yeast pitching temperature

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scruffy dog

yeast pitching temperature

Post by scruffy dog » Fri Jan 27, 2017 7:07 pm

what temperature do you pitch your yeast at?

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Re: yeast pitching temperature

Post by scuppeteer » Fri Jan 27, 2017 7:32 pm

Depends what you're using. Dry yeast will have recommended temps on the packet as they vary depending on the strain. Keep to these as they know best.

Most wet yeasts are around 18-20C.

Personally I generally use the strain from work which likes 18.5-19C. I then let it make its own heat but clip it to 23C.

Hope that's helpful.
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Re: yeast pitching temperature

Post by McMullan » Fri Jan 27, 2017 11:02 pm

Pitch at the recommend temperature.
Edit: if using dry yeast, hydrate in water ar 40*C. Shock, horror :wall

scruffy dog

Re: yeast pitching temperature

Post by scruffy dog » Sat Jan 28, 2017 11:38 am

Should have been a little more specific sorry.
I mainly use dried us 05 and empty it in to the fermentor as it's draining from the boiler at around 30 c.

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Re: yeast pitching temperature

Post by Rhodesy » Sat Jan 28, 2017 11:47 am

I tend to pitch at the lower end of a yeast range where dependent on style etc, I then either hold it or raise/lower as necessary.

For example I have used WLP029 for both a Kolsch and APA recently where I have pitched an active starter at 14c and will slowly after 24 hours raise to 16c until I am about 75% done where I will raise it slowly again by around 1c every 12 hours to 20c where I then let it finish up. Having used the yeast several times I have a good idea of how it attenuates and when to raise etc, it also recommends you don't ferment lower than 17c for this strain but I still get results pitching at 14c.

US-05 is so versatile to conditions that I like to pitch this around 17c and hold it here for most of the ferment before upping it to 19c, always rehydrate and pitch a couple of packets if over 1.050 SG.

I am waiting on my BrewPi bits coming this week where I look forward to properly setting a automated schedule and have that tighter control over temp as my Inkbird/STC set ups can fluctuate 0.3c either way at times and when cooling can also overshoot quite a bit.

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Re: yeast pitching temperature

Post by chefgage » Sat Jan 28, 2017 12:25 pm

If you read the page on the limk it shows you some good info for us-05, such as pitching temperatures and rehydration temperature etc..

http://www.fermentis.com/wp-content/upl ... A_US05.pdf

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Re: yeast pitching temperature

Post by Jim » Sat Jan 28, 2017 12:48 pm

I usually rehydrate dried yeast at about 35C.

Sometimes once 15 or 20 minutes has elapsed I add a little bit of wort at a time from the flow from the chiller and mix it up to reduce the temperature shock when adding to the bulk wort. It's probably not strictly necessary but it keeps me happy. :)
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Re: yeast pitching temperature

Post by Kev888 » Sat Jan 28, 2017 1:38 pm

Ideally for yeast health, dried yeast would be rehydrated in previously boiled (then cooled) water. Fermentis recommend between 24c-30c for US-05; I prefer the upper end of that or (like Jim) even a tad more, partly because it is better for the yeast and partly because it will cool during rehydration, ending up close to fermentation temperature by the time this is pitched into the wort. It is good not to subject the yeast to sudden/large changes in temperature, to avoid shocking them.

Dried yeast can instead be pitched direct into the wort. This option is valid and permitted by Fermentis, but it leans towards improved convenience at the cost of fewer yeast cells surviving the process, effectively reducing the pitching rate for a given weight of yeast. IMO the 'best' method depends on priorities at the time, so I will occasionally pitch direct if in a hurry - usually increasing yeast quantity a bit (especially for higher gravities).

You can pitch several degrees warmer than fermentation temperature, and in some ways this can be good, especially if it avoids long delays in pitching whilst waiting for the wort to fall the last few degrees. But you do then need to be able to get it cooler for the fermentation; for US-05 Fermentis suggest a fermentation temperature of ideally 15c-22c, or a maximum of 25c. You will likely get more estery flavours the warmer it gets, above the recommended range these can become much more pronounced; less appropriate for some styles than others. But due to self heating of the fermentation, the initial wort temperature may need to begin a few degrees lower than fermentation temperature will become.
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scruffy dog

Re: yeast pitching temperature

Post by scruffy dog » Sat Jan 28, 2017 2:22 pm

thanks for the advice.

after a break from brewing for 5 years, i've started again with a new passion and i'm looking at fine tuning my process. i've always just chucked the yeast in to the fermentor but it's not really much more hassle to make up a starter while the wort is boiling.

onwards and upwards

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Re: yeast pitching temperature

Post by basswulf » Mon Jan 30, 2017 1:46 pm

My BIAB routine has adding the yeast and starting fermentation the day after making the wort - overnight I'm storing it in a plastic jerry can to cool.

I make small batches so use about 5.5g dried yeast each time - slightly overpitching compared to if I was making twenty or so litres with a whole pack, but probably within safe limits. I boil water, pour it into a plastic jug and swirl to finish sanitising it, and then pour out until I'm left with about 50ml. That gets covered with clingfilm and put in the fridge for a few minutes to cool further. I'll check every few minutes, using a non-contact temperature sensor to spot when the base of the jug has reached about 35°C. That then comes out of the fridge, I sprinkle the yeast and then re-cover but leave outside of the fridge.

Meanwhile, I'll be drawing a sample of the wort and taking a gravity measure before covering the sample tube. After a few minutes I'll give the yeast a gentle swirl and let it rest for a while and then I'll add about a third of the sample jar wort at a time over the next 20-30 minutes. By this point the yeast jar is at about the same temperature as the wort, hydrated and getting accustomed to its new home. I then transfer it to my fermenter and pour the rest of the wort on top before setting it in my brewing cupboard with a temperature monitor and a brew belt on a timer plug - it isn't quite self-regulating but I manage to keep the temperature to about 17-18°C.

My method is cobbled together from various research in the past (including on this site). Checking back on the instructions for the yeast I used this morning (Safale S-04), I see I'm not too far off, although they suggest 24-30°C as the starting temperature and don't mention gradually introducing the wort. I should experiment sometime and see if I can trim out a few more unnecessary steps - although I also note that Fermentis suggest an opened pack should be used within a week of opening (it has been more like 2 months since I used the first half of this pack, although it has been resealed and stored in a plastic bag in the fridge - that hasn't caused a problem in the past).

Wulf

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Re: yeast pitching temperature

Post by BrannigansLove » Mon Jan 30, 2017 2:35 pm

I only really use liquid yeast, but I tend get my wort down to 1c below the minimum recommended temp for the yeast, and pitch into that. I use a high krausen SNS starter, and pitch the lot. I then hold at the minimum temp for 3 days, before gradually raising toward the upper end of the yeast's temp range.

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Re: yeast pitching temperature

Post by Kingfisher4 » Thu Apr 26, 2018 3:54 pm

Currently using dried yeast, getting used to different makes and types over my first few brews.
I rehydrate as above suggestions, the yeasts used so far including S-O4, mangrove jacks and crossmyloof all seem to start fermentation very quickly, once rehydrated and pitched at appropriate temperatures, after wort cooled rapidly with grainfather counter current chiller.
Given this rapid fermentation onset, could someone please explain why more than one packet might be needed for 23-25 L batches, particularly at the higher gravity range around 1.050+, even if using a yeast specifically designed to tolerate high alcohol percentages?

The quantity of yeast produced rapidly, in the Fastferment bulb seems quite profuse.

In a simplistic way, if the yeast initiates fermentation quickly and reproduces in apparently large quantities, sometimes filling the 700 ml bulb within 2 or 3 days, why is it necessary to pitch more than one packet to start?

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Re: yeast pitching temperature

Post by Tomp » Thu Apr 26, 2018 9:54 pm

I tend to pitch at the lower end if the temperature range, the raise it by 1 degree every day towards the upper end until it’s almost completed then hold it there for about 4 to 5 days (diecytyl rest) before dropping down to the bottom end again for a week or so. Seems to work for me.
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Re: yeast pitching temperature

Post by McMullan » Fri Apr 27, 2018 8:19 am

Kingfisher4 wrote:
Thu Apr 26, 2018 3:54 pm

Given this rapid fermentation onset, could someone please explain why more than one packet might be needed for 23-25 L batches, particularly at the higher gravity range around 1.050+, even if using a yeast specifically designed to tolerate high alcohol percentages?

The quantity of yeast produced rapidly, in the Fastferment bulb seems quite profuse.

In a simplistic way, if the yeast initiates fermentation quickly and reproduces in apparently large quantities, sometimes filling the 700 ml bulb within 2 or 3 days, why is it necessary to pitch more than one packet to start?
Yeast are living organisms. They get ‘tired’ and need to maintain themselves. Fermentation in an enclosed liquid media presents stresses on the yeast cells. They do not multiply indefinitely in this environment. At best, assuming the pitched yeast are healthy and the wort is sufficiently nutritious (for the yeast!), expect no more than a few to several multiplications from each living cell. Higher gravity worts put more stresses on the cells. The higher the original gravity, the more cells are required. Think of it this way; a proportion of the yeast are going to drop out and go dormant when ethanol and CO2 start to accumulate. You want sufficient cells remaining in suspension, efficiently fermenting the wort. A lot of the slurry in your FV collection bottle is trub material. It’s not pure yeast slurry. You’d notice much of this sediment collecting after a day or two even without pitching any yeast.
Last edited by McMullan on Fri Apr 27, 2018 10:08 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: yeast pitching temperature

Post by MTW » Fri Apr 27, 2018 9:53 am

When I'm fermenting at the cool end for ales (around 17C), I used to cool the wort to that temperature and pitch there. I think that followed advice in the White/Zainasheff book, in terms of pitching lower (if at all) and raising, rather than the other way around. Nowadays, I tend to chill to around 20C, and set the fridge for 17, if that's where I'm heading. That's based on the theory that there isn't much growth going on in those first few hours it takes to get down to 17, and therefore no detrimental effect on ester profile; I believe the yeast is just doing its stuff to get ready, at that point, soaking up nutrients. I imagine it does that quicker at warmer temperatures, so the lag may be reduced. Also, my starter will have been grown warmer than that, and is on its way down at that point anyway, so I let it join the wort around 20C, and set the control to 17. Seems to work for me, but if any white coat folk can cut through my conjecture, I'm happy to learn.
Last edited by MTW on Fri Apr 27, 2018 10:32 am, edited 2 times in total.
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