Yeast for all grain brewing

[pineknot]

I am an extract brewer who is preparing to make the jump in to all grain brewing within the next couple of months. Up to this point I have used dry yeast packets for extract fermentation. Question is, can I use the dry yeast packets for all grain brewing? If not, what should I use? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I've seen numerous videos on youtube where the brewer used a smack pack. None of them have used dry packets.

I've also seen people making yeast starters. What is this? Are they making there own yeast? Is this effective? If so, can some one give me easy to follow instructions on how to culture/create your own yeast? Thanks for any and all input! Happy Brewing!

 

[Yooper]

I am an extract brewer who is preparing to make the jump in to all grain brewing within the next couple of months. Up to this point I have used dry yeast packets for extract fermentation. Question is, can I use the dry yeast packets for all grain brewing? If not, what should I use? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I've seen numerous videos on youtube where the brewer used a smack pack. None of them have used dry packets.

I've also seen people making yeast starters. What is this? Are they making there own yeast? Is this effective? If so, can some one give me easy to follow instructions on how to culture/create your own yeast? Thanks for any and all input! Happy Brewing!

Yes, you can use the dry yeast if you like them. Just like with extract brewing, you want good quality dry yeast, like S04 or S05 or nottingham.

If you want to use liquid yeast, you'd want to make a starter just like with extract brewing. You use use 1/2 cup DME to every 2 cups of water, boil that, cool it, and add the yeast. Cover with foil and shake it up every time you walk by. The next day, you can brew.

 

[pineknot]

Great! Thanks you! So basically, a yeast starter is yeast that has already started doing its job on a smaller sample of wort. Can you just pitch the liquid yeast or does it have to be added after starting?

 

[frankstoneline]

Great! Thanks you! So basically, a yeast starter is yeast that has already started doing its job on a smaller sample of wort. Can you just pitch the liquid yeast or does it have to be added after starting?

This is largely dependent on the recipe used, check out the mr malty pitch rate calculator, as a general rule of thumb I always make starters to give the yeast as much of an advantage as possible.

 

[MDVDuber]

I think dry yeasts get a bad rap around here. Most of us start out using first the little packets that come with the kits (They DO deserve a bad rap), then we graduate to quality dry yeast and eventually move to liquid yeasts and starters etc.

What we don't really take in to account when we say - well my beers with Liquid yeast are SO much better than when I used S-05, Nottingham etc. - is that our overall technique has improved dramatically since we first started.

I like the variety available in liquid yeasts and am willing to build up a starter etc to get to my pitch rate, but really if you are doing an American Pale or IPA etc. a couple packs of a good dry yeast will do you fine (check Mr. Malty or another pitching calculator to determine how much). Same with many other types of beer - there's a pretty wide variety of dry yeasts out there.

If you want to brew with liquid yeasts you are almost required to make a starter - maybe you can get away with pitching a single vial or smack pack into a 1.035 Bitter, but anything more really requires a starter and big beers require large starters. Check out http://www.mrmalty.com/ for an idea of how much yeast you'll need.

In the end - Unless you are set on making a Saison or a Belgian beer - I'd suggest that you make the transition to all grain, keep using the dry yeasts you are comfortable with and then when you've mastered all grain and have your system down you can start playing with liquid yeast and all the variety that brings to the table.