Liquid vs Dry Yeast

[Chip]

I am sure that this topic has been discussed in many threads but I made an observation today after using dry yeast that I just want to confirm.

I have made several extract brews with liquid yeast and only a few with dry. I started a brew yesterday with dry yeast and it just hit me that every brew I made with dry yeast had the yeast get started faster and more reactive flow of gas through the air lock.

Does dry yeast just take off faster by providing more yeast cells than the liquid version that comes in a vial? I washed my last brews yeast out so I wil be trying that soon.

Thanks for your expertise.

 

[AKbrewer]

In my experience dry yeast takes off faster than liquid if you don't make a starter. With a proper size starter I`ve found that liquid yeast will take off very fast.....your mileage may very.

 

[jma99]

Nottingham
US-05
S-04
S-33
T-58

I love 'em all!
Fast start, great results, and cheap too!

I haven't used liquid yeast in well over 6 months.
(Anyone want to buy a well used stir plate?)

 

[david_42]

Does dry yeast just take off faster by providing more yeast cells than the liquid version that comes in a vial?

Yes, properly re-hydrated, a 10 gm packet of dry yeast will give you ten times the active cells of a vial. The Wyeast Activators have about the same number of cells as a dry packet.

 

[Bob]

The Wyeast Activators have about the same number of cells as a dry packet.

Unfortunately, this is inaccuracte. According to observations made by Ray Daniels, JZ, and me, that number is short, on average, by half .

You need 1 million active cells per milliliter of wort per degree Plato. Thus, for 5.25 gallons of wort of 12°P (1.048), you need approximately 200 billion cells in order to properly pitch.

The two big liquid yeast companies graciously list the cell-count ranges on their websites. The White Labs vials contain on average, 95 billion cells - less than half of what's required. A Wyeast Activator pack also averages 100 billion cells after activation. Dry yeast have a cell density of approximately 20 billion cells per gram. Thus, 10 grams of dry yeast are needed to properly pitch. Luckily, the most popular dry yeasts are sold in a 11 or 11.5g packet! How convenient!

Are there situations where one could pitch a single vial or packet and be confident of proper pitching? Yes: Extremely low OG ales. Other options include using dry yeast only and/or learn how to make a starter. It's easy, even for the beginner.

Cheers,

Bob

 

[32indian]

Nottingham
US-05
S-04
S-33
T-58

I love 'em all!
Fast start, great results, and cheap too!

I couldn't agree more!!

Of course I still use liquid for odd beers, Belgians, Hefe's, ect..., But for normal Pale Ales, Porters, Stouts, Brown ales, and the like.....the dry stuff is hard to beat and much easier to use. No need to plan ahead. Want to brew TOMORROW ?............ no problem with dry yeast on hand.

 

[Nablis]

I just did my first batch with dry yeast and it was the fastest fermentation so far 5 days and done. I guess I was under pitching even though I was making starters before.

 

[cuinrearview]

When I use liquid yeast and make a starter and aerate the wort when it's pitched, I get rocket starts with liquid yeast. My eight month old washed WLP300 started active fermentation in six hours when I used these procedures. When I just dump a vial in at pitching time I get lag times similar to dry yeast. I don't usually re-hydrate my dry yeast, and I know that has a bearing on lag time, but they usually start for me between 16-24 hours. Still very acceptable.