Kit Yeast What Do You Do

[clibit]

Response to Clibit's message. Far be it for me to disagree with a senior member, but my Graham Wheeler book refers to a maximum temperature of 30C for rehydrating yeast . Am I doing it wrong? 5 - 10 degrees difference is a large margin.
I always rehydrate my yeast, and the advantages to me are that it seems to get going quicker and you can tell if the yeast is dud before you hoy it into your wort.
I also whisk my beer before adding yeast, I do worry about how clean a whisk can be though...

Hi James - that temperature range just came from the article linked, which is a decent source, but is that person's opinion. When it comes to pitching dry yeast I believe in doing what works for you cos there are so many opinions around. And I agree about re-hydration letting you know that the yeast is ok prior to pitching. Though a lack of froth doesn't necessarily mean the yeast is dud, in my experience.

 

[Bleery]

I've never had a stuck fermentation or any problems achieving the target FG - and I've always thrown the kit yeast away and replaced with an appropriate 11.5g sachet from Fermentis or whoever. I always re-hydrate before pitching. Just my own experience of course.

I think the problem with the kit yeast is that you have no idea what conditions it has been stored in since it was made, and the sachet size is usually a bit small at 6.5 or 7g?

 

[Bodleigh Head]

I contacted Fermentis after I got a couple of dodgy yeast packets, bad handling by the supplier not Fermentis. I spoke to the technician on the phone and he said that it is not worth re-hydrating, it makes no difference, or could even be detrimental to the yeast. They have tested it, scientifically.

I notice also that the Fermentis website now says to sprinkle the yeast on the surface of the wort, wait 30 minutes and then aerate.