Dry yeast. Should I rehydrate?

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ktheavner

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Been awhile since brewing. Picked up a kit at store while out of town and going to get back into it. I have always used liquid yeast. Instruction say to just sprinkle on top but should I rehydrate it instead? American Cream Ale
 
I would advise it. I've done brews without rehydrating before but it's my preferred method.
 
Most folks around here will say yes. I have rehydrated as well as not. Rehydration gives the little yeasties a better start. Search for Bobby_M's video on the subject. It's got some pretty compelling visual evidence.
 
Half your yeast die right off the bat if you don't hydrate properly and just sprinkle it on the wort. Since you have time while cooling (1/2 hour)... why not start off w/twice as much yeast in your wort and let them be a tad bit happier.......
 
Half your yeast die right off the bat if you don't hydrate properly and just sprinkle it on the wort.

I call BS on this statement.

It's patently absured. It's just something you've "heard," right? How do they do it? Do their chutes not open? Do they drown? Or do they just commit hari kari because we dissed them by not sprinkling? And who takes the dogtags and determines that it's 50% of them that don't make it, and not 37%, or 10%*facepalm*

In fact fermentis yeasts on their website, actually say that their yeast can be sprinkled or even rehydrated on wort (including the surface of the beer) there are lots threads discussing this, as I mentioned above. It's one of those debates like aluminum vs stainless, or Ag vs extract where it may not truly. There was a recent discussion about that here, https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/two-packs-safale-us-05-vs-rehydrating-198654/#post2318350

Here is some of that discussion;

I agree with ya Bob, but I tend to be a "directions" type of guy and at least US-05 says to sprinkle into wort.

If I do that, I have one less thing to clean up later ;)

Revvy said:
I agree. That's what I've been doing for years, since I read THAT on the fermentis website in their "tips and tricks" section years ago and I've been doing it ever since. I sprinkle on the surface of the fermenter seal up my fermenter, let it sit on the surface for 15-30 minutes while I begin clean up and then I move it into my brew closet. And since 90% of what I brew is with safale 05, and I get great scores and comments on beers, I'm not going to stop doing it that way. Some will, of course, argue differently, but I maintain that that is "rehydrating with wort" only not is a separate container. If you can rehydrate it in a small container of "sterile wort" then you can do it in a 5 gallon container of wort as well.

It's weird how they say different things in different places. Huh.

Anyway.

Bob

revvy said:
And that's why I think the argument is silly because the differences in doing it an not are probably insignificant, at least on the homebrew scale.

But this is what it says in the current version of the tips.

Water or Wort?
Fermentis yeast can be rehydrated with sterile water or sterile wort.
Whatever media is chosen it is compulsory to assure its sterility.
After the wort has been boiled for at least 15 minutes collect the volume
required for rehydration and leave to cool to the required temperature.
Rehydrate the yeast for 30 minutes.

I'm just not doing it in a smaller container.

And even on this pdf. It says sprinkling http://www.fermentis.com/FO/pdf/HB/EN/Safale_US-05_HB.pdf

Re-hydrate the dry yeast into yeast cream in a stirred vessel prior to pitching. Sprinkle the dry yeast in 10 times its own weight of sterile water or wort at 27C ± 3C (80F ± 6F). Once the expected weight of dry yeast is reconstituted into cream by this method (this takes about 15 to 30 minutes), maintain a gentle stirring for another 30 minutes. Then pitch the resultant cream into the fermentation vessel.
Alternatively, pitch dry yeast directly in the fermentation vessel providing the temperature of the wort is above 20C (68F). Progressively sprinkle the dry yeast into the wort ensuring the yeast covers all the surface of wort available in order to avoid clumps. Leave for 30 minutes and then mix the wort e.g. using aeration.

Fermentis wouldn't suggest what they suggest if dry yeast spontaenously just committed suicide because we didn't rehydrate. :rolleyes:

Like I said this is one of those debates that just goes on and on, and really doesn't mean a hill of beans. More than likely this practice of rehydrating simply migrated over from bread making, where it is called "proofing" and it just became "canon" to someone without any real thought to the why's and whatfors. The yeast still manages to make beer whether you sprinkle it or rehydrating it.

I'm sure the yeast don't care either way what we do to it in this situation. They're going to get plenty "rehydrated" while the float around on top of the beer.

ktheavner, ultimately like everything else in brewing you will find there are many "best ways" to do things, and they all work- the best ways, are ultimately simply what works best for us. You can ask 10 homebrewers the same question and get 12 different answers and all will be the right one.

You'll have to decide what's best for you. But for god sakes don't listen to those "rote" things that just get repeated over and over and make little or no sense, like spotanaeous yeast suicide.....that's plain silly.
 
I call BS on this statement.

It's patently absured. It's just something you've "heard," right? How do they do it? Do their chutes not open? Do they drown? Or do they just commit hari kari because we dissed them by not sprinkling? And who takes the dogtags and determines that it's 50% of them that don't make it, and not 37%, or 10%*facepalm*

In fact fermentis yeasts on their website, actually say that their yeast can be sprinkled or even rehydrated on wort (including the surface of the beer) there are lots threads discussing this, as I mentioned above. It's one of those debates like aluminum vs stainless, or Ag vs extract where it may not truly. There was a recent discussion about that here, https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/two-packs-safale-us-05-vs-rehydrating-198654/#post2318350

Here is some of that discussion;



Fermentis wouldn't suggest what they suggest if dry yeast spontaenously just committed suicide because we didn't rehydrate. :rolleyes:

but... THINK OF THE CHILDREN :D
 
yes rehydrate. the potential upside is twice the yeast cell count, the potential downside is introduction of bugs if your hydration process is unsanitary. (Chris White and Jamil Zainasheff, Yeast 146-148)
 
Fermentis wouldn't suggest what they suggest if dry yeast spontaenously just committed suicide because we didn't rehydrate. :rolleyes:

Sure they would. Just put more yeast in the pouch. It makes it easier for the ultra beginner or I-will-only-brew-beer-if-it-has-two-steps brewer. Many (less these days) packs of dry yeast end up taped to the top of cans of LME in kit-and-kilo beer kits. People that make these kits don't want the extra steps, and the manufacturer doubts that if they included these extra 5 steps people do it right if at all.

From Yeast by White and Zainasheff:
Skipping rehydration kills about half the cells pitched. .... Why would anyone recommend skipping rehydration? For the same reason you would avoid making a starter: Your process is either unsanitary or damaging to the yeast health.
This is not just speculation. This is based on actual experiments where yeast was rehydrated and counted. That's right, with a microscope.

Later, talking about what to rehydrate in...
Ideally, the mineral content should range from 250 to 500 parts per million hardness. During the first moments of rehydration, the cell cannot regulate what passes through the membrane. High levels of sugars, nutrients, hop acids, or other compounds can enter freely and damage the cells. This is why adding dry yeast directly to the wort results in such a high percentage of dead and damaged cells.

So how can this be? All the people Revvy quoted above didn't rehydrate their yeast and their "beer came out fine." So maybe the debate should not be about whether or not skipping rehydration kills yeast, but rather, what constitutes a "fine" beer.

So for me, if I can do or recommend something that is so simple and costs next to nothing and stacks the cards in my favor of making great beer, this is what I am going to do and recommend.

(Aside: this is essentially the same "debate" as making a starter. The tube/pack says "pitch 1 tube" yet everyone here knows that make a proper starter to grow the cells to the proper number of yeast is going to result in a healthier fermentation and potentially a better beer.)
 
i've noticed shorter lag times if i didn't rehydrate (in a separate container). of course maybe this is for other reasons, but on several occasions i had the same result.
 
I am by no means a pro brewer or have a PHD in yeastology so you can take this for what you want. I have just tossed in dry and have had good luck and I have rehydrated with good luck as well. Now the way I have rehydrated probably differs from anyone elses method since I have searched and searched and not seen anyone really talk about this. I do 5 gallon extract batches boiling 3 gallons and mixing the other 2 gallons in the fermenter. A few minutes before I stop the boil I pour in 1 gallon of my bottled water into the fermenter and then toss my dry yeast in with it. I let it sit for about 15 or so minutes while my chiller is doing its job. After it has sat for about 15 minutes I swirl around the yeast water mixing it all up. When my wort is chilled and before I pour it in the fermenter I swirl really good again. Pour in my wort swirl again and add the last gallon and swirl again. So far I have had really good ferments doing this and have even had a major blow off. Works for my lazy self so far. Just did a batch last night doing this method and it was doing the bubble dance like mad when I woke up this morning.
 
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