Yeast Starter for dry yeast

Yeast & Fermentation
1

need instructions for making starter with dry yeast

2

Here is a link to the .pdf from the Fermentis site for US-04. Personally, I have never rehydrated, I just sprinkle the packet on top of the wort and let it sit for 10-15 mins before I hit it with my mixstir to aerate.

:beers:
Rad

3

I’ll start with a question- how big a beer are you making that you think you’ll need a starter?

You’ll hear that dry yeast will ferment pretty well just sprinkled on top, or rehydrated and pitched. And that making a starter could actually deplete nutrient reserves. I might consider pitching two packets of dry yeast for a huge beer, or just one packet, rehydrated for a relatively big beer. If you’re stuck and really do need a starter, maybe rehydrate first, then make a starter.

Here’s a previous thread with a few opinions to consider:

4

Bourbon Barrel Porter. OG 1.065. Northern Brewer recommends yeast starter.

5

I’m going to suggest you’re fine with the dry yeast option. Here’s a link to a yeast calculator:

http://mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html

This helps you to figure out pitching rates. If you go to the “Dry yeast” tab, and enter your O.G. of 1.065 and a volume of 5.25 gallons, it suggests 13 grams of yeast. An 11 gram packet is pretty close. Now this assumes your packet is relatively fresh, but dry yeast is pretty hardy.

Now if you used liquid yeast, I’d absolutely go for a starter. Again, you can use that calculator to figure out an appropriate pitching rate. In general, dry yeast goes much further than liquid yeast.

6

A 1.065 OG ale would be on the edge for sprinkling dry yeast onto the wort. Rehydrating would be better for more viable cells to survive the pitch.

Look at @radagast link. Here is another link from Danstar. http://www.danstaryeast.com/articles/dry-yeast-rehydration-conditions Tap water mentioned is most likely well water not municipal water with chlorine. Another link from Fermentis with more information. http://www.brewwithfermentis.com/tips-tricks/yeast-rehydration/ Here they say sprinkle on water or wort for rehydration. 1.065 wort would be too strong in my opinion. I would skip the sprinkle on wort to rehydrate because that would be the same as sprinkling dry in the fermentor.

You can make a starter with dry yeast but it must be properly rehydrated first. You could end up with fewer viable cells than you started with if not properly rehydrated. Rehydration turns the dry yeast to liquid yeast. Same as harvesting yeast from the fermentor when the fermentation was started with dry yeast.

This beer could be fermented with one rehydrated pack of fresh dry yeast if the wort is well aerated and temperature control is good. Poor temperature control could inhibit budding of new yeast cells in the lag phase before alcohol production begins…

7

For that, a single pack if dry yeast wil be fine. No starter necessary. They’re talking about liquid yeast.

8

I have used a single unrehydrated pack for that OG so many times I can’t remember how many! No problem whatsoever.

And switching to pedantic mode, there are not distinct stages for fermentation. According to the Crabtree Effect, fermentation will begin immediately in a >.5% glucose solution. So there is no separate lag phase.

9

After I shake my fermenter for oxygenation, it’s mostly foam on top when I pitch. No stirring. Never had an issue with under attenuation. Would that almost be like rehydrating?

1 Like
10

I do the same but, put the yeast in first! Kinda like one of those wild rides at the amusement park for them! Sneezles61

1 Like
11

I have used US04 sprinkled right in for a gravity closer to 1.080 and it still came out beer. A starter can’t hurt of course or a second packet of yeast.

12

thanks for all the replies!!