Kit yeast or Cooper's Ale Yeast

[goodsuds]

I picked up a cheap kit from Midwest and it came with some no-name yeast (labeled RPB) like the packet mentioned in this post. It looks to be about a 6 or 7 gram packet. I'm just brewing a simple american light ale extract kit, but I've always been told to avoid no-name yeasts (I've never gotten one before).

I've got a 6 gram packet of Cooper's ale yeast that's a few months old. I'm thinking of using it instead. Does anyone know what "RPB" yeast is? I've never had a problem with the kits I've gotten from Midwest but I've always gotten premium yeast so I'm not sure what to make of this stuff (yeast upgrade wasn't an option).

 

[Pappers_]

Not sure about the RPB yeast, but I wouldn't use the Cooper's. If it were me, I'd spend the four -five dollars for a pack of Danstar Nottingham or Fermentis US-05 for your light American ale. No reason to waste the money you spent on the rest of the ingredients by using bad yeast.

The Midwest Supplies folks are good - maybe give them a call or email and ask about the yeast. They might set your mind st ease about it.

 

[goodsuds]

Not sure about the RPB yeast, but I wouldn't use the Cooper's. If it were me, I'd spend the four -five dollars for a pack of Danstar Nottingham or Fermentis US-05 for your light American ale. No reason to waste the money you spent on the rest of the ingredients by using bad yeast.

The Midwest Supplies folks are good - maybe give them a call or email and ask about the yeast. They might set your mind st ease about it.

Yeah, I would normally use US-05 for an american ale but it wasn't an upgrade option and I didn't really pay much attention to it when I ordered it. I'll just use what came in the kit, I've never had an issue with anything from Midwest. I know they package Munton's dry yeast in a lot of their extract kits if you don't upgrade (I always do) so maybe this is the Munton's?

 

[goodsuds]

I used the kit yeast. Yesterday was brew day and I didn't have a chance to go by the LHBS to pick up some US-05. I rehyrated the yeast and proofed it and it was bubbling pretty good when I was ready to pitch it, but it wasn't nearly as active as US-05 when I do the same with it. It's been in the primary for a day and it is really churning like crazy, more than I've ever seen. This recipe only called for .5oz of Cascade finishing hops, and even though I strained it through a fine calender like I normally do, almost all of the hop residue went into the primary. You can see huge chunks of hop residue swirling like crazy like there is a pump going inside. I don't have a secondary to rack to but I guess I'll pick one up this week to rack the beer off the hops once the krausen drops.

I guess we'll see how good this yeast does in a few weeks, but I'm hoping that the activity in the fermenter is a good sign.

 

[Pilotpip]

Don't worry about the secondary. I've had a ton of sediment in my beers a couple times but by the time they were poured ended up perfectly clear. Give the yeast some time to clean up and the trub to compact. Cold crash and be careful when transferring for bottling and you'll be set.

 

[goodsuds]

Yeah, I was debating trying to cold crash this batch. I have to convince SWMBO to let me clear the basement fridge. I normally let my beers go in the primary for at least 3 weeks, but the recipe from Midwest says 2 weeks in primary then bottle. That sound too soon to me but I guess we'll see how clear it looks after 2 weeks, then maybe I'll cold crash for several days before I bottle. I used a whirlfloc tablet in this batch even though it was an extract kit. It was suggested that it would still help the beer to clear, so I guess we'll see. The trub that has settled in the primary looks like fluffy strips of cotton, so I guess that means the whirlfloc did something since I've never seen that before...

 

[Pilotpip]

After reading all the advice from the sages here I quit following the kit directions for fermentation times. Since I started leaving them in the primary for a minimum of 3 weeks my beers have been significantly better.

 

[Ninoid]

Is 6g of yeast supplied with a beer kettle enough for 23L beer?

I once make beer from hopped can and pitch the yeast that was delivered with it, and for the second time I used US-05 (due to different fermentation temperature) also directly to the wort. With US-05 the beer was better, but it was not bad either with the original yeast.