[sparkleberry]

so i brewed two days ago. ground water wouldn't get me to pitching temps, which is fine as i planned on letting wort chill the rest of the way in the ferm chamber anyway. and i did.

i rehydrated yeast yesterday and nothing was happening after 24 hours+.

today i sprinkled another pack of us05 into the wort and have very good things going on now.

i rehydrated the yeast at 105. followed reliable directions for it and still had nothing. it's an american wheat similar to gumballhead(which i've never actually had). within a few hours of pitching dry yeast today, fermentation is taking off.

i guess my question is, did i do the right thing? i've never rehydrated yeast before. i usually use wyeast 1056 and make a starter, but was a little confused as to why fermentation didn't take off with the rehydrated us05. brew day was off a little as i haven't brewed in a while but process was still pretty solid.

cheers and thanks.

[HoosierBrew]

I used to rehydrate per the instructions, but i have just sprinkled on top for years and won't go back.  It's easy when rehydrating to  1/ go a little warm and kill some or all of the yeast   or  2/ to add another sanitation risk.  I don't know how accurate your thermometer is, but it sounds like either a bad/old packet of yeast, or the actual temp you rehydrated at was a little high and you killed the yeast, especially since the packet of dry kicked fermentation right off. Use it dry, man.

[erockrph]

I used to rehydrate per the instructions, but i have just sprinkled on top for years and won't go back.  It's easy when rehydrating to  1/ go a little warm and kill some or all of the yeast   or  2/ to add another sanitation risk.  I don't know how accurate your thermometer is, but it sounds like either a bad/old packet of yeast, or the actual temp you rehydrated at was a little high and you killed the yeast, especially since the packet of dry kicked fermentation right off. Use it dry, man.

+1 - I've tried it both ways and didn't notice an appreciable difference, so I just sprinkle it on dry.

105 does seem like a high temp for rehydrating. The Fermentis website recommends 80F water if you choose to rehydrate. It could be that either your water outright killed the yeast from being too hot, or you ended up shocking the rehydrated yeast by taking them from 100+ degree water and pitching it into much cooler wort.

[majorvices]

I never rehydrate. For high gravity beers I add extra yeast (as much as 50% more). Always have fermentation within 24 hours and narry a hitch. Just no need to rehydrate US-05 in my experience. None. Nada. Zilch. Don't let anyone tell you differently.

[kgs]

I went back and forth for years, but several batches ago had a contaminated batch (my 2nd in over 4 years of brewing, the first happened on my 2nd batch) and my process is otherwise so good I'm going back to sprinkling. I don't see any difference in lift-off and if I were worried about it one bit I'd sprinkle another half-packet. Make sure you have fresh yeast and keep it in the fridge until brewday.

Without knowing your temps, I concur you may have killed your yeast. The persnickety process of ensuring the rehydration water was within the right range is probably where I introduced contamination.

[denny]

I'm another one who has tried both ways and settled on no rehydration.

[breweite]

I just wanted to be clear, as I'm switching to more and more dry yeast for $ reasons. Just "sprinkle" and walk away?  I've sometimes sprinkled and then shook or used my drill to give it a good swirl.  Is this a bad idea?

[denny]

It's unlikely to be harmful, but it won't help either.  Just sprinkle and walk away is all that's necessary.

[sparkleberry]

thanks everyone.

[Stevie]

I don't mind rehydrating my dry yeast. I simply boil a small amount of water in a flask covered with foil and let cool while brewing. If I ever use dry yeast as a backup plan, I pitch right on top the wort.

[repo]

so i brewed two days ago. ground water wouldn't get me to pitching temps, which is fine as i planned on letting wort chill the rest of the way in the ferm chamber anyway. and i did.

i rehydrated yeast yesterday and nothing was happening after 24 hours+.

today i sprinkled another pack of us05 into the wort and have very good things going on now.

i rehydrated the yeast at 105. followed reliable directions for it and still had nothing. it's an american wheat similar to gumballhead(which i've never actually had). within a few hours of pitching dry yeast today, fermentation is taking off.

i guess my question is, did i do the right thing? i've never rehydrated yeast before. i usually use wyeast 1056 and make a starter, but was a little confused as to why fermentation didn't take off with the rehydrated us05. brew day was off a little as i haven't brewed in a while but process was still pretty solid.

cheers and thanks.

I have done both and not found any discernible difference. I haven't rehydrated in years, but when I did it was as per Fermentis 80 +/- 6 degrees.  I have also never had dry yeast take of within a few hours, always several hours and later. I think your original pitch was starting to work.

I have also tried the starter vs straight vial and found no discernible difference. There are lots of situations where making a starter is not necessary, just as there are lots of situations where making one is necessary. 

[narcout]

I doubt temperature was your issue, unless your thermometer is not accurate.

Chris White and/or Jamil (not sure who wrote the section on working with dry yeast in Yeast) recommend rehydrating at 105 degrees.  I've rehydrated many a packet of US-05 at that temperature and never had a problem with it.

Perhaps rehydrating isn't necessary, but it's never killed my yeast.

[Jimmy K]

I just wanted to be clear, as I'm switching to more and more dry yeast for $ reasons. Just "sprinkle" and walk away?  I've sometimes sprinkled and then shook or used my drill to give it a good swirl.  Is this a bad idea?

I think some of the idea behind sprinkling is to allow the cells to more slowly rehydrate as they sit on top. Immediately stirring may cause the cells to fill with sugary wort faster. I can't say it's bad, but maybe it's not good.

[aveteto01]

I'm another one who has tried both ways and settled on no rehydration.

So, Rehydrated < Dry

But is a yeast starter better than just sprinkling the dry yeast in? Or is that really just to boost pitching rate for higher OG beers?

[In The Sand]

I just wanted to be clear, as I'm switching to more and more dry yeast for $ reasons. Just "sprinkle" and walk away?  I've sometimes sprinkled and then shook or used my drill to give it a good swirl.  Is this a bad idea?

I think some of the idea behind sprinkling is to allow the cells to more slowly rehydrate as they sit on top. Immediately stirring may cause the cells to fill with sugary wort faster. I can't say it's bad, but maybe it's not good.

I used to sprinkle and walk away, but since I got my Blichmann plate chiller I can chill to pitching temps right away. So I fill the carboy half way then pitch the dry yeast as I fill the rest of the way. Still seeing attenuation as expected and no ill effects in the flavor department. YMMV