Returning to dry yeast

[Red Lion Brewing Company]

Hi, kids! I haven't used dry yeast in years, but now that I'm running 1/2 bbl batches, the price of liquid yeast is outpacing my grain bill. I have been toying with returning to dry yeast and have a couple questions. Everything I've been reading says that there is no real need to rehydrate, as yeast production has come a long way since I stopped using it at the turn of the century. Can I increase the cell count by rehydrating and then adding it to a starter, or should I just buy more packages? Do any of you have a preferred method for preparing/using dry yeast that varies from the manufacturers' recommendations, or any caveats I need to be aware of??

 

[Josh Hughes]

No reason to rehydrate. The dry has nutrients that help it and a starter may get more yeast but you lose that stuff. Pick packs to hit the amount you need then re-itching treat as liquid. The yeast pitch calculator on here has been good to me re-itching slurry

 

[J A]

Hi, kids! I haven't used dry yeast in years, but now that I'm running 1/2 bbl batches, the price of liquid yeast is outpacing my grain bill. I have been toying with returning to dry yeast and have a couple questions. Everything I've been reading says that there is no real need to rehydrate, as yeast production has come a long way since I stopped using it at the turn of the century. Can I increase the cell count by rehydrating and then adding it to a starter, or should I just buy more packages? Do any of you have a preferred method for preparing/using dry yeast that varies from the manufacturers' recommendations, or any caveats I need to be aware of??

I use exclusively dry yeast with very good results. I've been a staunch advocate of rehydration but lately I've crossed over to the just-dump-it-in camp. I've seen no issues. I still like the addition of nutrients and O2 for some batches but that's a different debate.

I also switched over to buying yeast by the brick. If you're doing big batches and concerned about costs, you'll appreciate the economy and control over pitch rate, which in most cases needs to be more than the 1 packet per 5 gallons that we're used to using. I buy Apex yeasts from Label Peelers on sale at a price that works out to around $1.50 per 11 grams for ale yeasts and maybe $1.75 per 11 grams for lager yeasts. It's been extremely good stuff across the board.

No doubt @Bigbre04 will chime in.

 

[Josh Hughes]

I use exclusively dry yeast with very good results. I've been a staunch advocate of rehydration but lately I've crossed over to the just-dump-it-in camp. I've seen no issues. I still like the addition of nutrients and O2 for some batches but that's a different debate.

I also switched over to buying yeast by the brick. If you're doing big batches and concerned about costs, you'll appreciate the economy and control over pitch rate, which in most cases needs to be more than the 1 packet per 5 gallons that we're used to using. I buy Apex yeasts from Label Peelers on sale at a price that works out to around $1.50 per 11 grams for ale yeasts and maybe $1.75 per 11 grams for lager yeasts. It's been extremely good stuff across the board.

No doubt @Bigbre04 will chime in.

Id like to do that by the brick. i am terrified of contamination.

 

[J A]

Id like to do that by the brick. i am terrified of contamination.

I've had nothing but good luck with it. I do keep it vacuum sealed and in the fridge. Just using it up in a reasonable time frame is the only real issue. I think it's harder for a dry substance to pickup casual contamination. I used to be completely paranoid but when dry-pitching directly onto wort, handling is decreased so much that there's just not much chance of picking up anything weird.
I make a little pouch of aluminum foil right off the roll, cut open my sealed bag, pour out what I need, pour it into the fermenter and then reseal the brick with my vacuum sealer. The whole process takes about 2 minutes and there's just no real exposure to speak of.

 

[Craigerrr]

So, 15 gallon batches, right?
No need to rehydrate dry yeast, it is ready to pitch. Also no need to oxygenate wort that is 1060 or less, but it sure can't hurt.

 

[Craigerrr]

If you are doing 15 gallon batches a 500 gram brick should do you for 10-12 batches

 

[J A]

If you are doing 15 gallon batches a 500 gram brick should do you for 10-12 batches

I pitch up to 4+ grams per gallon on lagers and up to 3 grams per gallon on ales, though not always quite that much. The beauty of the brick is that "overpitching" a little is easy and effective. O
ne thing that's always been a little misleading with packets of yeast is that the approximately 11 gram pitch is supposed to be good for 5 gallons. But many, if not most of us put 6 gallons in a fermenter to be sure we get at least 5 gallons out. One packet in 6 gallons of wort is not quite the minimum recommended pitch. We get by and it still makes beer but fermentation times are lengthened and sometimes attenuation is not quite as good. When I'm measuring a pitch for an ale, it's usually 15 grams or more, depending on gravity. That's hard to do with packets - it's either not quite enough or way more than you need.

 

[Donoroto]

As everyone said, dry yeast is quite good, just sprinkle it in. Liquid yeast has become too costly for me.

 

[dmtaylor]

For the love of all that is holy, just sprinkle it in dry. Make it easy on yourself. The actual viable cell counts in a properly vacuum or nitrogen packed brick are double of anything that is published, so you don’t even have to use as much as you think.

 

[Dave Y]

Hi, kids! I haven't used dry yeast in years, but now that I'm running 1/2 bbl batches, the price of liquid yeast is outpacing my grain bill. I have been toying with returning to dry yeast and have a couple questions. Everything I've been reading says that there is no real need to rehydrate, as yeast production has come a long way since I stopped using it at the turn of the century. Can I increase the cell count by rehydrating and then adding it to a starter, or should I just buy more packages? Do any of you have a preferred method for preparing/using dry yeast that varies from the manufacturers' recommendations, or any caveats I need to be aware of??

It depends on your time investment here, but you may be better off just buying multiple packages. Are you harvesting and re-pitching? I've used dry packages just pitching into 6 gallons of wort, you wouldn't need a starter unless the yeast was really old or you were doing something like a big @ss Tripel or Wee Heavy, etc. If you harvest and repitch, you'll have a very strong and aggressive yeast strain for pitches 2-6 and it should start to trail off. I can't comment past 6 pitches personally.

 

[J A]

If you harvest and repitch, you'll have a very strong and aggressive yeast strain for pitches 2-6 and it should start to trail off.

I'm not advocating against using harvested trub but for those worried about contamination as @Josh Hughes mentioned, harvesting and re-pitching would pose a greater risk than buying a brick and measuring out what you need. Pitching maximum dosages will yield similar results and the cost efficiency by of buying at brick prices will compare favorably to the cost savings of repitching. And with fresh dry yeast, there's never any doubt as to how effective the pitch will be, as there can be with re-pitched yeast - if it's very freshly harvested, it's great but if it's several weeks old, it starts to deteriorate quickly.

 

[Dave Y]

I'm not advocating against using harvested trub but for those worried about contamination as @Josh Hughes mentioned, harvesting and re-pitching would pose a greater risk than buying a brick and measuring out what you need. Pitching maximum dosages will yield similar results and the cost efficiency by of buying at brick prices will compare favorably to the cost savings of repitching. And with fresh dry yeast, there's never any doubt as to how effective the pitch will be, as there can be with re-pitched yeast - if it's very freshly harvested, it's great but if it's several weeks old, it starts to deteriorate quickly.

Agreed. Sanitizing is a necessity, but, I’ve successfully used harvested yeast 4 months since last use and it was fine.

I checked and my 1728 strain is on its 6th pitch, started 27 hours ago at 1.060

I don’t have a “clean” room, so it’s doable

 

[J A]

I don’t have a “clean” room, so it’s doable

My set up is far from fastidious but I've managed a lot of re-pitching, too. I agree that it can be super effective. I've had some crazy good fermentations. OTOH, I've had lagers take absolutely forever after using what I thought were big, active second pitches, not that far from harvest.
On the whole, more good experiences than bad but I've found that it's just so much easier with a fresh pitch and since I'm not brewing quite as much or as often, harvest and storage is more problematic. I will admit that it's a little painful to collect a couple of pints of prime yeast and dump it or use it for nutrient.

 

[Zambi]

I pitch directly on the left over trub, so no real harvesting. Works everytime (so far).
It saves cleaning as well

 

[Bigbre04]

I measure out 250g into a clean quart container, then vac seal the other half of the brick. Dump it into the top of the fermenter once i cover up my racking arm and have my temp where i want it.

I use Apex Yeast. Pitch 20g of yeast x and 10g of kick at 15 mins. Knock out with O2.

I dont repitch yeast because the cost of the fresh yeast is so low and it allows me to brew what i need when i need it. I keep several bricks of each type of yeast on hand and re-order when i have one pitch left.

I use Apex:
Augustinian lager
Munich lager
San Diego(chico)
Voss
Abbey
Kolsch
Mexican lager

All of them have been really good. I posted my brewing data a while back on the general info under Apex yeast data

 

[Dave Y]

I pitch directly on the left over trub, so no real harvesting. Works everytime (so far).
It saves cleaning as well

I did that a few times. That said, my brewing schedule can be a little... spastic. I'll have 2 or 6 brews mapped out and then I'll get an inspiration and that screws all of it up. Actually, I think did a pitch over trub from a previous brew mid to late '25 if I recall correctly. I think it was 2 straight lagers.

Either way, I was just trying to add in a data point or 2.

 

[Red Lion Brewing Company]

Thanks for all the suggestions. This one post alone has paid for the yearly subscription!! Cheers!!!@