Dry yeast confusion

[grasshopper1917]

I just wanted to toss this out here to get some thoughts. I have been brewing for about 7 years but never really read very much or thought a lot about yeast.

Since I started brewing when I make the canned extract kits I always used the yeast pack under the cap. When I make boxed ingredient kits they usually come with an 11g package of yeast.

I always just sprinkle my yeast on the beer and a friend recently told me I should rehydrate it. This led me to do some research on yeast and I was startled by what I found. People are saying a basic ale needs 11 grams of yeast rehydrated to do a sufficient job.

My problem is some of the kits I have done only came with 5g of yeast. I always thought my fermentation were fine -- generally they are going good in 12 - 24 hours (max). Most of my kits I always thought turned out pretty tasty but now im just wondering about all this.

I mean from what I can see pitching 5G right on the wort is way way way under pitching. I just want to get some opinions on the matter. From hat I have read some people are suggesting 50% of the yeast gets destroys by direct pitching so you should use 2 X 11 g packs even for a basic ale. This to me seem like way overkill but I don't know what to think really.

I think im going to go from pitchin the 5-7g packs in the canned kits to 11g but should I pitch even more then 11g if im not re-hydrating? I'm still pretty shocked always though my fermentation were going good so just wanted to get a few opinions -- cheers.

 

[eastoak]

many people here dry pitch one 11g pack for an average gravity beer, i do all the time. i'm sure some yeast probably die but i'm not sure that it's 50% or 70% or 20%. unless you are able to count the yeast that survive in any given beer you just don't know the yeast count. what i do know is that the US-05 that i usually use takes off in a reasonable amount of time and finishes off easily. if i have fresh yeast slurry i always use that over pitching dry or making a starter.

 

[DoWBrewer]

With dry yeast when you pitch directly into the wort the yeast immediately start taking in a lot of sugar and other things in the wort. Many of the them are toxic to yeast in large amounts. Once the yeast are rehydrated, they regulate the amount of sugar taken through the cell wall (because it is now pliable). They process what they take in and then take in more. If you want to pitch directly onto the wort use two yeast packs. The best option is to just rehydrate which is pretty easy to do. Happy yeast make better beer.

 

[kh54s10]

it really is mostly going from fermenting a beer to OPTIMALLY fermenting your beer. A small amount will ferment the beer, but while the yeast reproduce they are imparting flavors to the beer that are not desirable.

Pitch rates and fermentation temperatures are the simplest and most important things to look at to make good beer better.

BTW it really surprises me that it took 7 years for you to run across this.. I have been brewing for 2 1/2 years and started looking at yeast pitch rates on my 3rd brew.

 

[grasshopper1917]

It is strange I suppose I never looked into pitching rates and such. I just always figured because my fermentation always started withing 24 hours (usually about 12) and my beer turned out tasting good that I has using enough. I am going to start using 11g packs on the canned kits instead of the 5-7g that comes with it. It will be interesting to see the difference in the final product.

 

[Kahless]

it really is mostly going from fermenting a beer to OPTIMALLY fermenting your beer. A small amount will ferment the beer, but while the yeast reproduce they are imparting flavors to the beer that are not desirable.

It's worth noting that it the reproduction flavours are sometimes desirable; light fruity esters for an english ale, banana phenols for a hefeweizen etc.
Without these, certain beers in certain styles will lack the expected flavour and aroma, and overpitching will then result in a more bland beer.

 

[fartinmartin]

I picked up that 11g of yeast is about 110billion cells, a 5 USgal brew optimally wants 250billion cells!
I have been dry pitching for years, now realising that I have been pitching about 25% of what required. I now know as the last few brews I have rehydrated the way they got going, the time taken to get down is very different, it's a very different ball game, I think my fermentations are now better than half as long. At the moment I have no idea about taste. Already I know that I will never dry pitch again, and next time I will not only rehydrate but will also do a starter.

 

[40watt]

The one thing I would say is that I place little importance on lag time or how vigorous a fermention might be.
A successful fermentation for me is all about the tasting. I see if you notice a flavor improvement with a larger pitch or rehydrating.

 

[bovineblitz]

It's worth noting that it the reproduction flavours are sometimes desirable; light fruity esters for an english ale, banana phenols for a hefeweizen etc.
Without these, certain beers in certain styles will lack the expected flavour and aroma, and overpitching will then result in a more bland beer.

Mmm, reproduction flavors.