33 replies to this topic

[54BelAir]

I brewed Alt Beverage's Nut 'N Honey Brown ale Sat afternoon. https://ebrew.com/am...y_brown_ale.htm I used Nottingham dry yeast which I rehydrated at about 100 degrees for 30 minutes. I pitched the yeast when the wort and the rehydrated yeast equalized at 65 degrees. My fermentation room is a consistent 64 degrees. After 36, almost 48 hours I am seeing no signs of fermentation. There's a considerable amount of sediment in the bottom about 2". This isn't my first batch, but its been about 13 years since I have brewed, so I am a little rusty. My batch looks more like the end of fermentation not the beginning. Should I pitch more yeast? any other ideas?Thanks,Chris

[Spoon]

I'd warm it up and give it a swirl.If you had a real vigorous fermentation it might be done. Only way to know is to take a hydro reading.

[ncbeerbrewer]

I brewed Alt Beverage's Nut 'N Honey Brown ale Sat afternoon. https://ebrew.com/am...y_brown_ale.htm I used Nottingham dry yeast which I rehydrated at about 100 degrees for 30 minutes. I pitched the yeast when the wort and the rehydrated yeast equalized at 65 degrees. My fermentation room is a consistent 64 degrees. After 36, almost 48 hours I am seeing no signs of fermentation. There's a considerable amount of sediment in the bottom about 2". This isn't my first batch, but its been about 13 years since I have brewed, so I am a little rusty. My batch looks more like the end of fermentation not the beginning. Should I pitch more yeast? any other ideas?Thanks,Chris

The only way to tell if you had any fermentation is to check your gravity and compare it to your starting gravity. My thoughts is 100 degrees is a bit warm to pitch yeast. You very well could have shocked and killed off the yeast. I don't try to pitch into wort that is anything warmer than 75 degrees for ales and that is for a starter for fermentation of beers I go down to the 60's and 40-50's for lagers. I would check the gravity and give it another 24-48 hours if there is no change in gravity and no sign of fermentation then repitch the yeast and let it go.

[54BelAir]

I have been hesitant to open it up and check gravity, fearing contamination.I have seen no signs of fermentation at all no bubbles, nothing at all. I rehydrated the yeast at 100 degrees, and pitched at 65. Is it possible that I tried to rehydrate the yeast at too high of a temp?

[Kremer]

I'd toss in another packet of yeast about now.

[Thirsty]

It dosnt say the OG in that link, but if it is a 4.4% beer than the OG was probably around .040. Meaning you could have had a quick fermentation. Like suggested take a gravity reading. If you do not have a hydrometer, take a sample and taste- is it sweet like wort? or dry like beer?

[Big Nake]

It's uncommon for dry yeast not to take off. For a dry ale yeast to hesitate like this, it's either very cool or you killed the yeast. While I think that 100° is too warm to rehydrate, I don't think it's too warm to kill yeast. But that's just an opinion. If you had fermentation, you would see some crud around the top of the wort/beer. You could swirl it a little and see what it does and you could also just open it carefully and take a sniff. If it smells like beer, it fermented REALLY quick. If it doesn't smell like much of anything, I would add more yeast, personally.Ps. When I used to rehydrate dry yeast, I waited for the water or wort to be at 80°. Good luck.

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

It's uncommon for dry yeast not to take off. For a dry ale yeast to hesitate like this, it's either very cool or you killed the yeast. While I think that 100° is too warm to rehydrate, I don't think it's too warm to kill yeast. But that's just an opinion. If you had fermentation, you would see some crud around the top of the wort/beer. You could swirl it a little and see what it does and you could also just open it carefully and take a sniff. If it smells like beer, it fermented REALLY quick. If it doesn't smell like much of anything, I would add more yeast, personally.Ps. When I used to rehydrate dry yeast, I waited for the water or wort to be at 80°. Good luck.

I think the optimum rehydration range is 90-100F (I shoot for 90F).

[Big Nake]

I think the optimum rehydration range is 90-100F (I shoot for 90F).

Okay, there you go. I seem to remember 80 for some reason, but I also pitched dry yeast without even rehydrating it and the results were good. But if he didn't kill the yeast, what's up? Is it done? 64° is not too cool to ferment ale with dry yeast... no way. Is it possible the water was hotter than 100°? Like 120°? That could do it. Good luck.

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

Okay, there you go. I seem to remember 80 for some reason, but I also pitched dry yeast without even rehydrating it and the results were good. But if he didn't kill the yeast, what's up? Is it done? 64° is not too cool to ferment ale with dry yeast... no way. Is it possible the water was hotter than 100°? Like 120°? That could do it. Good luck.

if it was 120F that might do it also I'm talking about rehydrating in water - I don't know if the numbers change when we are talking about wort.

[Big Nake]

if it was 120F that might do it also I'm talking about rehydrating in water - I don't know if the numbers change when we are talking about wort.

When I was an ultra-newbie (brewing in a Brew-On-Premise... not yet brewing at home), their procedure was to reach into the boil kettle at flameout and get 1½ to 2 cups of hot wort in a pyrex cup, put a paper towels over it and let it cool to about 80-90°, then sprinkle the dry yeast on the wort and not disturb it for 10 minutes. Then stir it and pitch it into the now-cooled wort. I honestly don't think there's a diff between water & wort, but that was their gig.

[Thirsty]

let it cool to about 80-90°, then sprinkle the dry yeast on the wort and not disturb it for 10 minutes. Then stir it and pitch it into the now-cooled wort. I honestly don't think there's a diff between water & wort, but that was their gig.

This dosnt make much sense. I thought the whole idea of rehydrating in water and not wort was to allow the cell walls to strengthen and build with water void of sugar, once strong and hydrated they can then be introduced to the wort.

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

This dosnt make much sense. I thought the whole idea of rehydrating in water and not wort was to allow the cell walls to strengthen and build with water void of sugar, once strong and hydrated they can then be introduced to the wort.

just b/c that's what makes sense doesn't mean that's what everyone does (note that I don't think Ken was advocating this procedure)

[54BelAir]

Thanks for all the advice. I will check the SG when I get home, but I am inclined to think I killed the yeast. I never had foam or anything rise to he top at all. I figured that 100 was ok, the John Palmer book gives a range of 95 to 105. There's a possibility that I went completely mental and forgot how to read a thermometer. I hope not.

[54BelAir]

One more question. Will it be ok to pitch new yeast tomorrow? I can't get more yeast until then. How long of a window do I have before the wort is no good and needs to be dumped? Sorry that's two questions.

[Big Nake]

Yes, you can repitch tomorrow. If your primary is sealed tight, you have a window. You don't want to wait long for active fermentation to begin because someone else could muscle in on your wort (bacteria) and turn it to vinegar or worse. Good luck & keep us posted.

[Big Nake]

This dosnt make much sense. I thought the whole idea of rehydrating in water and not wort was to allow the cell walls to strengthen and build with water void of sugar, once strong and hydrated they can then be introduced to the wort.

Yeah, I don't know where this came from and I haven't seen many (or any) brewers mention rehydrating in wort instead of water. But I will say this... the beers we made at this BOP were monkey-fighting fantastic. We made Belgians, Pilsners, Red Lagers, Oktobers, Amber Ales, etc. and they always came out really, really good. * shrugs *

[ncbeerbrewer]

This dosnt make much sense. I thought the whole idea of rehydrating in water and not wort was to allow the cell walls to strengthen and build with water void of sugar, once strong and hydrated they can then be introduced to the wort.

Preparing Dry YeastDry yeast should be re-hydrated in water before pitching. Often the concentration of sugars in wort is high enough that the yeast can not draw enough water across the cell membranes to restart their metabolism. For best results, re-hydrate 2 packets of dry yeast in warm water (95-105°F) and then proof the yeast by adding some sugar to see if they are still alive after de-hydration and storage.I took this from the John Palmer How to Brew book online. Sounds like Thirty is right on this. The sugar gets in the way of the yeast hydrating and forming a strong cell membrane. I have always used water that was boiled and never tried or used the wort that the beer is going to be made in. While I think his suggestion as Zym said 95-105 seems a bit warm to pitch yeast I can understand and support the claim of water vs wort for rehydration.

[Big Nake]

Preparing Dry YeastDry yeast should be re-hydrated in water before pitching. Often the concentration of sugars in wort is high enough that the yeast can not draw enough water across the cell membranes to restart their metabolism. For best results, re-hydrate 2 packets of dry yeast in warm water (95-105°F) and then proof the yeast by adding some sugar to see if they are still alive after de-hydration and storage.I took this from the John Palmer How to Brew book online. Sounds like Thirty is right on this. The sugar gets in the way of the yeast hydrating and forming a strong cell membrane. I have always used water that was boiled and never tried or used the wort that the beer is going to be made in. While I think his suggestion as Zym said 95-105 seems a bit warm to pitch yeast I can understand and support the claim of water vs wort for rehydration.

Again, I don't hear brewers mention rehydration with wort but apparently I unknowingly debunked this theory 12+ years ago. If there is a problem with rehydrating dry yeast with wort instead of water, it doesn't seem to carry anything over to the finished beer because the beers we made there were outstanding.

[Spoon]

I am willing to bet it cooked off real fast. I'd at least take a hydro reading then if it doesn't look right then repitch another pack of yeast.I personally do not rehydrate yeast unless I'm baking, but that is how I roll