I tried that a couple times… I was so frustrated trying not to let O2, I almost gave up brewing!!
Then you read the yeast book… Yeast CAN NOT live without O2… Whew, I’m good to go!
Sneezles61
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Wait guys he’s using dry yeast. Didn’t we recently have a discussion about aerating dry yeast and decided it was not necessary or advised. Let me see if I can find it
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Yea I bought the yeast when it was warmer weather so I opted for the dry this time, just never got around to using it thanks to moving houses. I have had a few liquids die in transit during the summer, so I go the safe route.
Like I said I don’t normally aerate a ton, even when using a starter. Just slosh around a little to mix the yeast into the wort and get a little oxygen in there.
I helped my neighborhood buddy brew a double batch of Conway’s Irish Ale clone that he bought ingredients for back in April on Sunday. He smacked both yeast packs three hours before he came over, but neither swelled. I whipped them into a double starter on my stirplate for 8 hours then he came back and got them to pitch. He was very concerned when it wasn’t doing anything. He checked the other yeast packs (he bought 1272) and they were dated March so we figured they might be old and tired even though they had been in the fridge. He was going to go out and buy two more packs to pitch today and checked on the batch and both carboys were merrily bubbling away. I didn’t give him my mixstir to whip it up after pitching so he probably didn’t get quite enough O2 in at the beginning. That’s the longest lag I’ve seen on a beer I’ve brewed.
Rad
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Ah, good point. My statement above is applicable to avoiding lag in general, but with dry yeast on initial pitch, yes, no aeration is needed per more recent data, outlined in that prior thread…
Now here, yes, with liquid yeast, especially stressed liquid yeast, and with repitches of dry or liquid yeast origin, aeration is still advised. Or at least advised by me 
As far as bringing out esters, and purposefully stressing yeast, that is not what I would routinely do,( I haven’t been brewing Belgian styles of late), except with hefeweizens, with an intentional underpitch. But even then with Wyeast 3068 I would aerate. I hate lag.
Minor update, it’s a good thing he was fermenting his carboys in his spare bathtub in the basement, cause the 6.5 gallon one blew the airlock off and made a giant mess Friday morning. 
He called all in a panic so I loaned him my spare blowoff tube and told him how to use it. Things calmed down after that and was back to merrily bubbling Saturday morning. Sometimes these things just take time.
Rad
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Exactly the reason I ditched those air lockers… well, except for when fermenting apple juice…
Sneezles61
Weird moment. Fermentation stopped at about 82% attenuation, which is normal for this yeast. Stayed there for 4 days. I added 2 ounces of dry hop last night, and today the gravity went down again overnight. Attenuation is now at 92%. I’m thinking of ignoring this, but I know hops don’t change fermentation so I don’t know what could have happened unless the tilt hydrometer is resting against the side of the bucket, changing the angle artificially
Dry hopping loose messes with the Tilt
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Some hops cause fermentation too… I believe that is what is considered “hop creep”…
Sneezles61
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I have heard of hop creep, but a SG of 1.011 to 1.005 is a LOT imo
It could be… But there is another piece of the puzzle to contemplate…
Sneezles61
Agree with @sneezles61, 2 oz of hops could definitely cause hop creep. If my beer has more ethanol than planned, that’s a good day in my book. 
But I can see that its a problem for the pros, who get classified and taxed on amount of ethanol / with real penalties for selling a product not at specs.
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I never rehydrate dry yeast but I do use a yeast nutrient. This one in fact. The directions say to throw the whole capsule in there with 10 minutes left on the boil, but I usually open the cap up and dump it in that way. Works great. But of course yeast health can always be a variable…
Don’t let guests know your secret ingredient is “food grade” urea. Besides yeast nutrients, what can’t urine do?
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That stuff is in everything… WAIT… isn’t CWD (chronic wasting disease) caused by critters eating their own… powdered bones and such? Fertilizers for the farm/garden… I should stop now…
Sneezles61
