First time using dried yeast

[Prymal]

I am not sure if I messed anything up. I used Nottingham yesterday for the first time. I rehydrated per the directions on the back of the package, the issue I had was my wort was still around 85 degrees once the yeast had sat for 15 minutes.I didn't want to run the risk of killing it off so I waited another hour for the wort to drop to 68 before I pitched. Could this be an issue?

 

[doctorRobert]

No that sounds like the right thing to do. I've rehydrated yeast hours prior to pitching as I wasnt able to cool my wort as quickly as possible. It should be ok.

I assume fermentation is going along without problems, so far?

 

[Prymal]

It's has been about 10 hour since pitching and I haven't seen any activity yet. I'll assume that dried yeast might take a while to get going. sg was 1.042.

 

[samc]

It's has been about 10 hour since pitching and I haven't seen any activity yet. I'll assume that dried yeast might take a while to get going. sg was 1.042.

It's almost assuredly working, just not giving you the expected signs of ferment that everyone looks for.

 

[Prymal]

Cool, I wasn't overly worried but figured it was worth asking. Thanks for the assurance that all is most likely well.

 

[Prymal]

I did just realize that I didn't sanitize the bowl I rehydrated the yeast in opps, I guess I should have stuck with liquid yeast I am used to.

 

[winvarin]

I did just realize that I didn't sanitize the bowl I rehydrated the yeast in opps, I guess I should have stuck with liquid yeast I am used to.

While sanitizing the bowl would be preferred, I wouldn't stress too much. If your bowl was dishwasher clean and you used fresh clean water for rehydration (I use an unopened bottle of room temp drinking water) then you likely have enough yeast in your solution to overpower anything that might have been in the bowl.

 

[Prymal]

I guess I'll just have to wait and see. I used warm tap water and a bowl that was dishwasher clean but had been sitting is a cupboard for probably a week. Only time will tell.

 

[JFryauff]

Used dry Notty for the first time as well...last night.
Hydrate in a mason jar, as per the instructions, and it sat for about two hours while I brewed.
Pitched it into a cooled wort, and it started bubbling away less than six hours later. Today it's burping on quite nicely.
Did you aerate your wort prior to, and after pitchting?

 

[Prymal]

I did aerate before and after, just sloshing the wort around in the carboy. I am now more concerned about a bacteria infection from the unsanitized bowl.

 

[Priemus]

I wouldnt worry about it. I cant think of a better environment to have a small amount of bacteria in than with a few hundred billion dry yeast cells as they rehydrate after a long sleep and are hungry.

Oh and btw, Ive rehydrated notty before, which actually turned into a starter, and was pitched a day later than I thought it would be (out of a 1.5 leter coke bottle), you cant do any worse things than I do Im sure its fine.

 

[doctorRobert]

I did aerate before and after, just sloshing the wort around in the carboy. I am now more concerned about a bacteria infection from the unsanitized bowl.

I wouldn't worry about it.

If there is no airlock activity, check to make sure your bucket/carboy is sealed properly, and there is enough water in the carboy (believe me, it happens, you thought you sealed the bucket, but there was once part not popped down all the way).

Also, even if the bowl was riddled with bacteria or wild yeast, you still pitched yeast. That yeast will still ferment, probably faster than its unwanted neighbors.

The only thing that it could be - 1. bad packet of yeast. 2. You killed it while hydrating (water over 90 degrees). If the yeast looked healthy (they foamed up, got kind of gunky), then it should be fine.

Mostly likely its relax, don't worry, have a homebrew, and it'll be fermenting before you know it. I've had beers take 48 hours to start fermenting with US-04. I've made other beers with US-04 in which fermentation was almost done after 48 hours. So its unpredictable sometimes.

 

[brewit2it]

No need to aerate with Notty. I always do it anyway though LOL. Rehydrate for maybe 30-40 minutes, 2 hours is going to be beyond the sweet spot for maximum viability.

 

[hector]

I did aerate before and after, just sloshing the wort around in the carboy. I am now more concerned about a bacteria infection from the unsanitized bowl.

Did you use the vacuumed Pack of Danstar Nottingham Yeast ?

By the Way , according to the Danstar's Homepage , Nottingham British Ale Yeast has been conditioned to survive rehydration .

The yeast contains an adequate reservoir of carbohydrates and unsaturated fatty acids to achieve active growth and

It is unnecessary to aerate the Wort .

http://www.danstaryeast.com/sites/default/files/nottingham_datasheet.pdf


Hector

 

[Prymal]

Thanks for all the info guys I should have done a little more research into the yeast before I chose to use it. But all is well my wife looked in on the carboy a little bit ago and sent me a nice picture of a fermentation in high krausen at 68 degrees.

 

[cincybrewer]

Interesting. I stirred vigorously w/ Nottingham on my current batch and it started fermenting within 12 hours. Why wouldn't you stir with this, and should I expect anything different since fermentation obviously took place.

 

[brewit2it]

Interesting. I stirred vigorously w/ Nottingham on my current batch and it started fermenting within 12 hours. Why wouldn't you stir with this, and should I expect anything different since fermentation obviously took place.

Aerating won't hurt anything with Notty but it isn't needed because they dont need an aerobic growth phase snce they aready have the carbs and fats needed to go straight into active growth phase.

 

[TwoDollarBill]

I used 1 packet notty in a robust porter a few weeks back, and within 12 hours I had to add a blowoff tube. Ambient temp 68-70 F. I couldn't believe how violent fermentation was!

 

[ChillWill]

Notty sometimes takes a while for me. It's probably due to me being inaccurate with my rehydration technique but it has always turned out fine... then again I've got a RIS coming out primary tomorrow with Nottingham and have no idea if that has fermented down properly. 3 weeks with no gravity check. Now that's patience!

 

[cincybrewer]

Aerating won't hurt anything with Notty but it isn't needed because they dont need an aerobic growth phase snce they aready have the carbs and fats needed to go straight into active growth phase.

Thanks. Very good to know.