Safale S05 lag time

[blackbeer]

did a barley wine yesterday and made a small beer with the 2nd runnings. not having used dry yeast in at least 20 years, i decided to give s05 a try and to try some experiments of sorts.

1 - used ekg mid boil for bittering instead of a neutral full boil bittering hop

2 - used 3/4 oz american magnum at 5 minutes to see what they tasted like. always used them for bittering but never flavor or aroma.

3. dumped the whole pot of cooled 65 degree wort into the fermenter, sludge and all. and i literally dumped it. made quite a foam. i usually siphon off the trub.

my OG was 1.033 and ibu was 32. might be a little hot for a bit but i'm patient.

i just sprinkled the yeast as per the directions and gave it a stir. i did not rehydrate.

its now 16 hours and still no krausen. i'm not worried but just curious if anyone have any idea of lag time on S05 just sprinkled? with wyeast smack packs i usually have a rocky head by now.

 

[zoomzilla]

Yeah I always have long lag times, 16-24 hours with dry yeast. I rehydrate mine and pitch into oxygenated wort. I don't know if it's because I brew high gravity brews or what but a lot of people get real fast lag times so i guess it varies. I just pitched 2 packs of us05 into a 1.080 DIPA last night- about 14 hours ago- and still no sign of activity.

 

[beekeeperman]

My last couple batches with 05 took about 36 hrs to get going.
Just sprinkled it in dry.

 

[harrydrez]

Always rehydrate, you kill off something like 50% of the cells when the just sprinkle.

 

[eric19312]

My last batch took 2 days to lift krausen. I rehydrated. Tasted the new beer yesterday and after 2 weeks in primary it was ready to drink. Zero fermentation issues. I was surprised because of the long lag. Fermented at 64.

The beer was so good I repitched the yeast at a rate of 1/2 cup thin slurry into 6 gal 1.056 wort. This morning, no krausen yet. Not worried.

 

[lightjt]

I brewed a pilsner hybrid yesterday morning, everything finished by noon and safale 05 pitched. I got up at 9 this morning and the airlock is popping! I use this yeast all the time for my pale ales and it has always taken off within 12-18 hours, very crazy for 24-48 hours then it completely stops.

 

[beekeeperman]

Always rehydrate, you kill off something like 50% of the cells when the just sprinkle.

It says on the Safale 05 package to sprinkle into wort.
They don't know what they are talking about ?
My final gravities are always right on.

 

[harrydrez]

It says on the Safale 05 package to sprinkle into wort.
They don't know what they are talking about ?
My final gravities are always right on.

I dunno why they say that but you do lose half of your yeast by sprinkling on the wort.

 

[greyghost]

It says on the Safale 05 package to sprinkle into wort.
They don't know what they are talking about ?
My final gravities are always right on.

You go to there website and they tell you to rehydrate.

 

[beekeeperman]

You go to there website and they tell you to rehydrate.

They do but they also say right after the hydration instructions:

Alternatively, pitch the yeast directly in the fermentation vessel providing the temperature of the wort is above 20°C (68°F). Progressively sprinkle
the dry yeast into the wort ensuring the yeast covers all the surface of wort available in order to avoid clumps. Leave for 30 minutes, then mix the
wort using aeration or by wort addition.

This topic has been discussed here repeatedly . It seems people come out with good beer either way. Lag time is no doubt longer with the sprinkle method.

 

[kombat]

It says on the Safale 05 package to sprinkle into wort.

The manufacturer's data sheet describes the recommended procedure for rehydrating US-05.

They don't know what they are talking about ?

The package describes sprinkling dry to keep it simple for new brewers.

My final gravities are always right on.

Rehydrating has nothing to do with final gravity. It's about a proper pitch rate, and minimizing off-flavours.

 

[broadbill]

my OG was 1.033 and ibu was 32. might be a little hot for a bit but i'm patient.

.

This isn't anywhere close to a barley-wine;this is barely a session beer OG. Did you mean 1.133?


16h isn't out of the ordinary for lag time with dry, non-rehydrated yeast. If you were really making Barley Wine, the OG really was 1.1.33, you should probably have used 2 packets.

 

[kombat]

He mentioned in the original post that he's talking about a beer he's brewing with the second runnings from his barleywine mash.

 

[Psylocide]

US-05 dry has taken 24 hrs to start for me.

Rehydrated was ~8 hrs.

Obviously just sprinkling in dry is fine, 1 packet has more than enough viable cells to get the job done, even after the initial killing-off when dumping into wort.

However, I've noticed that lag time is significantly decreased when pitching rehydrated yeast, and it's such an easy step that I can't see any reason to skip it.

 

[beekeeperman]

The package describes sprinkling dry to keep it simple for new brewers.

I can't find anywhere where it says to keep it simple for new brewers
But i agree hydrated yeast takes off quickly compared to dry.

 

[Malty_Dog]

1.093 strong ale took close to 36 hrs to show activity with 2 packs dry US-05 (non rehydrated) here. I guess I should rehydrate *sigh*

 

[kombat]

But i agree hydrated yeast takes off quickly compared to dry.

It does, but again, you're missing the point. It's not about hitting your F.G., it's not about how fast it takes off, it's just about hitting the proper pitch rate. Sprinkling dry kills up to half the cells. If you compensate for that by pitching more yeast, then no problem. But if your recipe requires 200 billion yeast cells for an optimal fermentation, and you're sprinkling in a packet and expecting to get 200 billion yeast cells going to work for you, you're mistaken. You're underpitching and stressing your yeast.

 

[kombat]

1.093 strong ale took close to 36 hrs to show activity with 2 packs dry US-05 (non rehydrated) here. I guess I should rehydrate *sigh*

You don't have to, but you did underpitch. 5 gallons of 1.093 ale wort would require just under 400 billion yeast cells (372 billion). One packet of US-05, sprinkled dry, will give you around 100 billion cells. You pitched two packets, which means you pitched around 200 billion cells, or around 54% of the optimal cell count. Rehydrating would have gotten you to the appropriate cell count, but so would pitching 2 more packets. It all depends on

• Whether you would rather spend the money on extra packets or endure the trivial hassle of rehydrating dry yeast; and
• Whether or not you really care about things like a proper yeast pitch rate, and the resulting off-flavours from underpitching

 

[azazel1024]

Since I've used S05 a couple of times recently.

With direct pitching my lag times seem a little shorter, maybe 12-16hrs before I start seeing some airlock activity. If I rehydrate first it typically takes 24hrs to see airlock activity. In either case it is generally 12hrs after that that I start seeing Krausen appear.

Krausen is typically a bit higher/more airlock activity if I rehydrate first.

I've been a little spoiled since mostly doing liquid yeasts for 4 of my last 6 beers (I just started using them). Wasn't many brews, but I got used to raising a krausen in less than 12hrs with airlock activity in 3-6hrs from my starters.

 

[hunter_le five]

I brewed a medium gravity (1.056) porter Saturday and pitched a single packet of US-05, following the manufacturer's recommended rehydration procedures. I also pitched at a lowish temp (61°F) and let it rise on it's own to my desired ferm temp (66°F).

It took almost 24 hours for a krausen to appear, and I didn't notice any significant airlock activity until I got up this morning (~36 hrs).

So no, I wouldn't be worried about a lack of activity after only 16 hours, especially when pitching dry. Dry yeast always takes longer for me to get going, especially if not rehydrated.

 

[Gavin C]

Typically I see 8-10 hour between a cool pitch (60-62F) and initial signs of activity.

When using S-05 use 1 pack for my ales (<1.060)
oxygenate wort with O2
Hydrate the yeast as per the manufacturer's instructions (30 minute process while cleaning up)

 

[Malty_Dog]

You don't have to, but you did underpitch. 5 gallons of 1.093 ale wort would require just under 400 billion yeast cells (372 billion). One packet of US-05, sprinkled dry, will give you around 100 billion cells. You pitched two packets, which means you pitched around 200 billion cells, or around 54% of the optimal cell count. Rehydrating would have gotten you to the appropriate cell count, but so would pitching 2 more packets. It all depends on

• Whether you would rather spend the money on extra packets or endure the trivial hassle of rehydrating dry yeast; and
• Whether or not you really care about things like a proper yeast pitch rate, and the resulting off-flavours from underpitching

Points well-taken. I didn't look into actual cells required, but it would be good practice to do so in the future.

 

[Mexibilly]

Yeah I always have long lag times, 16-24 hours with dry yeast. I rehydrate mine and pitch into oxygenated wort. I don't know if it's because I brew high gravity brews or what but a lot of people get real fast lag times so i guess it varies. I just pitched 2 packs of us05 into a 1.080 DIPA last night- about 14 hours ago- and still no sign of activity.

Exactly what I was looking for, reassurance.
I pitched 3 rehydrated 05s yesterday to a 1.084 DIPA. 3 because I didn't get quite the attenuation I had hoped for when I brewed this same recipe last year and pitched 2.
Thanks

 

[kombat]

3 because I didn't get quite the attenuation I had hoped for when I brewed this same recipe last year and pitched 2.

What's the recipe? All-grain or extract? If all-grain/partial mash, what temperature did you mash at? How did you aerate/oxygenate the wort? What temperature did you ferment at? What were your original and final gravities?

 

[Mexibilly]

What's the recipe? All-grain or extract? If all-grain/partial mash, what temperature did you mash at? How did you aerate/oxygenate the wort? What temperature did you ferment at? What were your original and final gravities?

Wish I had better notes from back then. This was a DIPA extract from LHBS.
Sg and fg came in under recipe approximate spec.
Brewed this one again yesterday for an event.
I'm betting this one comes out better, but my og measured 1.070. Recipe specified 1.084 - 1.087.
6+ gallon boil in a 7.5 kettle, so I had to wait for some boil off to add most of the DME.
Aeration was siphoning from the kettle while holding the tube high and allowing the entire volume to splash into the primary. Huge foam, topped off with about half a gallon, mixed with paddle and paint stirrer.
I assume I wasn't mixed well when I got the og, but I thought I was.
I wasn't even drinking. I know my process was good.
I'm using 1.080 for og regardless of the hydrometer reading.
This is only batch #10.

 

[blackbeer]

thanks for all the replies. just a followup. it had some foaming at 24 hours and now at 48 has a nice rocky head with a nice aroma. next time i use it i will definitely rehydrate as suggested. i will be letting it in primary for 3 weeks and then going straight to bottle once its done. now to let it do its business so i can get to drinking it in a few weeks.

 

[invmgmt]

It happens every now and then to me. I brew 10 gallons and separate it into two, five-gallon fermenters. I rehydrate the yeast in two jars for pitching. One fermenter takes off, bubbling away in no time. The other looks dead…no air-lock activity at all. For this batch I purchased and used an oxygenation wand and still the problem persists.

I don’t understand.

 

[harrydrez]

Points well-taken. I didn't look into actual cells required, but it would be good practice to do so in the future.

http://www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html

That's a really great and simple tool to help determine pitch rates.

 

[Scriv]

I've used US05 twice now, the first time I rehydrated and had activity 12 hours later. The second time I sprinkled, and activity took 24 hours to get started.