Hi all, i'm new to the forum, i wonder if i can get your thoughts...
I've been brewing from kits (Muntons/Woodfordes) for about 18 months now and always just use the yeast that comes with the kit getting what I think are pretty good results. I have noticed from some posts here that people talk about using other yeasts. What are the advantages of doing this and do you use different yeasts for different beer types? Also i just sprinkle the yeast onto the surface of the wort and stir in, should i be rehydrating the yeast, and if so how?
Using a different yeast?
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tubby_shaw
Hi Wez and welcome to the forum 
As far as yeasts go the one that comes with the kit will do the job fine, as long as A. It is fresh. B. The kit instructions do not tell you to rehydrate at too high a temperature.
There have been a number of posts on the forum regarding stuck ferments and this is mainly why people have been advocating the use of seperate yeast.
Different yeasts do affect the outcome of the finished beer as they will use more or less of the available sugars during fermentation. This will affect the residual sweetness and body of the beer.
Different yeasts also leave different by products of fermentation within the beer (esters) these can be detected in the finished beer.
As for making up a starter have a look at DaaB's pages here
http://www.18000feet.com/brupaks/my_met ... s_kits.htm
As far as yeasts go the one that comes with the kit will do the job fine, as long as A. It is fresh. B. The kit instructions do not tell you to rehydrate at too high a temperature.
There have been a number of posts on the forum regarding stuck ferments and this is mainly why people have been advocating the use of seperate yeast.
Different yeasts do affect the outcome of the finished beer as they will use more or less of the available sugars during fermentation. This will affect the residual sweetness and body of the beer.
Different yeasts also leave different by products of fermentation within the beer (esters) these can be detected in the finished beer.
As for making up a starter have a look at DaaB's pages here
http://www.18000feet.com/brupaks/my_met ... s_kits.htm
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Wez