Using Nottingham for first time

[intense3123]

Hey guys, about to embark on my third batch of brew.This will be the first time I'm using a dry yeast. First brew was with a smack pack that I pitched directly. Second was a white labs vial that I made a starter with.

After paying $9 for the white labs at my LHBS decided this time I wanna try dry. For dry I it's not recommend to make a starter, right? Also, do I pitch dry right on top or rehydrate it first? If so, how much water, temp, and time?

Oh and this beer will be a blonde with OG around 1.051. Thanks

 

[Homercidal]

Notty can be a great yeast if the characteristics are what you want. I use dry whenever I don't' need a liquid to get the attenuation, flocculation, and flavor profile that only specialty liquid yeast can give.

I always rehydrate now. Boil a cup of water for a few minutes and cool to around 90 ish. Then pour into a small glass and pour yeast on top. Don't stir. Give it 10 minutes then stir in.

Lots of people don't' rehydrate, but I have seen the yeast companies give specific instructions for the breweries on how to rehydrate. I figure they are just trying to make it easier for home brewers, possibly at a cost of some cell count.

The theory is that pitching directly on wort can allow stuff from the wort to penetrate into the cell, killing or damaging it. Using water to rehydrate gives the cell a chance to cleanly fill it's membrane, after which time it is able to regulate what goes into it.

If you rehydrate, you make notice a small bit of foaming, which is good and normal.

 

[wildwest450]

Homer makes good points, but devil's advocate, I never rehydrate for a beer under 60. Regardless of how much yeast "dies" you will still get full attenuation on your beer without risking further contamination.

_

 

[BenS]

I recently started rehydrating dry yeast and have noticed that there is less lag time before fermentation starts. I just heat 6-8oz of distilled water for 10-15 sec in the microwave to get it warm and throw the yeast in there while I chill the wort and pitch when the wort is ready.

 

[Homercidal]

Homer makes good points, but devil's advocate, I never rehydrate for a beer under 60. Regardless of how much yeast "dies" you will still get full attenuation on your beer without risking further contamination.

_

This is true. You're really overpitching at a certain OG, so there is likely no real benefit for beers that low. I've used notty on witbiers (American style) without rehydrating. Just toss it on top.

But I normally brew beer that's above 1.060, and rehydrating is just a matter of course for me now. Plus, I've gotten more into yeast ranching, so I'm working on liquid starters more now.

Also, dry yeast is fairly cheap, so even on a bigger beer, it might be worthwhile to simply buy 2 packets and pitch on the wort. I'd probably still rehydrate, but that's just me. It only takes a few minutes if you use bottled purified water as a shortcut.

I honestly think that this is one of those times where it really doesn't matter enough to worry about doing one way or the other. I rehydrate because it makes more sense to me and takes very little time and effort. But it would be WAY down on the list of things to make sure I did right compared to sanitation or temp control.

 

[intense3123]

Well that's good the consensus says that it really doesn't matter. I'll just see how I feel on brewday if I want to spend the extra time to rehydrate or not. Hopefully this time will be much quicker as I think I got my heatstick properly sealed up so it won't trip the GFI (full boils on the stove suck, over 1 hour to boiling) and will be the first time using my wort chiller

 

[Homercidal]

It takes as much time as:
a) Sanitize small glass with a shot of starsan from spray bottle.
b) sanitize packet of yest and scissors.
c) drain excess starsan from glass and pour a bit of Purified water from bottle.
d) Pour in yeast
e) Shoot starsan onto small piece of foil
f) cover glass with foil
g) come back in a few minutes and stir in yeast.
h) pitch yeast.

Literally, the active portion of rehydrating could take me 2 minutes.