Should I rehydrate yeast?

I just bought a brewers best IPA kit for my first brew. The yeast packet says I should rehydrate before pitching, but the instructions the kit came with says "DO NOT REHYDRATE." Which one should I follow?

 

rehydrate
yeast works best when it has been re hydrated before it is introduced to the wort

 

This is a good sticky on using dry yeast - http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/dry-yeast-faq-441967/

Kit instructions are very often wrong, sometimes ridiculously so. Our LHBS sells Brewers Best (good ingredients, instructions not so good). The first thing I tell new brewers in our club is to wad those instructions up and toss them in the trash or maybe line the bottom of a bird cage.

That kit probably has US-05. Rehydrate and pitch into 62*F wort. Ferment it at 64-66*F in the primary for at least two weeks, preferably three, then prime with 4.2 ounces (weighed) of the priming sugar and bottle. Don't transfer to a secondary even if the kit instructions tell you to.

 

Definitely re-hydrate the yeast. Also, if the instructions are telling you not to, the rest of them are highly suspect IMO.

 

Somthing I didn't know and never saw instructions for is to aerate the beer before pitching yeast and do this before transferring to the fermenting jug or bucket such as transferring to a bucket from the brew pot then transferring to a Carboy or another bucket. This give the yeast plenty of O2 for the yeast

 

Although I usually use liquid, The first time I bought dry yeast at the local brew shop, I was told to never re-hydrate and to always sprinkle dry on top of the wort. After reading several posts here, I decided that it would be best to re-hydrate to get faster starts and have more cells survive the initial pitch.
I questioned the brew shop guys as to why they don't advise people to re-hydrate and they said that in their experience, some customers using dry yeast are rookies and re-hydrating incorrectly is a big risk for contamination. They said it is easier to instruct customers to use it the most risk free way (dry) and that if someone is more experienced, they will re-hydrate without being told to do so.

 

That sort of does make sense all things considered, just so they don't actively scare people away from ever rehydrating their dry yeast (even after they become quite capable of doing so correctly).

 

THIS ^^^
Pitching dry yeast on top of wort that is at the correct temp, for a beer that is not big, works every time.. It will make beer...
Does it stress the yeast? Perhaps, but I think it stresses the Home Brew Snobs out more

Pitching dry removes a step or three, making for a better chance of success to the new brewer.. Success means they try again, and again, and again...

After a few batches, they learn of rehydrated yeast, liquid yeast, washed used yeast,,and the learning continues.

Pitching dry yeast on a simple med to low gravity beer works, proven many times over..

Pitching rehydrated dry yeast will make beer as well,,,,, usually a faster start to fermentation, and to those with a discerning, experienced palate, might reduce some off flavors in some beers.

Im drinking a nice beer right this second that was pitched with dry yeast,,
MIKE’S TEXAS MIDNIGHT ALE, Mildly hopped dark brew, using 11 grams of Safeale 05.

I like the beer, everyone that has tried it likes it, pitching dry yeast on top of 5 gal 62deg wort, fermented for 21 days at 64-66 deg made darn good beer.

That said I now rehydrate my yeast .. if for no other reason , faster starts to fermentation. I can also pitch a bit less if doing a bigger beer

 

to

I agree completely. It is better to learn the proper way the first time and to make mistakes and learn from those mistakes than to listen to advice that will give marginal results from worker bee's at a local brewshop who may have very little experience of their own.

 

+1 to rehydrate. It's easy. If you can make beer, you can rehydrate dry yeast no problem.

 

The cell count in packs of dry yeast is high enough that you don't have to, and there are risks associated with rehydrating that make it not worth doing.

The only time I rehydrate is if I am making a mead and am using go-ferm and fermaid K in conjunction with the yeast

 

The cell count is between 150-220 billion per packet of dry yeast per packet. If rehydrating in wort kills half of those cells, pitching dry yeast without rehydrating in warm water first is akin to pitching a single vial or smack pack with no starter.

 

Neither one of these statements are strictly true.