Cutting down S-05 lag time

[brianpablo]

I love S-05 as a clean fermenting yeast that gets the job done quickly, but the lag times have always been a bit of a drag. I usually don't see fermentation taking off in much less than 48 hours. This normally wouldn't be a very big deal, but I've got some kind of airborne contaminant in my house that I can't figure out how to get rid of, and I don't want wort sitting around for that long under those conditions. The usual response to this is "Quit brewing until you've gotten your sanitation in order." Indeed, I'm doing my best on that. But I've spent three years battling this bug without getting anywhere, and have fortunately managed to make quite a few good beers simply by keeping oxygen out and making sure they take off quickly.

This problem in part can be solved by using S-04, which also does the job quickly and takes off within a few hours. The problem here is that S-04 kicks off some pretty nasty flavors if it gets anywhere above 70, and I can't guarantee temperatures will stay that low with a swamp cooler.

So my idea was to get the S-05 working a few days earlier so that it would hit the ground running rather than sitting for two days. Any obvious way to do this? I've seen a number of variants on the don't-do-a-starter-with-dry-yeast vs you-don't-have-to-do-a-starter-with-dry-yeast thread, none of which suggest this would be fatal. I could do a three liter starter in a one-gallon carboy, which seems like it would be more or less the right scale.

 

[mongoose33]

Do you rehydrate the dry yeast before using?

I rehydrated S-05 on Saturday, pitched it into wort at 74 degrees about 1:30pm. I oxygenated (using an oxygen tank and wand) prior to pitching. I put that fermenter in a ferm chamber set for 64 degrees. I had krausen by noon the next day, or 22.5 hours.

OG on that beer was 1.0645.

I rehydrated by taking RO water and boiling it in a Pyrex cup (about 1/2 cup of water). I sprayed the cup w/ Star-San before I added the water. I boiled it in a microwave oven, and once it was going good, I added a piece of aluminum foil to cover it, the foil was sanitized.

Once the cup had cooled to room temperature (about 70) I sanitized a spoon and then stirred in the S-05. I let it sit for 30 minutes before pitching, stirred it up again before I pitched, and in it went.

I believe the exbeeriments that say it doesn't matter whether you rehydrate or not (normal OG beers), but it takes off much faster when I do rehydrate. My sole reason for doing it is to get the beer going fast as I can so the yeast can overwhelm any nasties that may have fallen in during racking and pitching.

 

[cladinshadows]

Your wort needs to be oxygenated and in the correct temperature range, and you need the correct amount of properly rehydrated US-05. If you are waiting 48 hours for US-05 to take off, then at least one of those is not being satisfied.

Make sure you rehydrate. If you're not rehydrating you are needlessly killing or damaging many of the yeast cells right off the bat through osmotic shock. The culture then has to reproduce significantly to rebuild the cell count before you'll see active fermentation pick up. This could lead to a long lag time. I understand that many people make beer that they enjoy without rehydrating, but if you are concerned about lag time, rehydrating could improve it.

Your pitching rate matters with dry yeast just as it does with liquid yeast. Make sure you're pitching enough based on the weight and age of the dry yeast sachet. When I used to use US-05 I would just pitch 2 rehydrated 11.5g packages in 5 gallons of wort. I did this in an attempt to overcome possibly less-than-ideal oxygenation, and it produced reasonable lag times and good beer at relatively high gravities (1.080+). I recognize that this was overkill, and I'm not saying you need to do that for good beer, but if you're looking to diagnose a 48 hour lag time it's worth trying.

As you probably already know, low temperatures slow fermentation down. If you pitch at too low a temperature it will just take longer for active fermentation to start. In Venezuela, I doubt this is your issue.

 

[cladinshadows]

I rehydrated by taking RO water and boiling it in a Pyrex cup (about 1/2 cup of water). I sprayed the cup w/ Star-San before I added the water. I boiled it in a microwave oven, and once it was going good, I added a piece of aluminum foil to cover it, the foil was sanitized.

Once the cup had cooled to room temperature (about 70) I sanitized a spoon and then stirred in the S-05. I let it sit for 30 minutes before pitching, stirred it up again before I pitched, and in it went.

Safale has specific instructions for rehydrating. Your method is fairly close, but for everyone's reference here's the manufacturer's instructions:

http://www.fermentis.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/SFA_US05.pdf

 

[brianpablo]

Yes, I always rehydrate, I always aerate for about 10 minutes before pitching, and I make sure the wort is in the mid 60s before pitching. I'm usually boil and cool enough water to fit in a relatively small drinking glass, stir in the yeast, and let it set for ten minutes. Sometimes I see activity happening in the glass as a result of the Star San I use to sanitize. But I've rarely seen S-05 take off quickly, under any of those circumstances. S-04 takes of noticeably quicker, though with the temperature risks I described. This being a warm climate with ambient temperatures usually the mid to high 70s, fermentation risks are generally overheating and creation of fusel alcohols and tiresome phenols rather than stuck fermentation, which I almost never get.

 

[TheMadKing]

There's 2 ways to reduce lag time: Make sure your yeast are very active, and pitch more cells.

With US-05, it's easy enough to pitch 2 packets and make sure you rehydrate as others have said. Another option is to make a starter and pitch it at high krausen.

All of that being said, there's no reason to reduce the lag time unless it's negatively affecting your beer somehow. It just plain doesn't matter unless you are getting esters or something. What makes you think your contaminant is airborne and not in your equipment somewhere?

 

[mongoose33]

Based on Cladinshadows' post above, perhaps your wort is too cool? Mine is 74-75, which is at the lower end of the range suggested by the .PDF document above. My theory is that the warmer wort allows the yeast to get going, whereas pitching into, say 64 degrees which is the fermentation temperature I usually use, will slow it down.

As to the exact temp of the water in which I rehydrate the yeast, I assume 70, may be a bit higher than that. Room temp is 70, and it will be at least that. Might still be a few degrees higher.

My usual thing is once I get the strike water going, and I'm ready to dough-in as soon as it rises to temp, I'll heat up the yeast water. It sits on the counter for probably....2.5 hours anyway as it cools to room temp. Is it exactly 70 degrees? I doubt it, probably a couple degrees higher as cooling slows as it nears ambient.

I may test this for fun tonite, heat up a cup of water and check it over the course of 2-3 hours to see for sure. I'll report back.

 

[Radboud]

Look into making a vitality starter. I did a batch with Mangrove Jack's M44, which people on here find a slow starter, last week which, using this method, took off in 10 hours. The batch before that where I didn't use this method was the exact same recipe with the same yeast which took 48hrs to start. What I did was:

- Rehydrate in 110ml at 80ºF
- Pitch it into 500ml of 1.034 wort (which was my calculated SG for the batch)
- Put it on a stir plate for 4 hrs
- Pitch the entire starter