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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4answers
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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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9answers
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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 ...
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[WIKI] 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 ...
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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 ...
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3answers
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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?
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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 ...
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2answers
738 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 ...
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5answers
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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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1answer
181 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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6answers
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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 ...
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2answers
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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?
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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 ...
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2answers
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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 ...
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1answer
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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 ...
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5answers
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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 ...
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4answers
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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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5answers
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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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4answers
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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 ...
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1answer
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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 ...
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5answers
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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 ...
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1answer
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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.
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2answers
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1answer
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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 ...
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2answers
490 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, ...
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2answers
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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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5answers
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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 ...
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1answer
202 views
Cold and Hot Break
OK I have been brewing for over 2 years, and have cranked out around 40 batches. Trying to really hone in my process and improve the quality of what I make. I am literally reading (and re-reading) ...
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5answers
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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 ...
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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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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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2answers
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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 ...
8
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3answers
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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, ...
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4answers
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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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4answers
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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
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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 ...
8
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3answers
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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 ...
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2answers
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When bottle conditioning, when should I re-yeast, and how much yeast should I add
I have a Chocolate Cherry Stout that is currently in secondary on fresh Cherries. It has been sitting on the cherries for 2 months now.
As I prepare to bottle I want to be sure I have enough, healthy ...
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2answers
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WYeast got warm on the way home. Can I still use it?
I bought two packs of the American Ale Propogator yesterday, but then took a bit longer than planned to get home and the packs got warm and were swelled a bit.
I put them in the fridge as soon as I ...
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5answers
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Shaking vs not shaking
I'm playing with a yeast starter right now and I've noticed when I shake the mix the yeast gets more active. I'm wondering how this applies to my actual fermentation. So I was thinking I'd let my ...
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2answers
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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.
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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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5answers
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Is a yeast starter required when brewing a lager?
Is using a yeast starter 100% essential when brewing a lager or can you use a few liquid vials?
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2answers
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How to ferment on the last batches yeast cake?
My last batch was a strong ale/winter 1.090 wlp002 english ale yeast brewed on 11/20 (two weeks ago). it has been in the fridge crash cooling for about 72 hours. this will be my first attempt at ...
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2answers
961 views
What are the advantages of Dry vs Liquid yeast?
Pretty straight-forward- what're the benefits and drawbacks of dry or liquid yeast?
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7answers
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Fermentation stopped but beer seems too sweet - why?
My last beer went through a normal 10-day fermentation process and afterwards there was no activity. I assumed that most of the sugars had been consumed. But after I bottled my beer and let it ...
7
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1answer
102 views
Does using a fining agent effect the flocculation of yeast?
I'm doing a series of smash beers all using the same yeast same temp same grain. I'm noticing a big variation in flocculation on the current batch (forgot the Irish moss oops) WLP001 by the way. Im ...
7
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3answers
225 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 ...
7
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3answers
238 views
Using yeast from a local brewery
My favorite local brew-pub has a standing offer to share their yeast with homebrewers; bring in a jar & they will fill it for you.
Aside from the obvious "it's free," why is their yeast ...
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2answers
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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 ...
