I like the White Labs pitchable vials. What's your opinion of those? My first beer was a dry, and my most recent was the White Labs. Fermentation took off with the White Labs, and the yeast cake seemed more compressed when I racked it.
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The Beer Home Brewers Thread
- Thread starter capnsandwich
- Start date
I like the White Labs pitchable vials. What's your opinion of those? My first beer was a dry, and my most recent was the White Labs. Fermentation took off with the White Labs, and the yeast cake seemed more compressed when I racked it.
Dry yeast packets contain more yeast cells than either the pitchable vials or the smack-packs, but offer a much narrower range of yeast types. Personally, if I'm brewing a beer that needs a yeast that's available dry I'll use the dry - much better chance on average of the fermentation taking off and the yeast outcompeting any contaminants. They're cheaper, too.
If you're making a high-alcohol beer and can't find a dry version of the type you want, you may need to either build up the yeast beforehand in a starter or just pitch multiple vials.
A lot of recipes use WY1056 or WLP001, which is a fairly neutral yeast used in Sierra Nevada. You can usually substitute US-05 dry yeast for this without any hassles.
If you want to get fancy (and you probably don't right now...) Here's an online calculator giving recommended pitching rates for different yeast package types and wort concentrations.
The compactness of your yeast cake is down to a bunch of things, including how flocculent the specific yeast type you're using is.
The single greatest benefit of using pitchable liquid yeast is bypassing the "lag phase" of the yeast cycle. Dry yeast needs time to rehydrate and build sufficient energy and nutrient reserves before it can continue to the growth phase and then to the fermentation phase.
Pitching dry packets into the wort tyically means you won't see fermentation for 15 or more hours. Liquid yeast cuts the time to around 5 hours and the benefits in the finished beer are well worth the cost.
If you do use dry packets, I highly recommend you make a starter. About. 3 days before you brew boil 8oz of water in a saucepan along with a tea spoon of dried malt extract. Allow to cool to room temp and pour into a clean beer bottle fitted with a mini airlock and pitch your dried yeast into it.
When it's time to brew, you'll have a nice, big supply of healthy yeast, already in the midst of the fermentation process, ready to dump into your fresh wort.
Pitching dry packets into the wort tyically means you won't see fermentation for 15 or more hours. Liquid yeast cuts the time to around 5 hours and the benefits in the finished beer are well worth the cost.
If you do use dry packets, I highly recommend you make a starter. About. 3 days before you brew boil 8oz of water in a saucepan along with a tea spoon of dried malt extract. Allow to cool to room temp and pour into a clean beer bottle fitted with a mini airlock and pitch your dried yeast into it.
When it's time to brew, you'll have a nice, big supply of healthy yeast, already in the midst of the fermentation process, ready to dump into your fresh wort.
Just like brewing GAS can be as bad as bass GAS, there's as many questions with more than one "right" answer 
Eventually, you'll figure out what works best for you.
Here's your possible combinations:
- dry yeast, directly pitched
- dry yeast, rehydrated 15 min or so in advance
- dry yeast, built up in a starter 2-3 days in advance
- liquid yeast, directly pitched
- liquid yeast, built up in a starter 2-3 days in advance
They all can make good beer, but generally the rule is the stronger the beer, the more attention you need to pay to yeast health. (I hope hbarcat and I can agree on that much!)
The other thing I'll add is ... don't worry too much. There's some things that are really important and some that don't really matter all that much. Just like playing bass, the most important thing is practice. No point worrying about what country your power tubes were made in until you've got more shows under your belt.
Remember: RDWHAHB
Eventually, you'll figure out what works best for you. Here's your possible combinations:
- dry yeast, directly pitched
- dry yeast, rehydrated 15 min or so in advance
- dry yeast, built up in a starter 2-3 days in advance
- liquid yeast, directly pitched
- liquid yeast, built up in a starter 2-3 days in advance
They all can make good beer, but generally the rule is the stronger the beer, the more attention you need to pay to yeast health. (I hope hbarcat and I can agree on that much!)
The other thing I'll add is ... don't worry too much. There's some things that are really important and some that don't really matter all that much. Just like playing bass, the most important thing is practice. No point worrying about what country your power tubes were made in until you've got more shows under your belt.
Remember: RDWHAHB
Passinwind
I know nothing.
- Dec 3, 2003
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- Designer/Toaster Tech @ Passinwind Electronics
Just like brewing GAS can be as bad as bass GAS, there's as many questions with more than one "right" answer
Here's your possible combinations:
- dry yeast, directly pitched
- dry yeast, rehydrated 15 min or so in advance
- dry yeast, built up in a starter 2-3 days in advance
- liquid yeast, directly pitched
- liquid yeast, built up in a starter 2-3 days in advance
There's also kreuzening, which worked really well for me the few times I tried it. We even did a few batches nicked off commercial tap microbrew that were great for the knockoff vibe we were going for.
Yep. Kreuzening, and pitching slurry, and making a light beer then making a heavy beer on top of the old yeast cake, and keeping your own yeast ranch in the freezer, and ..., and ... There's a million ways to skin this particular cat.
I've also had success with taking the dregs from interesting bottles and building them up as starters then using them. (You can even "freeze" your starters by separating out the yeast cells in a separating funnel and adding glycerin before putting them in the fridge).
Just didn't want to over-complicate things even further
Or you can not pitch yeast and see what takes hold. Could be a dumper, but might be great! ...probably wont be great :/
Speaking of liquid vs dry, Danstar has a new dry saison yeast. I currently have 2 packets of it and plan to use them on a Belgian IPA and a saison. I currently don't know anyone who has tired this new strain.
Yes, quite so. I was there recently as well, and the employee giving the tour said something to the effect of that many, if not most, of the commercial craft breweries in the US use White Labs yeast.
I prefer Wyeast XL for all of my beers - the White Labs "equivalents" don't really taste the same or as good as the Wyeast - to my palate, at least. I also appreciate the immediate feedback you get when smacking the pack; no such thing with the White Labs vials.
I suppose I should give my homebrewing-related credentials: I've been doing it since 1998, I've entered a few competitions over the years and won a ribbon here and there, and the last time I brewed was March 9th - a Belgian Witbier. I'll be brewing again this Thursday (my 10-herb Gruit) in preparation for the Southern California Homebrewers Festival in Ojai. Oh yeah...
...I suppose I should give my homebrewing-related credentials: I've been doing it since 1998, I've entered a few competitions over the years and won a ribbon here and there, and the last time I brewed was March 9th - a Belgian Witbier. I'll be brewing again this Thursday (my 10-herb Gruit) in preparation for the Southern California Homebrewers Festival in Ojai. Oh yeah...
Oh yeah??? Well I've brewed TWO whole batches so far...
...But only one is ready. So THERE!
Tasted my Northern Brewer The Number 8 on Saturday. It's more than a little rough right now (1 month bottled). Hopefully it should mellow out in time for next winter.
Belgian IPA is still in primary and a barley wine in secondary.
My Belg golden strong is quite nice as is my dark mild. Just bottled a California common.
I should be set for spring/summer. Might brew a honey Kolsh.
Belgian IPA is still in primary and a barley wine in secondary.
My Belg golden strong is quite nice as is my dark mild. Just bottled a California common.
I should be set for spring/summer. Might brew a honey Kolsh.
You have the patience of a saint. My Irish Red is only three and a half weeks bottled and it's half gone!
The IPA tasted great at bottling and I'm antsy to dip into that already.
Several years ago, I brewed an old ale and proceeded to drink it right away. It wasn't very good and I was bummed. After about 1 case, I left it alone for about a year to drink my other beers. A year later, the beer turned absolutely amazing. It won a few awards and my homebrew club was very impressed with it. I instantly regretted drinking that case before it was ready.
Patience aside, I have a heck of a lot of beer to entertain myself in the mean time.
Next winter I'm planning on making a REALLY strong Russian imp stout and an even stronger barley wine.
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Cheap summer kit. Haven't tried this particular one before. Price is right.
Cheap summer kit. Haven't tried this particular one before. Price is right.
Oh yeah??? Well I've brewed TWO whole batches so far...
...But only one is ready. So THERE!
Haha, awesome. Welcome to one of the most rewarding and time-and-effort-consuming hobbies there is. I wish you well in your brewing pursuits!
Thanks, man! I will add addictive to that. I've only just started and it's already engulfed me. TalkBass used to be my go-to time killer, along with Facebook. Now it's the Invalid Link Removed forum.
