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Hi, PicoBrewers.
Annie here to talk to
you about fermentation.
What I want to talk to
you about first is yeast.
Now, yeast comes
in different forms.
It comes in dry packages.
Here's a couple of
different manufacturers.
Some of my favorites.
It also comes in a liquid form.
It comes in a tube,
another of my favorite.
And it comes in smack packs.
And it also comes packaged
in liquid form like this.
This particular yeast you
just leave out on the counter
about 30 minutes
before you need it.
The other liquid yeast that come
in smack packs or tubes, just
go ahead and smack this
pack, put it on the counter,
give it one good
push, and you'll
release all the yeast and the
activator and it will swell up.
It needs about three hours.
The same goes with the tube.
Just pull it out of
the refrigerator,
give it a little shake
and leave it out.
Dry yeast can be sprinkled
directly on top of the wort
when it's cool to
pitching temperatures.
What I like to do though
instead, is I rehydrate it
in a small flask, or if
you don't have a flask,
you can use a small
ball jar or anything
that you use to put
cooled water in.
But make sure that the
water is sanitized.
Follow the dry
yeast instructions
before pitching it.
When I talk about
hydrating the yeast
instead of just
sprinkling it directly,
sometimes you can
lose up to 20% to 30%
of the yeast right off the
bat without hydrating it.
So to be on the safe side,
go ahead and hydrate it.
And if you do
hydrate it, you will
find that you'll use less
yeast than the whole package.
If you have any
questions at all,
check the forums or email me.
Want to talk about
pitching temperatures.
All yeasts work at
different temperatures.
And what we've done
in the recipe database
is we've used all
the specifications
from the various yeast
providers to know
their optimal
fermentation temperature.
So when you're picking out
your recipe from the library
or you're putting in one of your
own, when you select the yeast,
depending on the
manufacturer, there'll
be a temperature
range, and you will
have the optimal
fermentation temperature.
So the Zymatic will
cool down if you're
using an immersion chiller
or ice to that temperature.
If you're chilling
overnight, it doesn't matter.
You will reach your ambient
fermentation temperatures
in about 12 hours.
So then it's safe
to pitch your yeast.
If you pitch yeast--
and I'll hold up
this package of one
of my favorites, dry yeast--
if you pitch this in wort--
which is your finished hopped
work from the brew cycle--
when the wort is too
warm, unfortunately, you
will kill the yeast.
It needs to be pitched
ideally below 80 degrees.
But again, in the
database with the recipes
and from the manufacturer's
specification,
we'll know the optimal
fermentation temperature.
When your brewing
with lager yeast,
you'll need to go much cooler.
Lager yeast is a
different style of yeast.
It ferments from the bottom up.
So for any of those questions
about yeast, you can email me,
or you can check the forums.
We're here to help.
One of the things that I like to
do when I ferment my beer is I
use painter's tape
and a marking pen
and I write on here
what the beer is
and which yeast I've
used and the date.
This gives me a
really handy reference
to know how to track
my fermentation.
Because I know what
certain yeasts are
and how long they
generally take to ferment,
I can always peek back at the
type of yeast and the date
so I have a general
reference in a frame of when
they'll be done.
You can do this by using the
forums for this information,
and also by going to those
yeast provider's specifications
to give you a range of
how long it should take.
But in general, for ales,
10 to 14 days, and for
lagers, at least 21 to 30 days.
So here I have a
weizenbock that's finished.
Now, I'll know when
fermentation is through
because I have the
date as a reference,
and then I can
also use a visual.
I'll show you the
inside of the keg.
You'll see a small
film on the top, which
indicates that the
krausen that has developed
has completely
dropped to the bottom.
Fermentation is
complete on a visual.
But what I can do is measure it.
For this, I use a hydrometer.
A hydrometer measures
the specific gravity.
It measures the original
gravity and the final gravity.
But here, I'm going to use
it on the final gravity
to know that my beer's
done, to confirm my visual.
So I take a bulb here.
This is like a wine thief.
I call it a beer thief.
I use a stainless steel one.
You get them online or at
your local homebrew shop.
They're about $10.
I have it in sanitized water.
Because remember, anything
that goes in at this stage
needs to be sanitized.
So I'm going to carefully
take off the lid.
And then I'm going to
take a gravity reading.
You might want to have a
towel nearby because it
can get a little sticky.
I'm just pulling out beer.
And this is flat fermented beer.
I put the lid back on.
I don't want anything
to drop in there.
Then there is a scale on
the side of each hydrometer.
I'll look to see
where the points are.
I'll use this with
the scale that's
provided to me in the vital
statistics on your recipe
crafter.
If it's in that scale for
it's finishing gravity,
then you know the beer's done.
Another good thing to
do is always taste it.
You can drink it right
out or pour it in a glass.
It's just good, flat,
unfermented beer.
And from that
phase, you can next
take it to the transfer step.
And we have the
videos out for that.
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