Yeasts are micro-organisms used in brewing to produce alcohol during the process of fermentation.

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Do commercial breweries stir in their fermenters to expose more yeast to the wort?

I noticed that ale yeasts, so called top-fermenting yeast, floats to the top. Does this mean that the yeast only works on the wort near the top of the fermenter? Assuming that no oxygen or bacteria ...
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1answer
226 views

How do you harvest yeast from a commercial beer?

I've done yeast starters and I've re-used yeast beds but I have never previously harvested or captured yeast from a commercial beer. I tried it last night, inventing my process as I went but I'm ...
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125 views

Slow temperature rising vs equivalent fluctuations

I've read a few accounts of brewers using slow temperature increments to bring out particular flavours from the yeast that they're using. For example, stepping up 1C or so every day over a few days. ...
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1answer
157 views

Use of servomyces in a yeast starter

1 servomyces capsule is the correct dose for 5 galons of wort. If I want to add servomyces to my 1.5 litre yeast starter should i break open the capsule and use only part of it? or is it safe to add ...
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33 views

Reusing vs using new yeast [duplicate]

Possible Duplicate: How many times can yeast be reused? I have read in a couple of places that you should only reuse yeast a couple of times - most say up to 5 times because you would get ...
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5answers
239 views

What are the possible consequences of putting dry yeast straight into the wort?

I always put my dry yeast directly into the wort, even though the packaging says to rehydrate it first. I've never had (noticed?) any problems with fermentation. What could this habit cause to go ...
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2answers
517 views

Yeast Starter with Dry Yeast (S-04)

I know the common wisdom is you shouldn't do this, but I am brewing two mid-to-high gravity beers on Saturday (1.065 and 1.072), and only have one packet. I am now chilling a 2L starter that I was ...
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2answers
259 views

Yeast, CO2 Toxicity with mead and beer

Degassing CO2 during early fermentation is important for wine and mead. But why not for beer? I'm getting back into mead making and see plenty of references to degassing the must during early ...
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3answers
134 views

Wyeast Activator Swelling Expiration time

I intended on brewing tonight so I broke the activator on my Wyeast 1450 last night. Only today did I realize I'm missing a fermenting bucket to actually ferment with (d'oh, big mistake!), so I'll ...
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4answers
229 views

Harvested Yeast - What are these layers and do I have too much?

I harvested yeast a few weeks back from my hefeweizen (Wyeast 3068) which I had open fermented. To harvest, I scrapped it right off the top, after ~36 hours of fermenting, with a sanitized spoon. I ...
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3answers
733 views

Can Dried yeast function at a low temperature?

I started my first batch of home brew lager around 24hrs ago I aerarted it and it was at 20 Degrees celcius but does not appear to be fermenting..... I know people say I have to give it time as I read ...
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2answers
881 views

Alternative/homemade yeast nutrient?

I forgot to add nutrient to my must when I put it in my carboy the other day (first time brewing mead). I fear I won't be able to get to my homebrew store before it's too late, so I'm wondering if I ...
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3answers
820 views

Wyeast 1187 Ringwood Failure

I'll start by saying that I've never used liquid yeast before, so it could all be my fault... Anyway, I ordered some Wyeast 1187 Ringwood to use for a Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA clone that I did on ...
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2answers
163 views

Making a starter when reusing yeast

I want to reuse the washed yeast from a previous batch of beer in my next batch. Should I make a starter for it? If so, how much of it? I looked at MrMalty, and it seems to me they tell me not to make ...
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1answer
156 views

Troubleshooting a stuck fermentation with Ringwood Ale

I'm brewing an IPA using Wyeast 1187 (Ringwood Ale) and it seems stuck. I'm brewing 19L (5G) with an OG of 1.052 and pitched two (smacked) smackpacks of 1187 straight into the primary bucket. I used ...
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3answers
224 views

What is the purpose of stepping up a starter

Very simply, what is the difference in pitching 100 billion cells into a 1L starter and into a 2, 3, 4L starter of, say 1.040 OG? I understand the logic with a 5.5 gallon batch of beer: you want ...
11
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1answer
190 views

Always making a starter vs. following package description

I have noticed that the smackpacks say on the package that the package is meant for a 5 gal. batch and that you should pour the pack directly into the wort. On the otherhand - nearly everyone tells ...
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1answer
238 views

Are cheap poratable USB microscopes good enough to count yeast, and check vitality?

I have read that a 400x magnification is right for counting yeast on a hemocytometer, and also using dye to check vitality. I'm looking at using a cheap portable $50 USB microscope. They are rated ...
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2answers
164 views

Possible to intensify/increase the amount of yeast flavor?

I will soon be making a hefe and will be using wyeast's 3068. In recent hefes I have made, I have always desired much more intensity in the flavors provided by the yeast strain. The only method i am ...
2
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2answers
233 views

Top Cropping Cell Counts

TLDR: I have no idea how much top-cropped yeast to pitch into a ~1.055 OG Octoberfest (5.5 gallons) I am planning on making an Octoberfest (late I know) on August 18th. Instead of making a boring ...
3
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1answer
234 views

Using a low alcohol tolerance yeast in potentially high alcohol must

i have posted this question on other forums but haven't really gotten a good answer. If I am attempting to create a sweet mead and want to avoid backsweetening (lots of additional tweaking) or ...
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1answer
305 views

How much yeast nutrient does starter wort need?

I am going to make a batch of wort to be stored in 1 quart jars to make starters from. I'd like to add the yeast nutrient (diammonium phosphate and yeast hulls) at this time so I don't have to mix it ...
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What would cause yeast to fail to flocculate?

I am using WLP002 - English Ale Yeast - in my current batch, a Young's double chocolate clone. According to the manufacturer's product page, this yeast is highly flocculant. The beer remained in the ...
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2answers
249 views

Measuring yeast in a slurry

Please tell me if I'm being overly simplistic here. I was reading the book yeast by Chris White and Jamil Zainasheff. In the book, they talk about measuring how many cells are in a slurry by using a ...
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2answers
330 views

How much yeast do i need for 1bbl batches?

We are planning on brewing 1bbl batches, but we are kind of stuck on how much yeast we need. We contacted White Labs but their 1bbl pitchable yeast is way too expensive. I want to know what would be ...
5
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1answer
349 views

What flavors come from fermenting S-04 on the warm side?

I brewed this 1064 OG recipe and used my reverse flow chiller to get it down to 74F (could have gone cooler, but my starter was at 76F or so). It fermented like nuts (over 1.5 gallons of krausen ...
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1answer
140 views

My yeast isn't floating at the top of my mead

I just made my first ever batch of mead. I used a stronger yeast (a wine yeast) and the package said to let it sit for about 15 minutes in 50ml of warm water. I did that and added the water and yeast ...
5
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2answers
367 views

Storing Yeast Slurry

If I take a yeast slurry from a batch of beer, wash it and store it in a sanitized container - how long can I leave this yeast slurry in the fridge before repitching? I'm thinking of leaving it in the ...
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2answers
634 views

How do I make a Yeast Starter?

I know I should be using a Yeast Starter so that I can make sure I have enough, healthy yeast, but I've never managed to go around to it. How would I start a yeast starter? How long before brewday ...
5
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3answers
1k views

Ideal fermentation temperature

I'm just finishing up a DIY fermentation chamber made from a chest freezer, reptile tank heater, and a temperature controller. Now I just need to figure out what temperature to set! Most yeast ...
2
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1answer
153 views

I moved a Kolsch to secondary after 4 days. Should I repitch yeast?

This is my first batch ever, a Kolsch from a kit. It fermented like crazy the first 2 days, but after 4 had stopped bubbling, so I moved it to a secondary container. As I was transferring, I noticed a ...
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972 views

How can I restart fermentation on a stuck strong dark belgian ale?

What can we do to restart fermentation that got stuck over the winter? Our club brewed about 7 gallons of this recipe in November. Primary went well, but then the weather got cold and the yeast went ...
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Do yeast die after bottling?

Do yeast die after bottling? My second batch of beer have been stored in bottles over a month now without producing any co2. I want to add some priming sugar to start the fermentation again, but I'm ...
5
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1answer
131 views

Flanders Red from Brewing Classic Styles

I am interested in brewing the Flanders red that is found in Brewing Classic Styles. Jamil mentions using the Wyeast 3763 or WLP655 and leaving it sit for a year until the pellicle forms then falls ...
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2answers
267 views

Wine yeast for beer?

Has anyone ever used wine yeast for a batch of beer or a beer yeast for a batch of wine? I brew beer and my neighbor makes wine and we have been toying with the idea of trying to make a batch of our ...
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5answers
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Does suspended yeast contribute to high SG?

I've got a SMaSH beer (Baird Maris Otter and EKG) finishing in primary. It's been fermenting for just over a week. Starting Gravity was 1.046. I mashed at 154F for 60 minutes. Fermented with WY1335 ...
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213 views

Does dry hopping affect attenuation?

Does the anti-microbial affects of hops affect yeast activity and therefore attenuation when dry hopping near the end of primary fermentation?
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249 views

What differentiates the lag phase from fermentation?

When making a starter, the intent is to make yeast. We use stirplates in part to continually oxidize the wort, enabling the yeast to multiply. In this question about starter oxidation, one of the ...
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1answer
250 views

Any need to stop yeast before kegging?

I'm brewing to keg for the first time, finally. I am planning to force carbonate and was wondering: Are there was any steps I need to take to stop any active yeast before putting it in the keg and ...
4
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2answers
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Yeast for very high gravity (1.138) stout

I'm planning to brew a very high gravity stout. I'm expecting an OG between about 1.118 and 1.138 depending on how much my efficiency suffers. I've done this before with decent results, but I think I ...
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89 views

Attribute taste variation to volume of bottle?

This is not exactly a home brew question but this site seems to be the best fit in the stack exchange network for it. You can home brew the beer in question with a kit produced by the brewery though ...
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1answer
123 views

How well does liquid yeast travel?

I have often heard people talking about the viability of pitchable liquid yeast either in a vial or smack pack dropping over time. This effect is greatly accelerated with increased temperature, so ...
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7answers
459 views

Chilling wort before pitching yeast

I know it is important to chill wort to <80 before pitching yeast, and that quality of final beer is affected by the speed with which the wort was chilled to this point, and there are various ...
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4answers
416 views

Yeast , dead or alive?

G'day , how long after the fermentation has finished does the yeast live ? I am curious because not only is it the cost of the yeast but if you find a particular strain and you like the taste ( ...
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886 views

Is it necessary to aerate wort when pitching onto an existing yeast cake?

To my knowledge, aeration provides oxygen so that the yeast can reproduce before fermentation. If you're pitching onto an existing yeast cake, there should theoretically be enough yeast already to ...
5
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3answers
732 views

What happens when you push a yeast near its alcohol tolerance?

I'm brewing with Wyeast's West Yorkshire Ale yeast, which has a documented alcohol tolerance of 9%. I'd like to push that boundary by brewing an 8.5% ale and wonder what to expect. Common sense says ...
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2answers
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What Type and Power of Microscope For Observing Yeast Cells

I'm interested in buying a microscope that I can use to observe yeast cells. Ideally, I'd like to use this to count cells in region and do calculations to get estimated populations (though I don't ...
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1answer
150 views

When should I hydrate my dry yeast?

I'm brewing beer tonight (in roughly three hours) and I've decided to try rehydrating my dry yeast instead of throwing it directly into the cooled wort. If I boil a couple cups of water, how long does ...
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Dry Hop Filtering and bottling

This is my first attempt at dry hopping. I added hop pellets directly into the secondary fermenter. They have been in for 1 week and many have settled to the bottom, however there is quite a bit ...
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1answer
323 views

Can ale yeast be used weeks after it's opened (Safale S-04)?

Second-time brewer (to be). When I did my first kit brew, I didn't want to mess anything up, and the instructions I was following told me to avoid the yeast sachet taped to the top of the LME can and ...