Using dry yeast

[McCall St. Brewer]

I'm gonna brew up a batch of EdWort's Haus Pale this weekend and I have a packet of dry Nottingham yeast for it. I have only used dry yeast for brewing one time (I've used dry yeast for baking 100's of times). I think awhile back I brewed a batch of Milwaukee Amber with Safale 56 but I don't know how it would have turned out (I dropped a rubber stopper in the carboy and it ended up being my Rubber Stopper Amber Ale-- I drank it, but it tasted a little weird). Do many of you use dry yeast for beer? Do you get good results?

 

[kvh]

I've used it with success in the past. You can either rehydrate it as you're boiling your wort, (boil a couple cups of water, let it cool in a sanitary measuring cup or jar, and let the yeast soak in that for an hour or two before pitching to the fermenter), or you could probably make a starter a day before with some DME or a mini mini mash and really get them kick started....

kvh.

 

[homebrewer_99]

I have some of EdWort's Haus Pale in the primary now.

I think the OG was 1.050 and last I checked the gravity was at 1.020.
It should be ready to rack tonight or tomorrow.

I used a dry yeast...can't recall the number though.

It is very cirtrusy from the later additions of the hops, but in a nice way and not too overly bitter. At least as I recall at the moment.

 

[Schlenkerla]

Dry Yeast is very reliable. I've pitched it dry and I've rehydrated it too. I usually prefer the rehydration method that kvh mentioned.

In fact I've been using dry yeast exclusively. I used my first liquid yeast on Monday for my Hefe.

The directions are on the pack of Nottinghams. Follow them and you should have good results.

 

[Barley-Davidson]

I use dry yeast a lot and have good results.
I recommend rehydrating it, but I don't recommend a starter for dry yeast.

Here's a link to Danstars instructions, although personally I've always skipped step 2.
http://consumer.lallemand.com/danstar-lalvin/danstarrehyd.html

 

[Foreigner]

Dry yeast is reliable and affordable. I like the nottingham. If you're worried about attenuation without a starter, why not pitch 2 packs? :rockin:

 

[Beerrific]

Dry yeast is reliable and affordable. I like the nottingham. If you're worried about attenuation without a starter, why not pitch 2 packs? :rockin:

Yeah seriously. My LHBS sells Nottingham for $1 and DME for like $4/lb. A second pack is cheaper than the extract for the starter.

 

[Kayos]

Dry yeasts are not supposed to have a starter. I much orefer dry yeasts unless going for a flavor profile (Saison, Hefe....). Just rehydrate and pitch.

 

[david_42]

I use dry yeast about 90% of the time, mainly because I make ales that are focused on malt & hops. I've even used saflager with good results. Most of the time it's Nottingham, Safale 04 or 56; depending on the attenuation I want. Sometimes I'll use Windsor, if I want a sweeter ale.

I never make a starter with dry.

 

[SAS98M]

I've used the nottingham dry yeast in a few batches to date with very good results-no starter used,did activate(hydrate)30 mins.prior to pitching.
I only used a "smack pac" a couple times in various cider recipes-didn't notice any difference from them to the dry Lalvin yeasts that I am presently using there either. Two thumbs up for dry yeast-very simple..... Shane

 

[Orfy]

Danstar say do not use a starter. For big beers proper rehydration can have some benefits and get a quicker start but there is no harm just sprinkling the dried yeast on top of the wort.

KISS.

 

[Got Trub?]

Dry yeast should not be pitched using a starter as the manufacturer has gone to alot of trouble to prepare your yeast for fermentation that you will loose the benefit of if you pitch it into a starter first. Also the yeast #'s are much higher in a packet of dry yeast then in liquid yeast so you need less. If you use Mr Malty's calculator (http://www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html) you only need one 11.5g packet of dry yeast to pitch a 5 gal batch of up to 1.059 gravity. Only in bigger beers would you need to pitch another packet.

 

[Bigfoot]

I use dry yeast all the time, never have used a starter and has always worked well for me.

 

[Turkeyfoot Jr.]

I've used Safale US-56 on several batches and Brewferm Blanche on several as well, I've been very pleased with both. The Brewferm in particular has been very good. I have a honey wheat that I made with it that tastes spectacular when I stir up some of the sediment in the bottle and pour it on top of the head.

Whenever I use dry I boil 2 cups of water first, cool that to 90 degrees or so and then pitch my yeast in to rehydrate for 15-30 minutes. I continue to chill the slurry after pitching so that it's temp and the temp of my wort are within a few degrees of each other.

 

[Reidman]

Has anyone tried re-pitching onto a yeast cake from dry yeast..?
Just curious. I know the yeast is cheap but it would make things a little easier.

 

[malkore]

From what I have read, yes you can pitch onto a yeast cake leftover from a dry yeast batch. At this point, yeast is yeast. Dry yeast has been 'formulated' to do better without a starter, just a rehydrating and maybe a little proofing.

Liquid yeast needs to grow in population, and also adjust its cell walls so that the introduction of a high gravity wort doesn't stall it. Dry yeast as I understand it has already been subjected to some higher gravities then its quickly dried. So it expects the wort.

That's at least how I understand it.

 

[brewerdave]

I always use dry yeast, and I have had great results with it. It's usually Nottingham, but I tried a hefe with some Brewferm Blanche, which I just bottled yesterday. I tasted some of the beer from the half bottle that I had left over, and it tasted great. And yes, you can pitch onto a dry yeast cake. I brewed a dunkelweiss and just poured it on top of the cake from the hefe. Fermentation did not take off as quickly as I had expected, but I'm glad I rigged a blowoff tube because when I got up this morning the jar of sanitizer was nearly full of kraeusen. The room that I have my primary in smells like bananas....mmm! Dry yeast is definitely a good thing.

 

[Ol' Grog]

Nottinghams require rehydration, or at least that's what they write on the package. I have only used dry yeast in all my brews. So much easier and cheaper. I can't believe that my brews will taste 100% better if I switch to a liquid yeast. Better some maybe, but not drastic. One day I plan to try that but until then, by brews are simply awesome tasting and everyone that has tried it has said the same thing.

 

[PT Ray]

At the first of the year I decided to limit my ale production primarly to one strand of dried yeast and push it to its limitations. The two obvious choices were Nottingham and Safale 56, purchased two packets of each for initial testing.

Like most, cost was a major factor but even more was simplicity. My objective these days is to make simple cost effective good beer. I listen to Jamil all the time and very rarely does he mention dried yeast and felt he was doing an unjustice, took a little time to realize this was not the case. His teachings are details that win awards and not always just what makes good beer. So on with my mission.

I started with Nottingham. The first packet was pitched straight into the wort and a little into a starter. The starter was built up and then split into smaller flasks for later starters. The initial pitch was used for a couple repitches with no ill effect. I made a starter from my reserve stock and repitched that two times, again no ill effects. 10 batches 6 months later still have yeast in storage from the initial package. I wanted to push the limit and keep repitching but was satisfied with what I had, really want to move onto the Safale 56.

Overall I am very happy with my results. Nottingham finished quicker than previous batches with liquid but did not seem quite as clean. Nothing that would define it as a bad beer.