urgent - Mosaic IPA - yeast

[jmls]

Sorry for the real noob question (virgin brewer, first brew!) , but I have a mosaic ipa kit that came from crafty brews. I read and re-read the instructions until I was sure what I was doing. Turns out I'm not The boil is about to begin, and I've realised that there is no mention of the yeast that came with the kit - I am assuming that I should put it in the fermentation keg.

I just don't want to be wrong

Also, there is no mention of sugar, and I see an awful lot of receipes that mention sugar. Should I put some in ? If so, when ?

thanks

[john luc]

Did the recipe ask for a sugar addition ,if not then no. Too much sugar can bring a cider like taste to a beer. I assume the yeast is a dry yeast, you can put it in a small container and add warm water,25C to get it wet and ready , no not porn. You can also pitch it as dry but it then has to dissolve and adjust to the wort which can take 24 hours.

[jmls]

Thanks, the yeast is a liquid that had to be stored in the fridge. Will take your advice on the sugar, thanks so much for helping out

[Kev888]

The only craftybrews grain kits I've seen say 'choice of yeast' which may explain the lack of specific instructions, but this makes it hard to guess what you have; are there any more details on the yeast pack?

In general yeast is pitched into the wort once it is in the fermenter, and when it has reached roughly normal fermentation temperatures (too hot and the yeast will be killed, too cold and they will struggle to work). Dried yeast can be pitched direct and many people do, although once you are comfortable with sanitation (to prevent wild yeast etc getting in on the game) it is technically better to rehydrate them first.

However you say that you have a liquid yeast; these can 'sometimes' be pitched direct into the fermenter, if they are very fresh. But they don't keep especially well so if they have travelled far or are a few months old or have been stored warm they may benefit from building up in a starter beforehand. You probably don't have time for that at this point, so a hasty trip out for some dried yeast may be in order - but without knowing what they are, what their date is, and the volume and approx gravity of wort that they are to be pitched into its hard to say anything very specific.

[tinners24]

Is it 5 gallons or one of those little 1 gallon "stove toppers"? A liquid yeast vial typically contain around 100 billion viable yeast cells at the time of packaging. This is roughly enough cells to ferment 5 gallons of low gravity wort. As it ages the viability reduces. That's why people make starters - to ensure there are enough cells to make a quick start to fermentation. Having insufficient cells means that the yeast will spend their first few hours reproducing rather than doing what you want them to do (make alcohol). Your beer will still most likely ferment, there's just an increased risk of off flavours


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