New Brewer....random question about yeast?

[gbing]

So, I brewed an IPA recently that took almost 3 days to develop a krausen, and I got so worried I effed it all up, and that I'm gonna end up drinking five gallons of ****ty beer.
This is even with following the recipe to an absolute tee, with very good sanitation practices, and rehydrating the dried yeast for the recommended amount of time.
Could anyone out there on the interwebs suggest a way to "smack" the wort and get it fermenting within 12 hours?
As a chef, when I do any sort of baking, I "proof" the yeast in a sugar solution to "prove" that it's viable, I have read not to do that with brewing, which I found to be a bit counterintuitive.
As a sub-note, I have neither the time, resources, patience, or supplies to start culturing my own liquid yeast starters.
Does anyone have any suggestions?

 

[doug293cz]

So, I brewed an IPA recently that took almost 3 days to develop a krausen, and I got so worried I effed it all up, and that I'm gonna end up drinking five gallons of ****ty beer.
This is even with following the recipe to an absolute tee, with very good sanitation practices, and rehydrating the dried yeast for the recommended amount of time.
Could anyone out there on the interwebs suggest a way to "smack" the wort and get it fermenting within 12 hours?
As a chef, when I do any sort of baking, I "proof" the yeast in a sugar solution to "prove" that it's viable, I have read not to do that with brewing, which I found to be a bit counterintuitive.
As a sub-note, I have neither the time, resources, patience, or supplies to start culturing my own liquid yeast starters.
Does anyone have any suggestions?

Sometimes yeast is slower to start than other times. Time to start can depend on the age of the yeast, yeast strain, pitch rate, temperature, whether the wort was oxygenated or not, and certainly a few other things as well. If you got a krausen, then you got fermentation. Don't start worrying about lack of visible fermentation until at least 72 hrs have passed since pitching. Also, look for evidence of krausen, not air lock bubbles. Many fermenters leak enough (which is not a problem) that you see little to no bubbling even tho fermentation is proceeding just fine.

Brewing requires patience. If you fail to learn that, you will be a frustrated brewer.

Brew on

 

[Jsmtg32]

Depending on what type of yeast your use. Some yeast start a krausen quick an some take a few day to start one. Also the temperature your fermenting at can affect the rate your yeast work.

 

[antony]

I've had quick starting fermentation with a wyeast smack pack. If you don't have a local shop, that might be more difficult to acquire than dry yeast.

Though nothing is quicker than making a starter & pitching at high krausen. At some point your curiosity will be peaked & you'll give it a go (that's the way it is with all this homebrewing stuff).

 

[Conan]

What kind of beer, and which yeast strain?
You're on the right track with 'proofing' yeast, but it's best known as making a starter. Based on your sub-note I think there's a misunderstanding in the difference between a starter and yeast culturing.
Starter:
- Used to increase the number of yeast cells before pitching into wort
-Basic procedure (5 gallon batch, likely still under-pitching)
---At least 2 days before brewday (though I've done this the morning before)Heat 1L brewing water to boil in a pot on the stove. Add .5 cup DME, boil 15 minutes. Cool to <80°F and transfer to Erlenmeyer Flask (or any sanitized vessel), pitch yeast.
---Leave the vessel on your counter at room temp. Whenever you walk by give it and swirl. You can decant or pitch the entire volume into your wort once it's brewed.

Culturing:
- Saving very small amounts of a commercial culture
---Requires very sanitary conditions, and stores only a few mL of cells on 'slants'. These must be "prop'd up" (propagated) starting a week before brew day. Great for saving money on yeast and having an elaborate library of yeast on hand at all times.


Brewer's yeast takes more than 12 hours to get rolling. Baker's yeast is fast acting for a reason- it needs to be, and off flavors (esters, etc.) will be driven off during baking. Brewer's yeast acts much slower but produces fewer off flavors, flocculates when finished, and has higher alcohol tolerance.
The best way to cure a 3-day krausen is to not look at the fermenter. Beginning brewers tend to over-watch the fermentation. As we grow into brewing we care less about seeing visible evidence of fermentation and learn to let the yeast do what it does best. Our job is to control the temperature and relax for a few weeks.

New brewers are best off eliminating aeration, controlling ferm temps, and being very careful about sanitation. Those three things are the easiest way to develop off flavors or completely ruin a beer.

I've never rehydrated dry yeast, but plan to start based on some new-to-me information.

Best of luck, and relax- it takes more than non-proofed yeast to mess up a beer. Kyle

 

[gbing]

I've read about this "smack pack" don't know what it is?
Also, it'll krausen even without yeast?!?! Or, I can pitch again when there's krausen, what would that do?

 

[LLBeanJ]

Making a starter is without a doubt the best way to proof your yeast prior to pitching. Since you are averse to doing that, the only other alternative would be to use Wyeast liquid yeast that comes in "smack packs" that swell when you smack them. However, without the ability to make starters, you would likely need at least 2 yeast packets for every brew, which can get expensive. One downside to this is that the packs don't always swell, so you could still be left guessing.

Making starters and saving yeast would drastically cut back the expense. They are not at all difficult to do, nor do they require a bunch of fancy equipment. If you have a spare growler and some DME, you can make a starter. Get a few mason jars and you could save/re-use yeast.

 

[gbing]

What kind of beer, and which yeast strain?
You're on the right track with 'proofing' yeast, but it's best known as making a starter. Based on your sub-note I think there's a misunderstanding in the difference between a starter and yeast culturing.
Starter:
- Used to increase the number of yeast cells before pitching into wort
-Basic procedure (5 gallon batch, likely still under-pitching)
---At least 2 days before brewday (though I've done this the morning before)Heat 1L brewing water to boil in a pot on the stove. Add .5 cup DME, boil 15 minutes. Cool to <80°F and transfer to Erlenmeyer Flask (or any sanitized vessel), pitch yeast.
---Leave the vessel on your counter at room temp. Whenever you walk by give it and swirl. You can decant or pitch the entire volume into your wort once it's brewed.

Culturing:
- Saving very small amounts of a commercial culture
---Requires very sanitary conditions, and stores only a few mL of cells on 'slants'. These must be "prop'd up" (propagated) starting a week before brew day. Great for saving money on yeast and having an elaborate library of yeast on hand at all times.


Brewer's yeast takes more than 12 hours to get rolling. Baker's yeast is fast acting for a reason- it needs to be, and off flavors (esters, etc.) will be driven off during baking. Brewer's yeast acts much slower but produces fewer off flavors, flocculates when finished, and has higher alcohol tolerance.
The best way to cure a 3-day krausen is to not look at the fermenter. Beginning brewers tend to over-watch the fermentation. As we grow into brewing we care less about seeing visible evidence of fermentation and learn to let the yeast do what it does best. Our job is to control the temperature and relax for a few weeks.

New brewers are best off eliminating aeration, controlling ferm temps, and being very careful about sanitation. Those three things are the easiest way to develop off flavors or completely ruin a beer.

I've never rehydrated dry yeast, but plan to start based on some new-to-me information.

Best of luck, and relax- it takes more than non-proofed yeast to mess up a beer. Kyle

Thank you ever so much Kyle / Conan!!!
You are speaking in a language I understand! !!

 

[LLBeanJ]

I've read about this "smack pack" don't know what it is?
Also, it'll krausen even without yeast?!?! Or, I can pitch again when there's krausen, what would that do?

Your wort won't krausen without yeast of some sort. A starter will krausen once it gets going and can be pitched at that time or left to finish fermenting, refrigerated for a day or several, the starter "beer" decanted, and the remaining slurry pitched into your wort.

Link to Wyeast website with info on smack packs...

http://www.wyeastlab.com/hb_productdetail.cfm?ProductID=16

 

[gbing]

I think I get it now, and as is usual for me, I'm overthinking it... Thank you LLBeanJ.... might you also be able to correct me if I'm wrong here....
So I just brew a small "wort" and propagate the yeast in that?
Would I be able to do this with plain old table sugar, as in baking? Or is that not advisable?

 

[LLBeanJ]

So I just brew a small "wort" and propagate the yeast in that?
Would I be able to do this with plain old table sugar, as in baking? Or is that not advisable?

Yes, you just boil up some yeast food, which is just a low gravity wort (usually pale DME @ 1.040), cool it, and add your yeast. Let it ferment out for about 12 hours and pitch the whole thing into your batch of wort or let the starter completely ferment out for a couple days, refrigerate, decant, and pitch just the slurry.

I've not used table sugar before, but I've heard that it works fine. DME (or any malt extract actually, though DME is easier to use than LME, so that's what most of us use) is strongly suggested because it conditions the yeast for consuming maltose, which is more complex than simple sugar.

 

[gbing]

It makes so much sense to me now! Why don't the kits tell you these things?!
I will absolutely be doing that on the next batch....
Also, I'm getting conflicting recommendations re: racking to secondary, I'm pretty tempted to do that, cuz I'm gonna need my primary pail for bottling day. Being honest ( and Polish lol) I'd rather save the $20 it'll cost me for another pail for something other than another pail!

 

[LLBeanJ]

There are pros and cons. There's quite a contingent on here, myself included, that will typically forego the transfer to secondary. I will only do it if I'm adding more fermentables. If you need to do it to free up your primary fermenter, then that's certainly a valid reason. Just make sure that there is little to no headspace in the secondary after you transfer (assuming a carboy, fill it all the way up to the neck) as you want as little area exposed to oxygen as possible. Excessive headspace in secondary is the likeliest route to oxidized or infected beer.

 

[gbing]

Well, it makes sense to me. I've read alot about the no secondary thing, and I'm going to do that with the next few batches. But I do believe that I'll be transferring to a 5 gallon carboy for a 5 gallon batch, so there's virtually no headspace. I think I'll be picking up a second carboy because I'd like to have a batch on the go all the time, and I'd like to be able to see what's happening in there! !

 

[sky4meplease]

Being honest ( and Polish lol) I'd rather save the $20 it'll cost me for another pail for something other than another pail!

When did The Polish become cheap too? Jeesh I thought we had enough problems.

 

[gbing]

Haha, maybe it's not the Poles in general, it could be just me.... but, I'm pretty sure the fascination with cabbage is universal!