Pitch Yeast in Carboy (Brewer's Best kit)

[ongreystreet]

I am getting ready for my first brew, and plan on doing just a primary in a better bottle (6 gallon)

My directions from the kit say:

9. PITCH YEAST
Sprinkle the contents of the yeast sachet over top of the entire wort surface and stir well with sanitized spoon or paddle.

Obviously I cannot sprinkle over top of entire surface after adding to carboy and can't stir. Can I add yeast to wort before going into carboy and addition of make-up water? Can I just slowing drop yeast in and give carboy a good shaking with stopper held on top?

What would you suggest, besides using a bucket?

 

[mfraier]

You can boil two cups of water and let it cool. Put the yeast in the cooled water and let stand for about 15, stir for a few minutes and then pitch......or you can just pitch it in the bottle and stir it up good with the handle of your plastic spoon. Either way will work fine.

 

[bumstigedy]

It is better to rehydrate the yeast in water that has been boiled and then cooled; I think the recommendation is to cool to around 90F. Check the directions on your yeast pack; they should provide the specifics. If you don't rehydrate the yeast first some of them may die.

If no directions on yeast pack; check palmers online version of how to brew it will have dry yeast rehydrating instructions.

 

[ongreystreet]

You can boil two cups of water and let it cool. Put the yeast in the cooled water and let stand for about 15, stir for a few minutes and then pitch......or you can just pitch it in the bottle and stir it up good with the handle of your plastic spoon. Either way will work fine.

What is a good stir anyway? The directions say stir well, I've heard of people shaking the whole carboy, is there such a thing as stirring too much or too little?

It is better to rehydrate the yeast in water that has been boiled and then cooled; I think the recommendation is to cool to around 100f. Check the directions on your yeast pack; they should provide the specifics. If you don't rehydrate the yeast first some of them may die.

If no directions on yeast pack; check palmers online version of how to brew it will have dry yeast rehydrating instructions.

I'll def look at the packet and see what they say, I don't want to differ too much from the Brewer's Best Directions, but rehydrating the yeast seems like a no brainer change.

 

[BrookdaleBrew]

What is a good stir anyway? The directions say stir well, I've heard of people shaking the whole carboy, is there such a thing as stirring too much or too little?



I'll def look at the packet and see what they say, I don't want to differ too much from the Brewer's Best Directions, but rehydrating the yeast seems like a no brainer change.

You want the wort to be nice and frothy so your yeast will have the oxygen they need to reproduce.

Also, you don't absolutely have to rehydrate dry yeast. I never have and always have good results. If it were me, I'd add the yeast and then shake the hell out of your carboy so that you integrate the yeast and aerate all in one step.

 

[arch1tect]

Just sprinkle it on top. You can rehydrate to check the viability if you're not sure how old the yeast is or how it was handled.

In the future it's always good to buy a few packets of dry yeast incase your cell count isn't high enough for the gravity of the beer.

 

[ongreystreet]

You want the wort to be nice and frothy so your yeast will have the oxygen they need to reproduce.

Also, you don't absolutely have to rehydrate dry yeast. I never have and always have good results. If it were me, I'd add the yeast and then shake the hell out of your carboy so that you integrate the yeast and aerate all in one step.

Okay, so at this step, the extra air is a good thing, as opposed to after or during fermentation.

 

[earwig]

Okay, so at this step, the extra air is a good thing, as opposed to after or during fermentation.

Yes at this point air is good. I prefer liquid yeast but when using dry yeast I just dump it in and shake the heck out of the carboy for about 7-10 minutes. So far I've always had great results. Also, like someone else mentioned you may need more than 1 pack if you brewed a big beer.

 

[ongreystreet]

Yes at this point air is good. I prefer liquid yeast but when using dry yeast I just dump it in and shake the heck out of the carboy for about 7-10 minutes. So far I've always had great results. Also, like someone else mentioned you may need more than 1 pack if you brewed a big beer.

This brings up another question, can I use more yeast? How does this affect the fermentation process? Flavor? etc.

 

[BrookdaleBrew]

I doubt you need to pitch more yeast. What was your OG?

 

[earwig]

This brings up another question, can I use more yeast? How does this affect the fermentation process? Flavor? etc.

The amount of yeast you pitch depends on the type and OG of the beer etc. Check out this page... it is a bit of a read but you'll know a lot more after checking it out: http://www.mrmalty.com/pitching.php

 

[csiewert]

I just usually pitch the yeast, swirl a little bit and then rock it back and forth a little to spread the yeast evenly over the top... but make sure not to let any of it get sloshed up and stuck to the side.