I brewed 11 gal of Porter last Saturday and pitched a packet of US-05 into each 6.5 gal carboy at 60F. By Sunday evening I had signs of fermentatation in one carboy but not the other. I’ve used a lot of this yeast and know it can be a slow starter at low temps so I didn’t think much about it until I stil didn’t have any activity last night when I got home from work. I bumped up the temp and pitched another pack. This morning I finally saw a little activity. I just bought that yeast last week from my LHBS and pulled both packs from the same box. I bought those because I was afraid the packs I had may have been old? I’m glad now I had the extra. I was just wondering if anyone has had problems lately?
-JKL
While I can’t say I’ve had any problems with US-05, it certainly is slower and a bit more sluggish than WYeast 1056. But thinking back to the one or two small test batches that I pitched to, I still had solid fermentation — sluggish to start, but still did alright.
If you’re really concerned about it, I’d recommend making a yeast starter for recipes of an OG of 1.050–1.060 or higher, and coordinating your brew/pitch day so that you’re pitching the yeast starter about 48 hours (give or take 24, or when the yeast is still active and you’re just reaching high kroisen in your starter) after having made up your starter. That should get you going with a healthy start to your fermentation with yeast that are ready to hit the ground running.
Did you rehydrate prior to pitching? You can lose a lot of yeast by not rehydrating and it could be the reason for a slow start. Whenever I’ve used 05 and rehydrated, it took off pretty quick.
Dave
Do you have a lot serial number#? I just bought some S-05 for an APA. Hate to see a batch go the way of Nottingham’s bad lot…
No activity at all in one, but not the other? Are you sure you didn’t pitch both into the same fermenter?
Haha if drinking was involved that may very well be the case! 8)
Lol, nope I wasn’t drinking…and I’m 100% sure I pitched into both fermenters. I pitch then come back 30min later and hit it with the O2. I didn’t rehydrate though, maybe I’ll try that next time. Sorry I dont have the lot# either.
i’ve used 05 twice recently, both times with no problems and no rehydration.
+1
I used to just dump it in when I used this yeast regularly. Now, I keep some on hand for “emergencies” and always rehydrate. Rehydration definitely reduces mortality and lag time.