The pitched dry yeast had a 36+ hour lag time. This was not just on one brew, but a succeeding brew also.
But we just brewed an Amber Lager, and we had nearly a two quart slurry of 34/70 harvested from the above. Divided that in half, and pitched it into two fermenters (6 gallons each). There was no lag time. It took off very fast, and is going like gangbusters right now.
We have an air line from the lid of our SS Conical (Delta Brewing) going into a jar filled with water, an air lock set up. The bubbles are so rapid and violent, it sounds like 4th of July fireworks!
The dry version has a terribly long lag time, that will test the patience of many of us. But the liquid version, harvested from a previous brew, has zero lag time.
I understand dry yeast hits full stride in the 2nd or 3rd generation. Looks like you validated the concept.
FWIW: when I harvest yeast I like to ensure it’s ready to roll by proofing it. I mix 15 g sugar with 200 ml dechlorinated water, warm and decant the beer off the harvested yeast sample and pour in the simple syrup. Here’s today’s pitch ready to go:
I normally use fresh dry yeast for each batch but decided to harvest from my last beer to pitch in today’s beer. I only use the proofing process with harvested yeast because my confidence level is never as high as with fresh packs. I use the technique as recommended in the Fermentis Tips and Tricks document substituting dry for my harvested pitch. It gives me a bit more confidence I have a good pitch.
