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Yeast in Milestone's kits.
Hello everyone,
I have recently brewed a Woodforde's Norfolk Nog, my first ever attempt at a beer kit, and I am extremely pleased with the results. I am now about to embark on a Milestone's Olde Home Wrecker. Having looked at the enclosed instruction sheet and the kit itself there seems to be some discrepancy about pitching the yeast. The instruction sheet calls for the yeast to be sprinkled over the wort whereas the instructions on the yeast packet ask for the yeast to be mixed with lukewarm water, (at 35 degrees C ), prior to pitching.
I wonder if anyone could put me on the right track as to which path to follow. Also I am a little dubious as to whether to put the yeast into 35 degree water as I thought temperatures in excess of 25-27 killed the yeast.
I would be grateful for any clarification.
Thank you.
Responses
Posted 1 year ago by Member
Hi Willboy,
I did a Milestones kit some while back and came across the same confusion as you. I thought the same about the temperature issue as you and decided to pitch the yeast from the packet straight into the wort. It worked with no problems and should be fine for you as long as beer temp is between 18-24c. To be honest I rather pitch this way and I have never had bad results. Everyone has their favourite ways of doing something with brewing - some swear by making a yeast starter whilst others prefer adding packet Direct to wort.
Cheers
Howard
Conditioning - Theakston Old Peculier
Conditioning - Christmas 2010 (Strong Xmas ale)
Maturing - Peach wine kit
Drinking - Summer Lightning, Summer Wit
Posted 1 year ago by Moderator
Some people (a lot of people!) re-hydrate the yeast in a little warm water (35c) for 15 mins before pitching which is what is stated on the yeast packet but dry pitching should be fine. Ive never had a problem!
Conditionin' - LEB Pale
Conditionin' - Thwaits Nutty Black
Plannin' - A user upper!
Posted 1 year ago by Admin
I always just pitch direct onto the top of the wort and have never had an issue.
Fermenting:
Conditioning:Pale with Styrians
Drinking:Cascade Pale Ale, Summer Lightning
Posted 1 year ago by Member
Thank you all for your prompt advice. Much appreciated. I'll pitch the yeast directly on to the wort.
Posted 1 year ago by Member
I'm told it's best to give the wort a good old stir to get air into it. That should give you a good foamy head. Pitch the yeast on to the head and leave for 10 minutes before stirring into the rest of the wort. Supposed to prevent the yeast from getting a shock from hitting the very sugary wort straight off the bat.
Least that's what I've read and it works for me!
Fermenting:
Condtioning: Twibute Clone
Drinking: 100% wheat, Fixby Gold
Posted 1 year ago by Member
i've just (yesterday) started the black pearl stout kit. i replaced the supplied yeast with a packet of S04 and dry pitched, which has always worked for me before although the rationale of rehydration seems to make sense. i guess i'll continue dry pitching until there's an issue.
Posted 1 year ago by Member
I decided to pitch the yeast as per simonb_13's instructions,(thanks Simon).
The temperature of the wort at pitching was 23C.
The brew began bubbling after 9 hours and has been kept at a constant 22C.
Today is day 8 and the bubbling is still continuing!! Is this a powerful yeast or is something wrong? I would have thought that fermentation would be easing off by now. Took a sample today and the gravity is 1014 (@ 22C). The OG was 1038.
Comments welcome.
Cheers,
Will.
Posted 1 year ago by Admin
Hi Will, 8 days is not that long. Sounds like its nearly done at that gravity. Check the gravity over the next couple of days if its not changed then get it in the barrel.
Regards
Greg
Fermenting:
Conditioning:Pale with Styrians
Drinking:Cascade Pale Ale, Summer Lightning
Posted 1 year ago by Member
The CO2 dissolved in the beer will continue to be given off even after fermentation has finished.
So the air lock will still bubble, even though no more CO2 is being produced.
Also any increase in temperature will cause the gases to expand pushing the gases out of the air lock.
Posted 1 year ago by Member
Thank you for the advice.
Cheers,
Will.
Posted 1 year ago by Member
that's useful to know varnish, i always thought you had to wait until the airlock stopped bubbling.
my black pearl stout has been fermenting for a week but there's a large clump of yeast floating on the top of the brew which hasn't absorbed/dissolved. should i stir it or just leave it alone?
Posted 1 year ago by Moderator
It will be fine, dont stir as you dont want to get any more air into (the now) beer. Are you sure its yeast and not just gunk? Is it grey in appearance?
Conditionin' - LEB Pale
Conditionin' - Thwaits Nutty Black
Plannin' - A user upper!
Posted 1 year ago by Member
no it's light brown, looks just like it did when it pitched it. i assumed it wouldn't be good to stir it although i suppose that means i'll need to be careful when i syphon it into the pressure barrel.
it'll be the first time i've used the barrel so what's the best way to sterilise it? just add some steriliser to the barrel, fill it up with water and then rinse out?
Posted 1 year ago by Moderator
Dont worry about the floaters, when you syphon you can normally avoid them. Out of interest have you taken a hydrometer reading to see how its fermenting?
Sanitising depends on your stuff! If its vwp I use 4 tsp in 2 galls of hot water and swirl it around 3-4 times in about 10-15 mins, tip out the fluid into a large bowl then rinse out really throughly. Then I stick the tap (dismantaled), syphon bits and cap in the bowl for a 10 mins then rinse cause Im terribly afraid of infection and then rinse again with water.
I now use Videne which is a non rinse sanitiser (see here http://www.brewuk.co.uk/forum/topic/vidine#post-1391 )
Much easier!
Conditionin' - LEB Pale
Conditionin' - Thwaits Nutty Black
Plannin' - A user upper!
Posted 1 year ago by Member
i haven't taken a reading yet so i'll do that later. i've found this to be the trickiest part of the whole process, with my last brew i just left it for a few days after it stopped fermenting since apparently the brew can stay in the bin for a couple of weeks. feel free to correct me if i've got that wrong...
i use sodium metabisulphate although i'll be switching to videne after reading that info so thanks for that.
Posted 1 year ago by Member
The Olde Home Wrecker has been at the same gravity for the past three days so I've racked it into a pressure barrel. Usually I would have siphoned it into the barrel but this time the FV I used had a tap on the side so I just ran off the beer from the FV directly into the barrel. Although not falling from a great height into the barrel, the beer built up quite a head on entering the barrel. Would this mean that too much oxygen has been introduced and will this be detrimental to the beer? (PANIC!!!!) Please help!
Cheers,
Will.
Posted 1 year ago by Moderator
Hmmmmm
To be honest you should have used a tube so to minimise oxygen. Seeing as you got a head of foam sounds to me like theres a fair bit in there. Dunno how it will turn out mate but its been exposed to a fair bit of the old air.
Conditionin' - LEB Pale
Conditionin' - Thwaits Nutty Black
Plannin' - A user upper!
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