Do I really need to rehydrate us 05?

[Ali01]

I've only used bread yeast before (and I tell you, the results were awful)
This time I'm using us 05
I read some other topics about this and it seemed like there was some debate on whether or not you should rehydrate dry yeast.
But most people said they had better results rehydrating us 05, should I rehydrate it? And should I add some table sugar to the wort I'm using for rehydration to make things go a bit faster? I'm asking this cause I read somewhere that table sugar, since its simple sugar and easy for the yeast to eat, will make yeast cells lazy?! And will it form a foam on the top of the wort in the rehydration glass in 30 minutes? Like that fizzing sound you hear, realizing your yeast is alive and kicking

 

[mac_1103]

You do not need to rehydrate US-05 but you can. Either way, you should follow Fermentis' recommendations:

① Direct pitching:

Pitch the yeast directly in the fermentation vessel on the surface of the wort at or above the fermentation temperature.
Progressively sprinkle the dry yeast into the wort ensuring the yeast covers all the surface of wort available to avoid clumps. Ideally, the yeast will be added during the first part of the filling of the vessel; in which case hydration can be done at wort temperature higher than fermentation temperature, the fermenter being then filled with wort at lower temperature to bring the entire wort temperature at fermentation temperature.

② With prior rehydration:

Alternatively, sprinkle the yeast in minimum 10 times its weight of sterile water or boiled and hopped wort at 25 to 29°C (77°F to 84°F). Leave to rest 15 to 30 minutes, gently stir and pitch the resultant cream into the fermentation vessel.

I always direct pitch and always get good results. Well, at least in terms of fermentation. I'm not trying to claim that I've never made a less-than-perfect beer.

 

[Ali01]

You do not need to rehydrate US-05 but you can. Either way, you should follow Fermentis' recommendations:

① Direct pitching:

Pitch the yeast directly in the fermentation vessel on the surface of the wort at or above the fermentation temperature.
Progressively sprinkle the dry yeast into the wort ensuring the yeast covers all the surface of wort available to avoid clumps. Ideally, the yeast will be added during the first part of the filling of the vessel; in which case hydration can be done at wort temperature higher than fermentation temperature, the fermenter being then filled with wort at lower temperature to bring the entire wort temperature at fermentation temperature.

② With prior rehydration:

Alternatively, sprinkle the yeast in minimum 10 times its weight of sterile water or boiled and hopped wort at 25 to 29°C (77°F to 84°F). Leave to rest 15 to 30 minutes, gently stir and pitch the resultant cream into the fermentation vessel.

I always direct pitch and always get good results. Well, at least in terms of fermentation. I'm not trying to claim that I've never made a less-than-perfect beer.

Thank you
I've read thx
So what is the benefit of rehydrating the yeast then?

 

[mac_1103]

Some say it will take off a little faster if you rehydrate, but I've never done a split batch comparison or anything like that.

I have direct pitched US-05 many times. I've pitched too hot, pitched too cold, pitched on top of bubbles, etc. Also got some clumping once when I sprinkled too fast. It always fermented despite my mistakes.

 

[Red over White]

I have done many side by side pitching experiments with identical wort and I have not seen any performance difference between dry pitch and rehydrating even with goferm protect evolution. Both average 1-3 points in 24 hours. Compared to other methods with dry yeast, I consider this a long lag time.

 

[Ali01]

I have done many side by side pitching experiments with identical wort and I have not seen any performance difference between dry pitch and rehydrating even with goferm protect evolution. Both average 1-3 points in 24 hours. Compared to other methods with dry yeast, I consider this a long lag time.

I'll just directly pitch it then, to minimize contamination and explore to air
What are other methods?

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

Some say it will take off a little faster if you rehydrate,

In a recent dry yeast topic (link), there was a reference to a Fermentis article on yeast pitching techniques. In the article (Brewing with E2U™ (link)), figure 2 has a chart that suggests re-hydrated US-05 will start slightly faster.

---

FWIW, Lallemand is also recommending either "dry pitch" or re-hydration (link, link).

 

[Yesfan]

I'll just directly pitch it then, to minimize contamination and explore to air
What are other methods?

If you get the wert down to pitching temps, you can pitch the dry yeast (not hydrated) when the fermenter is half full as you're draining from the boil kettle while shaking the hose side to side for aeration. Sometimes I do that if my water is cold enough to chill that low (winter time).

I used to rehydrate dry yeast, but don't anymore. The extra steps needed just didn't seem worth it to me. I got similar results pitching dry from the packet vs rehydrating, though there was a little longer lag time to activity. Now, I just try to remember to add some yeast nutrient and then aerate the wert the same time as I'm draining it from the boil kettle and pitch my yeast when it's half full. Lag time has been around the 6hr mark. If it's a big beer, I'll oxygenate the wert for about 60-90 seconds.

That's not THE way to do it, just how I do it. I'm a lazy brewer, so my goal the last couple of years is finding the easiest/fastest ways to brew without sacrificing beer quality.

 

[wepeeler]

I've done both, and there was no discernable difference on my system. Both fermented the same, both tasted the same.

 

[Christoff]

I’m sure I’ve used a-05 far less than the above posters so my experience isn’t as good. But I will second the comment it doesn’t seem to be worth the effort. I’ve noticed fermentation kicked into gear quicker when I rehydrate it but it’s been (mostly) different beers so different conditions. For the 8-16 hour difference it might make isn’t worth it to me. Brew says are long enough.

 

[govner1]

If you get the wert down to pitching temps, you can pitch the dry yeast (not hydrated) when the fermenter is half full as you're draining from the boil kettle while shaking the hose side to side for aeration. Sometimes I do that if my water is cold enough to chill that low (winter time).

I used to rehydrate dry yeast, but don't anymore. The extra steps needed just didn't seem worth it to me. I got similar results pitching dry from the packet vs rehydrating, though there was a little longer lag time to activity. Now, I just try to remember to add some yeast nutrient and then aerate the wert the same time as I'm draining it from the boil kettle and pitch my yeast when it's half full. Lag time has been around the 6hr mark. If it's a big beer, I'll oxygenate the wert for about 60-90 seconds.

That's not THE way to do it, just how I do it. I'm a lazy brewer, so my goal the last couple of years is finding the easiest/fastest ways to brew without sacrificing beer quality.

^^^^This, no you don’t!

 

[hotbeer]

No need to aerate the wort either with most any dry yeast you use. It won't hurt anything if you do, but it's not necessary. I haven't aerated since about my third brew.

And remember, if you harvest the yeast from one batch and reuse it for another batch, then it's no longer dry yeast. So then treat it as you would any other liquid yeast that you might save and reuse.

 

[Ali01]

No need to aerate the wort either with most any dry yeast you use. It won't hurt anything if you do, but it's not necessary. I haven't aerated since about my third brew.

And remember, if you harvest the yeast from one batch and reuse it for another batch, then it's no longer dry yeast. So then treat it as you would any other liquid yeast that you might save and reuse.

Thanks for the reply!

I will definitely harvest the yeast since real beer yeast is so so difficult to find in my country, actually I have a question about harvesting the yeast, it's a top fermenting yeast, I watched a video on YouTube, fermentation was over and there were some stuff on the top of the beer and some on the bottom and the guy said the stuff on the top are the yeast, is that true about top fermenting yeast?

 

[mac_1103]

I will definitely harvest the yeast since real beer yeast is so so difficult to find in my country, actually I have a question about harvesting the yeast, it's a top fermenting yeast, I watched a video on YouTube, fermentation was over and there were some stuff on the top of the beer and some on the bottom and the guy said the stuff on the top are the yeast, is that true about top fermenting yeast?

This is true, but only if you harvest before the krausen drops. I think most homebrewers wait for the yeast to drop and harvest when they bottle or keg the beer. Or even just pitch fresh wort on top of what's left in the fermenter.

 

[Yesfan]

^^^^This, no you don’t!

????

I'm thrown off by the "no you don't". What do you do differently?

 

[Tacohockey50]

I've only used bread yeast before (and I tell you, the results were awful)
This time I'm using us 05
I read some other topics about this and it seemed like there was some debate on whether or not you should rehydrate dry yeast.
But most people said they had better results rehydrating us 05, should I rehydrate it? And should I add some table sugar to the wort I'm using for rehydration to make things go a bit faster? I'm asking this cause I read somewhere that table sugar, since its simple sugar and easy for the yeast to eat, will make yeast cells lazy?! And will it form a foam on the top of the wort in the rehydration glass in 30 minutes? Like that fizzing sound you hear, realizing your yeast is alive and kicking

I rehydrate US 05 with great success.
1) 15 minutes before the end of your 60 minute wort boil, microwave approx 4 oz water to boiling.
2) put a candy thermometer in the 4 oz, cover & let cool to 90 degrees f.
3) sprinkle yeast on top of water and let stand for 15 minutes.
4) stir with sanitized spoon and let stand another 10 minutes.
5) about this time you will have cooled your wort, added it to your fermenter which should have a temp somewhere in the mid 70's.
6) add the yeast mixture to the fermenter & seal with air valve.
7) I usually get fermentation by nightfall and very active fermetation within 24 hours.

Rehydrating yeast is easy and well worth the effort.

 

[govner1]

????

I'm thrown off by the "no you don't". What do you do differently?

I follow the producers recommendations and sprinkle on top of my wort after chilling the preferred temperature. As others said not need to oxygenate or anything else. At 64°F I usually have fermentation evident by the morning.
The same process is good for almost any dry yeast today.

 

[CascadesBrewer]

So what is the benefit of rehydrating the yeast then?

I would note that recent data from Fermentis showed a slight advantage to directly adding dry yeast to wort. This was even true for high gravity wort. I think they still have some yeast they recommend rehydrating.

There are many commercial breweries where their equipment supports injecting a liquid slurry of yeast (vs maybe climbing up a ladder and trying to add bags of dry yeast?). That is the only situation where Fermentis recommends rehydrating most of their yeast strains...when your equipment does not support dry yeast. As a homebrewer, I cannot imagine a setup that does not support sprinkling a pack or two of dry yeast.

 

[seatazzz]

I understand that there may be restrictions on the internet access in your country, particularly where beer brewing is concerned; but if you can, see if you can access the website www.howtobrew.com. This is the online first edition of Jon Palmer's book How to Brew. Some of the information is a bit outdated (the paper version is now on the 6th edition, I believe) but most of the basic information is solid. You might also be able to find the paper version for sale locally. Many of us here learned a lot of what we know from reading it.

As to your question regarding yeast rehydration, as you can see from the above responses there are a lot of different schools of thought. I've found that rehydrating with either distilled/boiled water, or with cooled wort, works best for me. But I also just sprinkle the dry yeast at times. It really just depends on the recipe I'm using. If you are familiar with breadmaking, it is similar to proofing bread yeast; just at a much lower temperature. Most brewing yeast will not survive the temperatures that bread yeast can. Yeast is a living organism and must be handled appropriately. However it is a very hardy organism that has survived for millennia in various forms.

 

[FloppyKnockers]

No.

 

[odie]

Thanks for the reply!

I will definitely harvest the yeast since real beer yeast is so so difficult to find in my country, actually I have a question about harvesting the yeast, it's a top fermenting yeast, I watched a video on YouTube, fermentation was over and there were some stuff on the top of the beer and some on the bottom and the guy said the stuff on the top are the yeast, is that true about top fermenting yeast?

harvest the yeast after you bottle the beer.

It would help to know what is your fermentation vessel and how you place to bottle the beer.

all the yeast will fall to the bottom when it is done fermenting. You should have a compact layer of yeast leftover. You can pour it into jars and save in the refridgerator until the next time you make beer

There are articles and post here about yeast harvesting. You may have to adapt the methods to your equipment.


.

 

[BeerHolic]

No. I have never re-hydrated any dry yeast and have never had issues, worked just fine.

 

[redrocker652002]

You have gotten some great responses, and I will add my two cents. I have used S05 and Bry97 quite often. I have never rehydrated and always ended up with a good fermentation withing 24 hours. But, I am a novice and have had less than stellar results with liquid yeast. Also, the harvesting is on my list of things to do as well. So, in my case, dry yeast sprinkled on top has worked out well for me.

 

[BongoYodeler]

I've never re-hydrated US-05, and dry, it's always performed fine for me. The only possible benefit I've seen mentioned so far in this thread regarding re-hydrating it is that it can help to achieve active fermentation a little sooner. But does that in and of itself make better beer? Will
re-hydrating help to ferment a higher gravity wort? Trust me, I'm not knocking those who re-hydrate. I'm just trying to understand the reason(s) why, because if there's some quantifiable benefit that helps to make better beer then I certainly would up for trying re-hydrating. If it's simply to speed up the lag time by a couple hours then I'm content to keep doing what I'm doing. I'm a patient man.