Questions tagged [yeast]

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

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How to clean yeast

I like reusing yeast to save money, and I like having my own "house" yeast. However sooner or later my yeast eventually dies and becomes unusable. I have a feeling that each time I repitch, I'm ...
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32 votes
10 answers
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Brewing Solid Things: Can Leftover Yeast Be Used for Bread?

I find myself baking a couple loaves of bread just about every weekend. Has anyone tried reusing their yeast from brewing for baking bread? I've heard that using some of the spent grain in bread ...
Ben's user avatar
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25 votes
5 answers
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Reusing yeast at home

Reusing yeast at home is something I'm incredibly interested in, but haven't found the time to learn enough about it just yet. What are the basic steps for harvesting, cultivating, or whatever other ...
hookedonwinter's user avatar
23 votes
16 answers
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Fermentation Temperature Control Methods

What different methods do people use to maintain or control fermentation temps? This includes maintaining temps for both Ales and Lagers. For most climates, active control is necessary for doing ...
23 votes
4 answers
836 views

Open-Fermented or Native Yeast Beers

I've always been very careful about control and sanitation with beer. But with my wine I do some native yeast Pinots, and some friends of mine are into the same with beers- they like funky, ...
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22 votes
5 answers
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How to grow yeast?

I have read that it is possible to grow your own yeast, but I have not been able to find exact instructions. I would like to grow my own yeast so that I don't have to spend money on those small ...
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22 votes
1 answer
721 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 ...
Flyhard's user avatar
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21 votes
4 answers
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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 ...
Matthew's user avatar
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19 votes
1 answer
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Why is it bad to pitch too much yeast?

What are the effects of over-pitching? Where is the line for, say, a 1.050 beer? There is also a question for to under-pitching.
Rich Armstrong's user avatar
19 votes
5 answers
11k views

Using trub directly vs. yeast rinsing.

Sometimes referred to as "yeast washing," the process of yeast rinsing separates the yeast from the hops and break material in the trub. Most brewers who reuse yeast — and store it for long ...
Dustin Rasener's user avatar
18 votes
4 answers
6k views

Should I ferment a new batch directly on the yeast cake generated by the previous batch?

I'm going to re-use the yeast cake from a low-gravity batch to ferment a high-gravity batch. Can I just put the wort directly on it? Does it then need to be agitated? Is it worth the risk of ...
Rich Armstrong's user avatar
17 votes
7 answers
13k views

How do I keep yeast from a strain that I've bought?

I'd like to stop buying yeast all the time, especially when I use the same strain repeatedly. This is especially a problem when it comes to seasonal strains. I'd like to brew with WLP351 Bavarian ...
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16 votes
3 answers
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Why do you aerate wort at first and try to keep oxygen out later?

Why should you aerate the wort before pitching yeast but then try to avoid allowing oxygen into it later in the process? What is going on with the yeast that makes oxygen good at first but bad later?
Joe Phillips's user avatar
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16 votes
6 answers
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Dry yeast vs wet yeast

I've always thought it to be common knowledge that wet yeast is better than dry yeast for home-brewing. This was confirmed by Sam Calagione at his Authors at Google talk where he suggested that using ...
WayneTheTrain's user avatar
15 votes
3 answers
6k views

What's the best method to catch a strain of wild yeast for homebrewing?

I'm interested in learning about brewing using wild yeast, but I wonder what is the best method to catch a strain that would produce good results in homebrewing. And of course how to ensure that it ...
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15 votes
1 answer
7k views

When is it necessary to pitch fresh yeast for bottle conditioning?

I've read that you can leave an ale to secondary for months and enough yeast will remain in suspension that you won't need to pitch additional yeast when bottling. But are there times when you do ...
JackSmith's user avatar
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14 votes
11 answers
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Can I dry my own yeast to make it relatively shelf stable? How?

Obviously, it can be done, as dry yeast works for fermenting beer. I go sometimes a month or two between batches, and carrying over one yeast culture across beers seems a bit of a pain. How is dried ...
Jeremy Holovacs's user avatar
14 votes
4 answers
19k views

What is the minimum amount of time required for a yeast starter?

It is generally advised to leave a yeast starter for at least 24 hours to get optimal yeast growth. If I only have a few hours, is there any point making a starter from my liquid yeast pack? Is ...
Symmetric's user avatar
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13 votes
5 answers
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How do I culture yeast from a commercial beer? Is it legal?

If I like the flavor profile of a yeast in a commercial beer, how would I go about culturing it? I have some very basic lab equipment, but I can buy anything that's reasonably priced. Also, would it ...
chrislarson's user avatar
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13 votes
1 answer
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Making a Yeast Starter

It seems that there are varying opinions about the size your starter should be. What is the basic rule-of-thumb for 5 and 10 gallon batches? How much water should be used? How much malt/malt extract ...
Room3's user avatar
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13 votes
2 answers
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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 ...
sgwill's user avatar
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12 votes
7 answers
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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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12 votes
5 answers
23k views

Can I use wine yeast to ferment beer?

Can I use wine yeast to ferment a beer? What sort of problems might I encounter that are unique to wine yeast trying to ferment malt sugars? What sort of flavor differences might I encounter?
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12 votes
5 answers
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How do new yeast strains happen?

Rogue and Papazian have their own yeast strains (PacMan and Cry Havoc, respectively). Do you know how they got there? Lots of trial and error? Pitching multiple strains? Let's say I pitch a bunch of ...
Rich Armstrong's user avatar
12 votes
3 answers
4k views

Brewing with Saccharomyces boulardii

I have a friend who studies some molecular aspects of probiotic yeasts, some wild ones and also the widespread in medications Saccharomyces boulardii (found in Florastor®, Floratil®, and other ...
jards's user avatar
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12 votes
4 answers
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Should you rehydrate dry yeast?

I've read conflicting opinions on whether or not to re-hydrate dried yeast. I've had successful fermentation with dried yeast in the past but have not tried re-hydrating. Has anyone had better/worse ...
Mike's user avatar
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11 votes
12 answers
131k views

Baking yeast for brewing?

Has anyone ever used the ubiquitous Flesichmann's baking yeast for brewing? Is there a fermented beverage style for which it works particularly well?
G__'s user avatar
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11 votes
3 answers
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does starsan kill yeast

Is Starsan effective against yeast? After resuming homebrewing again after a 2 year break, I started having pellicle appearing on my starters (after fermentation had completed), which has now spread ...
mdma's user avatar
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11 votes
5 answers
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No bubbles in the airlock - should I still bottle the brew?

I'm attempting my first brew using a kit with all the provided ingredients (it's a lager). My brew is still in the big tub and has been there for about 2 weeks now. Initial SG was 1.040 and it's now ...
Mark McDonald's user avatar
11 votes
5 answers
2k 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 ...
Jeff L's user avatar
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11 votes
2 answers
571 views

What is attentuation?

What is attentuation? How does it effect beer flavor and quality? How is is calculated and why do I need to know it?
brewchez's user avatar
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11 votes
2 answers
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Proper Way to Store Yeast

What is the proper way and temperature to store yeast?
corymathews's user avatar
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11 votes
3 answers
21k views

Why is it bad to pitch too little yeast?

What are the effects of underpitching your beer? We have an answer for over pitching, I think we need the complete set.
brewchez's user avatar
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11 votes
4 answers
7k views

Using Multiple Strains of Yeast in the Same Batch?

I've been thinking about this recently, so I figured I'd ask it here. Is there any reason you couldn't use two strains of yeast in the same batch of beer? For a particularly high gravity amber ale, ...
WhatsBillDoing's user avatar
11 votes
5 answers
12k views

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 ...
JackSmith's user avatar
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11 votes
2 answers
680 views

Smack Pack and Pitching Time

So I completed my first batch of homebrew this morning, but I forgot one potentially (okay, not potentially, definitely) important aspect of the whole process: the yeast. I didn't forget it, per se, ...
WhatsBillDoing's user avatar
11 votes
5 answers
10k views

Choosing a yeast for ginger beer

I'm doing some experiments with ginger beer (this is a alcoholic beer, not a soda). I'm use brown sugar as the sugar source for now, but may experiment with other sugars including malt as I go along. ...
SimonH's user avatar
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11 votes
1 answer
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How do you pitch additional yeast for bottling?

This is a follow on to my other question about when you would need to pitch additional yeast for bottle conditioning. Assuming you know that you need to pitch more yeast before bottling to ensure ...
JackSmith's user avatar
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11 votes
3 answers
448 views

Is aeration necessary if you overpitch?

We all know that aeration is necessary for yeast growth. Does it facilitate more than that? If you massively overpitch, on a previous yeast-cake for example, do you need the same amount of dissolved ...
Dean Brundage's user avatar
10 votes
9 answers
30k views

Is it possible to bottle condition without sediment?

I've recently been reading the labels a bit more on one of my favourite beers and have discovered that the brewers bottle condition their Pale Ale. Yet it's sold with no signs of any flocculated ...
Mark McDonald's user avatar
10 votes
5 answers
34k 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 ...
nopcorn's user avatar
  • 301
10 votes
5 answers
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Long cooling before pitching

Summer brewing means warmer tap water, which means that my immersion chiller can only cool the wort to about 75 degrees. I typically cool the wort to 68 degrees before pitching. I have a ...
Dustin Rasener's user avatar
10 votes
2 answers
4k views

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 ...
notlesh's user avatar
  • 414
10 votes
4 answers
7k views

How many times can yeast be reused?

A good yeast sample can be retrieved, stored & reused regularly across brews. Is there a limit to the number of generations a sample can last? I've heard that after so many generations a strain ...
Mark McDonald's user avatar
9 votes
2 answers
10k views

What effect do different types of yeast have when creating a recipe?

What happens when you use different types of yeast? Does it change the flavor? I'm not talking about mixing different types of yeast in the same recipe.
divided's user avatar
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9 votes
3 answers
11k views

How long can yeast be stored?

If I buy a tube of liquid yeast from my local homebrew store and throw it in the fridge, how long before it's no good? How 'bout dry yeast?
Fishtoaster's user avatar
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9 votes
3 answers
5k 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 ...
Rich Armstrong's user avatar
9 votes
2 answers
684 views

At what point can a beer be called organic?

A lot of the homebrew I make is made with organic ingredients - organic grain and hops. However, I have never come across organic yeast (!?) or irish moss. Can I rightly call this beer organic, or ...
Poshpaws's user avatar
  • 2,144
9 votes
4 answers
2k 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 ...
hartski's user avatar
  • 1,062
9 votes
4 answers
5k views

What exactly is yeast-bite?

So I cracked open a nearly year-old bottle of oatmeal porter last night and it tasted a bit "yeasty". In fact, much more yeasty than I remember from a few months ago. I was fairly careful in my ...
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