Pitching yeast in brew kettle before splitting batch... concerns/advice?

[Baglorious]

Looking for opinions, or words of caution from more knowledgeable folks. I am "getting back into it" after several years of having the equipment sitting in the basement. My father and I bought a beginner kit for extract brewing... and after 1 batch (ha), immediately upsized equipment to be able to do 10 gallon batches. I've probably done about 6 batches of extract at this point. 5 of them 4+ years ago... and one a few weeks ago.

We still have the 7 gal boil kettle as well, so after dragging it all out of the basement (and re-familiarizing myself with help from the internet) I did two batches at the same time: A 10 gal batch and a 5 gal batch. All of it is fermenting in 6.5 gallon carboys, with the 10 gallon batch being split. (So, now... 3x 6.5 gallon fermenters, each with 5 gallons fermenting.)

My method with 10 gallon batches has been to pitch the yeast into the boil kettle after the wort is cooled, and then split into 2 carboys.

This most recent brew is the first time I've used dry yeast (Safale 05). I rehydrated it prior to pitching into the 10G batch... and just sprinkled it dry in the 5G batch. In both the 10g batch, and the 5g batch, I added the yeast directly to the boil kettle prior to transfer. (Having read a bunch since then, and having noticed a difference in these 2 batches... I will now always rehydrate dry yeast before pitching.)

I used a "fighter jet sparge" in the end of my siphon tube for purposes of aeration. Works up a nice foam. I used to shake the carboys as well, but forgot to this most recent time. (I will consider better oxygenation in the future, and/or using liquid yeast and a starter, etc., but will ignore that issue for now.)


I've now seen that darn near everyone seems to transfer to fermenter, oxygenate, then pitch yeast. SO, I am wondering if there is a reason not to add yeast to the cooled wort in the kettle before transfer.

In my prior batches, I've never had a 'fail' due to pitching in the kettle. (Wort is always properly cooled, of course... have large coil wort chiller).

Finally to the questions/concerns (most of them are probably 'overthinking' it):

1. For the 10g batches, I don't really want to attempt to evenly split/pour rehydrated yeast between two fermenters. The slurry just isn't easy to evenly 'pour' into two vessels, as it is a bit sticky/gloppy. I'm just convinced I'll end up 60% in one 40% in the other (or some uneven variant). (Sprinkling one unhydrated pack in each fermenter would be easy... but rehydrating sure seems better.) Frankly, I also don't want to make two different rehydration vessels... but I suppose that would be one logical solution.

2. Conversely... for the pitching into the kettle method, I am concerned with "where the yeast goes" when I pitch it into the kettle. I pitch the yeast, and stir the wort within the kettle. I then siphon, and the siphon is near the bottom of the wort. So, the wort is being pulled from near the bottom of the kettle... and I may be getting uneven yeast distribution this way as well, assuming the yeast doesn't uniformly 'suspend' throughout the kettle. If the yeast tends to float, the second siphoned fermenter will seemingly get more. If it tends to sink... it would be concentrated in the first.

In this split batch... one of the fermenters seemed to have more krausen than the other. Might be my imagination, might not. They both seemed to ferment pretty 'normally,' with significant activity for a few days (based on my limited experience).


Anyway, you probably get the idea at this point. I'm concerned with evenly splitting the yeast... and, ignoring the issue of "even" splitting... ALSO concerned with whether there are any tangible concerns with pitching, then transferring/oxygenating with the yeast already in the wort.


All of this, of course, is rooted in the desire to solve the problem by SPENDING MORE MONEY!!! Perhaps a nice Spiedel 60L fermenter, or some other larger fermenter is the simple answer. However, as with all hobbies, the more stuff that shows up in boxes on the doorstep... the more my wife's eyebrow raises. (Perhaps justifiably.) A Speidel fermenter would come in a pretty big box, and would be hard to clandestinely get into the basement. ;-)

I already have have 2x better bottles... and I built really cool PVC blowoffs, and it is seemingly "just fine" as a setup. Even perhaps a good setup for beginner level brewing. Plus, I am aware of the the advantage of more manageable weight/size with splitting the 10gal batch into the 5g batches.

If it is seemingly "ok" to pitch directly into the kettle (and the potential of 'unequal distribution' through siphoning is not a real concern)... then I should probably stick with what I've got. If there are enough concerns with this method, I'll probably go with a larger fermenter.

Opinions, please? (And thanks for reading this whole overly lengthy post.)

 

[khannon]

One of the great things about yeast is that if you are close to a good pitch rate, the yeast will make up for it in the growth phase. So Assuming you had enough yeast for 10 gals, splitting 60/40 would not be that big of an issue.

I would suggest a bigger fermenter, but I would suggest something that you can gravity drain(conical), or something you can pressure transfer from. I ferment in a 15.5 gal sanke, and love it. I use a variant of https://www.norcalbrewingsolutions.com/store/Ultimate-Sanke-Keg-Tee-Fermenter-Kit.html to do my transfers via CO2.

I usually build starters/reuse yeast, but as for rehydration, when I use dry yeast, I just sprinkle it on top (2 packs for 10 gal), and have had great results.

 

[JohnSand]

I think your method is probably fine.
If you're concerned about uneven yeast distribution, you could devise a method of pouring the wort back and forth, which will both aerate and mix evenly. Or you could fill each fermenter a bit at a time, lessening the effect of stratification. But if the current batches turn out well, I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[SanPancho]

Pull off a gallon first. Pitch yeast there, either dry or hydrated. After you drain to fermenters, stir the hell out of yeast and pour into each. You could pour half into ferm A, half into B. Or a qt into A, then B, A, B. Etc. As long as you keep stirring it up you should be fine.

I would avoid pitching into kettle.

 

[NeoBrew]

Pull off a gallon first. Pitch yeast there, either dry or hydrated. After you drain to fermenters, stir the hell out of yeast and pour into each. You could pour half into ferm A, half into B. Or a qt into A, then B, A, B. Etc. As long as you keep stirring it up you should be fine.

I would avoid pitching into kettle.

SanPancho had a great idea. I second that!

I've never heard of anybody pitching into the kettle. Most of us try to do at lease a little separation of the trub from the wort as we transfer to the fermenter. I have not got much experience with dry yeast, but I would think that depending on the original gravity of your beer, you are under pitching your yeast quantity. buying two packs of yeast and pitching into the fermenters is the most straight forward answer to your question. How hard is it really to have two jars to re-hydrate in?

The great thing about beer is that it tends to find a way to make itself as long as you get close. What you are doing is going to make beer. As you get more batches under your belt you might look back and wonder what you were thinking, but that is a great part of the learning process.

Brew on!

 

[Baglorious]

Thanks for the super responses (and thanks for getting all the way through my too-lengthy post).

I do like SanPancho's idea... pulling off a part of wort into a container, and making it a more easily 'pourable' vessel where I am likely to be at least somewhat close when dividing thereafter.

Part of my reluctance is adding yet another vessel/container to sanitize... but I suppose I should get over it.

As far as the reason for not simply doing two re-hydration vessels for each fermenter from the get-go (which wouldn't be that bad)... I am thinking primarily into the future when I start using liquid yeast, a starter, an erlenmeyer flask, stir plate, etc. I will have one of those setups eventually. Perhaps with the stir plate and flask... if I leave that spinning until right before I pitch it, I can seemingly do a fairly even split, as it will be well-stirred and not the gloppy/clumpy slurry that the rehydrated yeast was.

Thanks for the responses. (And anyone else with advice, keep 'em coming!)