Dry yeast or not Dry yeast that is the question!

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Why shouldn't we rehydrate in distilled water? Not that I have but I'm curious. Do the yeasties need the various ions found in common tap water to be happy?
 
Sprinkle the dry yeast in 10 times its own weight of sterile water or wort at 27C ± 3C.

That's really the key to proper hydration...the correct volume and temperature of the water. If you can't (or won't) get those two things correct, you're probably better off pitching dry.

Personally, I pitch dry onto smallish beers, and and carefully rehydrate for bigger ales and all lagers.
 
dry is for those too cheap to buy liquid. with a liquid, you can make the same recipe two or three times and pitch different yeast each time and have three different end results. btw... if you do decide to do dry... DON'T REHYDRATE! just pour it into your fermenter. it knows what to do. I work at a brew supply shop and way too many people end up killing their yeast when they rehydrate it.

Too cheap...?
Same recipe and you want three different results..?
Don't rehydrate...?
Killing yeast by rehydrating it (what exactly happens when you dump yeast into liquid wort?)
Stocking shelves at the grocery store doesn't make you a chef.

On so many levels you have just joined that group of kids on the other side of the school gymnasium that nobody is going to choose for their dodge-ball team.

Usually people work their way over there gradually, but you managed to accomplish this in one fell swoop.
 
Too cheap...?
Same recipe and you want three different results..?
Don't rehydrate...?
Killing yeast by rehydrating it (what exactly happens when you dump yeast into liquid wort?)
Stocking shelves at the grocery store doesn't make you a chef.

On so many levels you have just joined that group of kids on the other side of the school gymnasium that nobody is going to choose for their dodge-ball team.

Usually people work their way over there gradually, but you managed to accomplish this in one fell swoop.

This made me chuckle . . . thanks! :p
 
I just wonder if yoops gonna delete the big b's comment from this thread, like evidently she chose to do with all the others that called him on his "stuff."

:D

When I see deleted posts (like the ones above) I have to admit I am overcome with curiosity about what they said . . . kinda like when someone is whispering a secret to someone else - I just gotta know!!!
 
Honestly it really wasn't anything too exciting...that's why I can't figure out why yoop deleted all of it...including her post..which really wasn't anything stronget than what BM just posted...and the rest of us just laughed....

oh well!!!
 
I have always used dry yeasts, I only do Ales - Stouts, Porters, IPA's, Wheats and Pales - the only two times I ever used liquid yeast was a couple of tubes from the LHBS when I was living down in Tennessee, and by the time I got them home, (an hour drive), they were both dead .... I had to use some dry US-05 in one and S-04 in the other to save the two different batches (which ended out fine!). I do rehydrate, although years ago I just 'sprinkled' but had slow starts and low fermentation results. With rehydration, I've noticed I have quick starts and some blowouts, so I use a tube in a quart of water for the first couple of days, rather than the air lock. YMMV! Whenever I go back home to Montana, I continue to use dry yeasts exclusively - US-05, Nottingham, Windsor, and S-04, although I would like to find out if there is a company that makes a good German/Bavarian dry yeast (Mangrove Jack maybe? I've never found it locally so I don't know if they have it ....). My Wheat beers need a bit of a German character AFAIAC ;>).

I guess you can classify me as a cheapo if you want, becuz after paying $14 for those two tubes and $1.50 each for the dry yeasts, I see a huge advantage to using dry yeast over liquids. I also like the advantages of a greater number of yeast cells in a packet of dry v. using liquid/starters/etc. to get the same number of cells. I also don't need a lot of different flavors for my beers, {Same recipe and you want three different results..?} I like what I make and drink what I make, as do some of my friends.

To each his own tho, I prefer saving the extra dough to spend on more grains, yeasts, and hops for another brew along the way. Just my 2 centavos ......

MT2sum
 
I rehydrate dry yeast only when pitching in wort > 1.070 or if I'm making a lager and fermenting cool. I rehydrate using Evian or other hard water.

I've had great results with dry yeast in both ales and lagers. I always pitch a ton of yeast as its super cheap. For high gravity and lagers I'll pitch 2-3 packets per 5g.

Nottinham is great for Barleywine and Imperial stouts.

saflager w-34/70 great for lagers if you use it correctly too

Lately, I've been using liquid strains purely for the variety.
 
Back
Top