I appreciate the scientific support, especially directly from the manufacturer. But those of us who direct pitch have known this for years! It is interesting that they now recommend mixing the wort and yeast rather than the sprinkle on top and let it slowly rehydrate method.
By coincidence that’s how I’ve always done it. It’s funny that wort and and yeast want to make beer. It doesn’t have to be complicated which is great for me…
I have tried it all three ways that he describes, as well as adding O2 and sprinkling on top without mixing in - with the same conclusion. For what it is worth, I wonder how the lager yeasts track at fermentation temperatures…it will be interesting to see the full report that he alludes to be forthcoming.
Good timing. I’ve rarely used dry yeast, but just decided under summer time constraints to grab some S-04 and direct pitch. Now I’m encouraged. Interestingly, their technical data sheet suggests an alternate method: sprinkle on top of wort in the fermenter, leave 30 minutes, then aerate to mix. Maybe I’ll add the aeration step. Or not.
Not sure how they could say there was no difference…the DP clearly lagged behind early on and ended up with more volatile compounds. Dunno if that would make a difference in flavor but I kinda think it would…
The data points make it look like it lagged up to day 2, but I bet if you ran stats on that, there is no difference between groups (I do these kind of analyses all the time at work). They all finished the same, so even if DP lagged a little for two days, does it matter?
Also, the volatile compounds graphs look identical to me when you take error into account (and were not statistically significant according to the author).
When I use dry yeast, I mostly rehydrate. Think I’ll skip that and eliminate one possible source of contamination. I’ve never noticed direct pitching to be detrimental when I have done it.
Some of the smaller breweries around here will fill the conical cone, open the manway and sprinkle the dry yeast in, close the manway, then pump the rest of the wort in.
Did the DP today, S-04, calculated my pitch rate based on the 8B cells/g for this strain given in the study cited by Brewer’s Friend. Used the method given in the TDS: Sprinkled on the wort at 73°F, left it for 30 min, and aerated (air, not 02 for this) to mix. Moved to fermentation chamber set to hold ambient at 60°F. Came back to check after 5 1/2 hours, and it’s at 68°F in the thermowell (target fermentation temp) and active. Will see how it tracks from here. For ales, I may never use liquid yeast again. Or bother repitching. Not sure how this could be adapted for lager fermentation. If I have to rehydrate and attemperate adding aliquots of wort, it’d be just as easy to use liquid yeast and make a starter. But at this point, I may have had one of those life-changing events…so simple!
When I started brewing I used dry yeast rehydrated and was convinced my beers would be better using liquid culture with starters and the whole nine yards. My beers got better over time but so to did my process and recipes. I find my schedule more erratic the last year and was tossing liquid cultures because brewday wasn’t working. I now keep several packs of dry yeast around and there isn’t much we can’t brew with dry. In terms of rehydration with fairly straightforward OG worts, I gave up on that also. I believe this offers another source of contamination and even if viability is reduce, the dead yeast serve as free yeast nutrients for the little beasties that survive. Great article. Thanks for the post.
I’ve never heard of anyone keeping liquid yeast as an emergency backup for dry yeast. Dry always works for me and I’ve been very happy with it for a long time now. I haven’t used liquid yeast in fornever. Never had a fail even well past the expiration date. I can’t say that about liquid.
Wasn’t for emergency, it was what I planned to brew with. Brew days kept getting pushed back and then culture was well beyond expiration so I switched back to dry.
Oh …I wasn’t directing my comments your way. I was simply making a statement about why I’ve been using dry vs liquid yeast. I apologize for any confusion. Cheers!
I still ferment lagers in the mid 50s…old habits die hard. But I’ve fermented a pils with 34/70 at 65 to try it and as far as I could tell it was indistinguishable from the ones done at 55. No blind triangle so I won’t sweat to that. I also use 34/70 as my go to dry ale yeast and ferment it at 63-65. I far prefer it to US05.