Confusing yeast instructions

[Elysium]

I have decided to rehydrate my safale S0-4 yeast and it says I need to leave it in water 10 times of its weight for 15-30 minutes and then "gently stir for 30 minutes and pitch the resulting cream". Stir for 30 minutes? Isn't that a bit too much work and too long of a stir to give to yeast?

 

[Weezy]

I understand the idea is to get the yeast active & happy, and ready to go to work when you put then into the fermenter. I'm guessing the stirring part is to get the yeast to spread out into an even slurry for better disbursement when pitched, and 15-30 seems quite excessive to me too. A lot of people just pour the dry yeast right onto the top of the wort.

IMHO, pouring it dry is just fine. It will just take a bit longer to start. I'm personally more concerned with subtle problems by prehydrating yeast for too long and them using up their nutrients, or temp variation issues during the process and pitching. They might as well spring to action in the food that you intend them to work on, imho.

 

[EineProsit]

you don't really need to rehydrate the 04 but if you must boil a .5 pint of water keep it covered while letting it cool to room temp then sprinkle the 04 onto the cooled water. 15 mins later a quick stir with a sanitized spoon then pitch into the wort

.hope this helps.

 

[Elijah]

The basic idea is to get a homogenized creamy liquid which will make it easier to pitch equally.

You may also choose to sprinkle the dry yeast directly in your wort (AFTER COOLING), wait for it to sink slowly then stir or simply close the carboy / bucket and shake it which will also help oxidization.

 

[aiptasia]

Here's how I do it:

It's brew day. If i'm using dry yeast, I take a cup of water and place it in the microwave. I nuke it for 2 minutes or until it reaches a boil. I then let it sit and cool down.... IN THE MICROWAVE.

Then, I brew.

When the brewing is finished and the wort chiller is doing it's thing to cool down the wort, I remove the now-cooled sanitized water from the microwave and pour in the yeast packet. I stir it up good for a minute or two to unclump it. Then, I let it sit until the wort reaches pitch temperature.

I then stir up the yeast in the cup of water again, then pour it into the wort. Then, I stir the wort. Then, I oxygenate the wort.

Then, I seal the wort in the fermenter and forget about it for three weeks while it ferments in my drop freezer.

Then, I rack it to a bottling bucket with a simple syrup made of 2 oz. brown sugar to one cup hot water. I then keg it or bottle it depending on my needs and mood. The beer then sits for three weeks inside my house (someplace warm) for three weeks before I touch it.

Then, I drinks it.

Then, I pees it out.

 

[frostyp]

Boil a couple of cups of water. Measure out 10ml per gram of yeast, allow water to cool to 35•c , sprinkle yeast onto top cover with sanitised foil, after 15 minutes gently stir in. After 30 in total cool down further if required to same temperature of your wort ( avoids thermal shock) pitch into wort. Job done

 

[Warthaug]

Rehydrating the yeast increases the number of viable yeast you end up pitching - basically, yeast are stressed less by being rehydrated in water than they are in wort. Apparently, you can end up with 50% more yeast if you rehydrate in water.

As for how to do it, I think the OP package had a typo. The usual method is to boil a cup or so of water, let it cool to room temp (covered, to keep nasties out), then sprinkle the yeast on top. Let sit 15-30min, give it a good stir, then pitch. You're looking for a cream-like liquid. Some people I know let it sit after mixing, for visible signs of fermentation to occur (foaming). I'm not sure if that does anything beneficial or not.

Bryan

 

[Elijah]

Here's how I do it:

[...]
Then, I brew.

[...]
Then, I drinks it.

Then, I pees it out.

Too many details?!

 

[kombat]

A lot of people just pour the dry yeast right onto the top of the wort.

A lot of people carry full glass carboys by the neck with that little metal handle thingy, too. Doesn't mean it's a good idea.

IMHO, pouring it dry is just fine. It will just take a bit longer to start.

It takes longer to start because you're underpitching, and they're stressed while trying to build up to the necessary cell count.

Pitching the proper amount of healthy yeast is the second most important factor in producing good beer (fermentation temperature is the first).

I'm personally more concerned with subtle problems by prehydrating yeast for too long and them using up their nutrients

Why would they be using up nutrients in plain water?

I won't dwell on this, but there is ample research clearly demonstrating that when you pitch dry yeast directly into the wort, only roughly half of the cells survive. Thus, you're almost always underpitching.

If you insist on pitching dry, pitch 2 packs.

 

[JDGator]

if your wort is under 1.060 or so, i would just pitch the dry yeast.

 

[Weezy]

A lot of people carry full glass carboys by the neck with that little metal handle thingy, too. Doesn't mean it's a good idea.

Yes and 9 out of 10 ethugs chime in with unsubstantiated angry posts. Thanks for the bitter, baseless reply...it's quite helpful. My post was based on my own experience. Unless I'm a complete idiot, which is possible, I've successfully made beer pitching dry yeast.

Have you ever even read a pack of S-04 or S-05? Alternate instructions say you can pitch right onto the wort.

underpitching? A standard 11g packet is more than enough for a 5 gallon batch, unless you're brewing a big beer. 18 seconds on yeastcalc or mr.malty will tell you this also.

Nutrients? the coating that the dried yeast comes with. If you don't even get this, don't recognize that one 11 gram pack is not underpitching, and are too angry to point us to the extensive research you mention, I don't know how we can be convinced by your attitude alone. I'd really appreciate any links you might have explaining how only 1/2 the yeast survive if pitched dry. I've done it both ways many times to equal success.

 

[Black Island Brewer]

Boil a couple of cups of water. Measure out 10ml per gram of yeast, allow water to cool to 35•c , sprinkle yeast onto top cover with sanitised foil, after 15 minutes gently stir in. After 30 in total cool down further if required to same temperature of your wort ( avoids thermal shock) pitch into wort. Job done

+1, especially the foil and the cooling. "They" say the yeast and wort should be no more than 10 degrees apart, with the wort being the same temp or warmer than the yeast, to get optimal results.

 

[Randy_Bugger]

rehydration instructions for S-05 according to the manufacturer:

Sprinkle the yeast in minimum 10 times its weight of sterile water or wort at 27°c ± 3°C (80°F ± 6°F). Leave to rest 15 to 30 minutes. Gently stir for 30 minutes, and pitch the resultant cream into the fermentation vessel.

Alternatively, pitch the yeast directly in the fermentation vessel providing the temperature of the wort is above 20°C (68°F). Progressively sprinkle the dry yeast into the wort ensuring the yeast covers all the surface of wort available in order to avoid clumps. Leave for 30 minutes, then mix the wort using aeration or by wort addition.

I've rehydrated s05 in water and pitched it dry. Both methods worked fine and there wasn't a noticeable difference in the quality of the beer.

 

[Randy_Bugger]

I think the book Yeast said pitching dry reduces the cell count by 50%. This may be true, but the beers I've made while pitching dry didn't have any off flavors and attenuated just fine. I usually rehydrate in water now just for the heck of it.

 

[BansheeRider]

You can rehydrate in wort too after its been cooled to about 80 degrees. Put the yeast in a cup of wort and let it sit for 15-20 min while you are cooling the rest of your wort.

 

[kombat]

A standard 11g packet is more than enough for a 5 gallon batch

Yes. If you properly rehydrate it.

If you don't even get this, don't recognize that one 11 gram pack is not underpitching

It's not. If you properly rehydrate it.

and are too angry to point us to the extensive research you mention,

The book "Yeast," by Chris White and Jamil Zainasheff.

I've done it both ways many times to equal success.

For sure, you'll still end up with beer - it's simply stressing the yeast and producing off flavours.

 

[Demus]

This debate always makes me laugh. What to believe, the fine print on a foil pack or modern brewers who've written books? I get the argument that "I pitched it dry and it worked fine". Yeast are very hearty little critters, and multiply quickly to get the job done. I have no doubt that many tasty brews have been made with dry pitched yeast. I also have no doubt that dry pitched yeast cannot regulate itself and the sugars in the wort burst approximately half the cells in a pack. I further believe that rehydrating in warm sterile water before pitching prevents this. There's really no argument, because everyone is "right". That said, those who pitch dry are taking a risk. There are countless variables involved and who knows exactly when off flavors will become apparent, but dry pitching increases the chance your beer will turn out flawed. Rehydrating is an extremely simple step to give the true beer makers a better start in their journey towards making our favorite beverage. Why skip it?