Hello Y'all, Last night I was working on my second extract brew (Brewer's Best Rye Pale Ale) and, while going to rehydrate my dry yeast, I managed to drop the majority of the yeast on the floor. After some panic on my part (and some head shakes from the wife), I proceeded to use the remaining yeast (about 1/3 - 1/4 of the packet) and continued to primary. The hope was I would see some signs of fermentation this morning, but unfortunately there was nothing. So my question is, can I simply just re-aerate my carboy, and add another packet of yeast with no issues? This seams like the easiest solution, but wanted to check to see if it would cause any adverse affects in the final product that I'm not foreseeing. Thanks for the help.
What size (grams) was the yeast packet, what was the wort batch size, and what was the OG? By rehydrating, you got roughly twice as many viable/vital cells than you would have by sprinkling the yeast onto the wort. So you may not be as terribly under-pitched as you might think. You may want to check on a yeast calculator before deciding to repitch. What did you look for as signs of fermentation? Even if there are no visible signs yet, it's too early to worry a whole lot IMO. If you do repitch, I would oxygenate again. Most of the yeast growth (the reason for oxygenating) will have already occurred. ETA: That should have said wouldn't oxygenate again.
Last week I brewed a 10g batch of hoppy red and was repitching some West Coast yeast I'd harvested into a qt mason jar. One 5-gal fermenter took off like a volcano. The second was a calm sea. After 48-hrs I got too nervous and pitched a pint of VT Ale harvested yeast into the lazy fermenter. 24-hrs later I return to see my airlock blown off and krausen all over the bottom of the fermentation chamber. We'll see this weekend what it tastes like. I know that's anecdotal for you, but you may still be OK if the OG wasn't too high. If it was, you'll probably have some stressed yeast off-flavors appear.
Just a question, not trying to start trouble... is this true? Doesn't the dried yeast just re-hydrate in the wort?
Yep. Throwing it straight into the wort sort of shocks the yeast and doesn't end in the most viability from it.
O.G is 1.050, working with 5g, and most likely used 3-4 grams of the 11g packet. According to the calculator, I only used 1/4 of the needed amount of yeast needed. Right now, after 18 hours, there's no activity in the airlock, and no kraussen. Wort looks the same as when I put it in the carboy last night.
That sucks (for this case). I think I'd be inclined to pitch some more, just in case. Usually, I wouldn't recommend worrying about "no activity" for at least 48 hours. But you certainly seem to have underpitched, so adding some more couldn't hurt.
