor-ish point. Should be distilled or DI water (RO water should work too, I suppose; close enough but not technically correct). A mineral rich water will have a significantly higher SG. Not sure how much error could be induced, but if you're calibrating you obviously want to do it right, and every bit of error counts.

Somebody correct me if I'm off base here.

Thanks for all the advice guys. Just thought I'd bring this post to a close.

I went to my local brew shop for advice as it's a problem I seem to constantly have and just wanted to explore every avenue to find out if it was something fundamentally wrong with my brewing.

He suggested my brewing temperature was too low and I should therefore increase it. I came home and wrapped my brew up a little bit (its winter here in Oz) and sure enough, over the next couple of days the SG continued to fall and I'm just waiting for the readings to stabalise.

fursey said:

He suggested my brewing temperature was too low and I should therefore increase it.

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That all depends on the beer, the yeast, and the flavour profile you are trying to achieve. Warmer temperatures will normally ensure more vigorous fermentation, but you might not be happy with the resulting flavour profile.

My general practise is to pitch enough yeast to allow the strain to work in the bottom third of its temperature range. Usually (but not always, for example US-05 is an exception) this results in a cleaner beer than fermenting warmer. If you underpitch, then you can compensate with a higher temperature, but this is not a good habit to get into.

osagedr said:

That all depends on the beer, the yeast, and the flavour profile you are trying to achieve. Warmer temperatures will normally ensure more vigorous fermentation, but you might not be happy with the resulting flavour profile.

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Yes, what has been missing in this discussion is any info from the OP on the pertinent details such as beer type, yeast strain, fermenting temps. No way to make an accurate judgment without that info.