Its alive! Its the Yeast!!

[dogslapbrewery]

Just wanted to chat about some good old yeast and different practices. First off how many of you guys out there use dry yeast? Also do you hydrate your yeast and what temp? Palmers book says around 95-105 where a lot of the manufactory packets different. Do you go as far to hydrate before pitching into your starter? If your pitching with yeast slurry how do you measure it out with out handling it?

 

[rhys333]

I use both dry yeast and liquid, depending on what I'm brewing. I hydrate dry yeast usually, unless its a small batch or if i want to deliberately underpitch. I usually follow packet instructions for rehydration, though I notice more activity when i rehydrate on the warmer side as per Palmer's instructions. I never pitch dry yeast to a starter. As I understand it, dry yeast is geared specifically for rehydration and starters are not required (even counter productive) for your average size batch.

As for yeast slurry, I prefer the top-cropping technique as it provides pure, strong, yeast that hasn't been stressed out. Its easy to do, reduces risk of infection (in my opinion), and stays stable and viable for a long time. I have tried scooping trub material after racking off a beer, then repitching the slurry in a new batch, but found the characteristics of the yeast changed somewhat. I measured how much trub slurry to pitch using the Mr. Malty calculator. The calculator worked well for this, however it wasn't accurate for the previously mentioned top-cropped yeast. The calculator told me my month old yeast was only 10% viable. From my observations, in reality it was probably closer to 75% plus. I ended up over-pitching as a result.

 

[dogslapbrewery]

Yeah I've never really harvested my yeast from the crop top just using glass carboys its hard to get down inside. How much you normally scoop off? Do you just store it in a mason jar with boiled distilled water or do you toss it right into a starter and store that till brew day? I brew average about 1-2 patches a month so I never really found it worth the effort and risk of trying to harvest. Then again I only used bottom slurry yeast after fermentation.

 

[boydster]

First off how many of you guys out there use dry yeast?

I do, often.

Also do you hydrate your yeast and what temp?

Usually between 85-95. As long as I'm somewhere in that range, I don't stress about it.

Do you go as far to hydrate before pitching into your starter?

I don't really make starters with dry yeast, since IMO it's cheaper and easier to just buy an extra packet if I need more. That said, you certainly CAN make starters with dry yeast. Definitely hydrate first, and use a pitching/starter calc to make sure you get at least one full doubling. If you can, use a stirplate. Those.steps will help ensure you get the healthiest yeast possible from your starter.

If your pitching with yeast slurry how do you measure it out with out handling it?

Try storing your harvested yeast in mason jars with volume markings on the side to help estimate the amount of slurry you have. Then, you can use a pitch rate calc like Brewer's Friend or Mr. Malty to determine how much slurry to pitch in your starter or beer.

 

[IslandLizard]

If and when I use dry yeast I always re-hydrate it, following the manufacturers' instructions to a T, or when unintelligible, I interpolate with another one of their dry yeast line. Hello Lallemand, are you listening? Same for starters from dry yeast.

As you noted, some yeasts have different guidelines for re-hydration, mostly dealing with different re-hydration and/or pitching temperatures and atemperating ranges.

Measuring yeast slurry to pitch?
It took me a long time to figure that one out. I cold crash and decant, now how much slurry is left there? 200ml? 300 maybe?

Simple method:
Weight it! Subtract the mass of the flask* and voila, your amount of slurry in grams, which I roughly equate with slurry volume in ml. I pitch the amount needed and like to leave a bit for ranching or the next fresh starter.

* Note: First mark (e.g., number, letter) then weight and record all your empty flasks with or without stoppers.

 

[rhys333]

Yeah I've never really harvested my yeast from the crop top just using glass carboys its hard to get down inside. How much you normally scoop off? Do you just store it in a mason jar with boiled distilled water or do you toss it right into a starter and store that till brew day? I brew average about 1-2 patches a month so I never really found it worth the effort and risk of trying to harvest. Then again I only used bottom slurry yeast after fermentation.

I prefer buckets, as for me I find them the safe, practical, and versatile compared with carboys. Open fermenting and harvesting is a snap.

I do two yeast skims. The first is a "dirt" skim at the 24 hour mark, removing hop and trub junk. It goes in the compost. The secod skim is at 48 hours, and I collect about 80-90% of what's there. It goes directly into sanitized mason jar, topped with cooled boiled distilled water. I let it rest in the fridge for 1 hour, then top up with more water, just so its under the seal (minimizing headspace). Back in the fridge with the lid on loose (for offgassing), then I tighten it down after a day or so.

I brew every 3-8 weeks, and I prefer this method because I want to build up a few strains for variety. I've found the T.C. yeast stores very well and remains strong for quite a while. It also behaves the same each time, so I can rely on it attenuating properly and retaining characteristics particular to the strain.