homebrewandbeer.com

Hey guys,

I've just been given a Tooheys home brew kit for christmas, with my first one bubbling away! Love the forum, have soent a couple of hours reading through things, and as I result have a couple of questions:

Firstly, what is "Pitching the Yeast"?

What is racking?

Apart from going to a HB shop, where can I get yeast? My coles has the HB base and brew enhancer etc, but no yeast.

I live in North/Central Victoria (Kilmore) and work in the city, are there any HB shops near either?

Cheers

pitching is just a wanky word for dumping in on top.

racking is where you move beer from one fermenter to another, its done for various reasons.

yeast comes free with the beer kit. its under the plastic lid.

cellar plus on peel st just north of the vic market, not the best but its much better then a supermarket and close to the city.

Cheers Regan. What about getting liquid yeast's?

Also what is the best way of adding the yeast to the mix? Mix the wort with the water in the fermenter and dump it on top, mix it in with the wort on the stove before putting it into the fermenter with the water, giving it a kickstart then putting it in etc?

Couple of things to add:

pfullarton wrote:What is racking?

Like reagan said, it's transferring from one fermenter to another. Generally achieved by connecting a PVC hose to the tap (a hose with an outer diameter the same as the inner diameter of your tap is best; this will be the same thickness as your "blue bottler") and draping this down into the bottom of a second fermenter so that it splashes as little as possible (so as to avoid oxidation). I tend to also put in a tablespoon of dextrose boiled in 500mL water so that the yeast can produce a blanket of CO2 in secondary.

Apart from going to a HB shop, where can I get yeast? My coles has the HB base and brew enhancer etc, but no yeast.

http://www.craftbrewer.com.au

I live in North/Central Victoria (Kilmore) and work in the city, are there any HB shops near either?

Slightly out of your way, but a trip to Grain and Grape would be worth it.

pfullarton wrote:Cheers Regan. What about getting liquid yeast's?

Grain and Grape is the only Victorian importer as far as I know.

Also what is the best way of adding the yeast to the mix? Mix the wort with the water in the fermenter and dump it on top,

yes

mix it in with the wort on the stove before putting it into the fermenter with the water,

NO - this will kill it (too hot).

giving it a kickstart then putting it in etc?

I assume you mean making a starter. Basically, if it's a dry yeast, the best thing to do is pitch it directly into your wort. If it's a liquid yeast, it's best to make a starter. A lot of people make a starter, split this up into six bottles which they put in the fridge, and then make starters from each of the six for separate brews. This spreads the (rather exorbitant) price of the liquid yeast over several brews.

rwh wrote:

pfullarton wrote:mix it in with the wort on the stove before putting it into the fermenter with the water,

NO - this will kill it (too hot).

What if I let it cool down to an ideal temp?

I still wouldn't do it, as yeast don't like solutions with a high concentration of sugars; it prevents them from rehydrating properly.

Thanks rwh. I guess the next question is which yeast? Use the one that comes with the mix or buy something seperately?

I suggest using the kit yeast for the first brew, then experiment from there.

Pale_Ale wrote:I suggest using the kit yeast for the first brew, then experiment from there.

I used the kit yeast for the first one (a tooheys draught). It has been dodgy though, first no fermentation then I checked it on the 3rd day and foam and gunk had come up and through the air lock! put some water back in now and its bubbling slowly, doing a check with the hydrometer when i get home.

When you say experiment, do different yeasts bring out noticebly different flavours? Or do they just affect the quality of the fermentation?

They bring out noticably different flavours, I heard somewhere they contribute approx 30% to the taste of the beer. In reality I think it would differ from beer to beer. The different strains of yeast all have different properties (i.e ideal temperatures, the rate at which they ferment et.).

Depending on the style of beer you are trying to create, you will need a yeast complementary to that style. Most home brewers tend to brew alot of 'ale' style beers because of the convenience - ale yeast's optimum range is within normal room termpature range (or a bit above or below depending where you live).

There is nothing wrong with using kit yeast, the only problem is it does limit your options a bit. The possible issue you mentioned with your kit yeast is certainly not indicative of kit yeast in general though, in fact kit yeasts like the Coopers yeast are an exceptional yeast IMO and very versatile for the beginner brewer.

pfullarton wrote:I used the kit yeast for the first one (a tooheys draught). It has been dodgy though, first no fermentation then I checked it on the 3rd day and foam and gunk had come up and through the air lock! put some water back in now and its bubbling slowly, doing a check with the hydrometer when i get home.

When you say experiment, do different yeasts bring out noticebly different flavours? Or do they just affect the quality of the fermentation?

Foam and gunk means the yeast is working well. Maybe next time don;t fill your fermenter up too high. Fill the airlock again with sterilised water and it should be OK.
Different yeasts to effect taste to a degree. It comes down to beer styles amoung other things.

In between kit yeasts and liquid yeasts, there are a variety of premium dry yeasts to try. As rwh said check out craftbrewer's range.

Like reagan said, it's transferring from one fermenter to another.

Hi
When is the best time to rack the brew? Is it dependent on the beer style I brew?
Barra

The best time is when the majority of the primary fermentation is complete. What you're trying to achieve is the separation of the beer from the majority of the dormant yeast and the trub, which is a source of off-flavours if the beer sits on it too long. You don't want to wait too long however, as you still want some fermentables available in the wort so that CO2 drives the air out of the headspace of the secondary fermenter (or you can add a little more sugar in boiled water to ensure that this happens).

Im a nubie my self but some good advice i got was to keep lots of water in bottles in the fridge, to put into fermentor. As when you pitch yeast into fermentor the beer has to be at the right temprture. Make sure bottles of water in the fride are air tight.
Try and brew beers that use Ale yeast when it's hot and lager yeasts when its cold.
Keep buying normal beer to drink for a while as they need to sit in the bottles for at least a month.
Malt is heaps better than brew enhancers.
Trust me, it's worth the trouble.


Cheers Damo

Trust me, it's worth the trouble.

Hmmm. The force is strong with this one. (Yoda)

Sorry Earle, it was Darth Vader not Yoda

Wasn't it both?