Shake after adding yeast or just sprinkle on top?

Do you aerate and then add yeast by just sprinkling on top or do you aerate/shake a little more to get it in suspension?

I shake the bajeebers out of it after pitching to the wort. It aerates the wort as well (a good thing). You really should consider re-hydrating your dry yeast before pitching - it makes a very noticable difference in how the yeast reacts.

Dan

You definitely want to shake/mix up your beer after pitching dried yeast. Like DD2000GT mention it aerates the beer which is a good thing. Yeast reproduction is an aerobic process which requires plenty of oxygen.

Some of the more experienced brewers use an oxygen pump to inject oxygen directly into their beer but I just use a whisk and whip it, whip it good.

I rehydrate dry yeast, shake the carboy, and then pitch. It usually dissipates pretty quick after pouring in the rehydrated yeast. Then the walk down the stairs to the fermenting basement with the bucket or carboy stirs it up the rest of the way.

I've read that when dehydrated, the yeast’s cell membrane is highly permeable; it allows just about anything to pass through. If you just toss your dry yeast into the wort, you will get all sorts of simple sugars inside the yeast. This will effectively kill off a large number of your hapless yeast.

Rehydrating yeast in boiled water that has been allowed to cool to about 70-80 degrees will allow the cell membranes to “puff out” and regain their ability to act as a chemical filter. Taking some extra time will increase your pitch rate and give your beer a head start.

Makes sense to me.

Shake then sprinkle. Aerating your wort is necessary for the yeast. Aerating after you pitch leaves viable yeast stuck to the walls and lid of your firmentor and not in your wort. Read your yeast packet for re-hydrating. Many of the dry yeasts out now don't require it due to the increased number of cells in the packet.

Good luck

That's strange- the one thing I never do if I use dry yeast if it's not rehydrated is stir. Now, dry yeast SHOULD be rehydated before using. I know some instructions say you can just sprinkle (and you can), but for the best yeast health, it should be rehydrated.

I DO aerate my wort very well, with a splashing into the fermenter, sometimes straining the wort of using a ton of hops, and then running an aquarium pump. But once that yeast touches wort, it is not stirred or shaken. The reason is this- the yeast has to rehydrate itself gradually by allowing the yeast, through osmosis, begin to acclimate to the wort.

From John Palmer's how to brew.com: Re-hydration of yeast in plain water is strongly recommended because of the principles of osmosis. In a wort with a high concentration of dissolved sugar, the water that the yeast needs cannot be drawn across the cell membrane to wet it. The water is instead locked up in the wort, hydrating the sugars. A friend of mine, who insists on remaining nameless, was misled by the term, "pitching", and for his first batch attempted to forcibly throw each granule of dried yeast into the wort so that it would be wetted. That batch didn't turn out very well.

Rehydrating is really easy and it greatly increases the percentage of viable yeast cells you get out of a packet of dried yeast. I just don't see much reason not to do it.

And like others, I would also say to aerate before pitching. But, if I pitched and realized I had forgotten to aerate, I'd go ahead and aerate it anyway.

I always shake the carboy (well, better bottle) thoroughly BEFORE pitching any yeast...unless I forget, in which case I do it after.

If you do rehydrate dry yeast, it's absolutely critical to do so at the correct temperature, within a surprisingly narrow range. According to this article, rehydrating at a low temp can destroy up to 60% of the cells.

Rehydrating Dry Yeast with Dr. Clayton Cone

It's simple if you rehydrate you can pour then shake or shake then pour... which ever suits your fancy!

Schlante,
Phillip

YooperBrew said:

for his first batch attempted to forcibly throw each granule of dried yeast into the wort so that it would be wetted.

Click to expand...

That's funny right there.

I rehydrate dry yeast for about 15 minutes, then pour and stir a bit (I use buckets). My wort is already aerated when I pitch. I definitely notice less lag time with rehydrating than with pitching dry.

Well, just to throw an alternate opinion out there, I do not shake nor do I rehydrate dry yeast.

The aeration process I use aerates the wort on it's way to the fermenter. By the time it is there, it is properly aerated. When the wort is in the fermenter I sprinkle my dry yeast on top. My fermentations always take off in <4 hours and a normal size beer will ferment completely in <4 days.

Just sayin.

Hmmm....I was using the Safbrew WB-06 yeast in my wheat beer.

The packet didn't say anything about rehydrating the yeast. Should I rehydrate it anyway?

If not, just spinkle on top and don't stir?

Ive made 3 batches. 1st 2 w/ muntons which say to rehydrate..so I did. 3rd batch w/ US-05 ..directions said to sprinkle dry...so I did. Rehydrating seems like the common sense thing to do...but I think the best bet is to follow the yeast directions. Plus I can be a bit sanitation paranoid (& pessimistic)...so i kinda see rehydrating as a chance for infection & something to wrong.

Also, I aerate & then pitch....not vice versa.

Watch out when shaking a carboy!!!

I think Yooper has an excellent point!