ish beer

[borischarlton]

Hi all,

What a wonderful place I have found!!!

I am so pleased to say that I have just made my first beer using the ish recipe. Popped a couple of bottles the other night and I am so impressed, it tastes like proper beer!! And it does the job!! I am yet to grow any hops so I had to buy all the ingredients from my (very) local home brew shop which are a real find and very helpful. Does anyone know whether you can get away with using a little less yeast? The recipe calls for 20 grammes to ferment 25 pints. This is fine but it really bumps up the cost, I used Muntons Gold which was £1.56 for a 6 gramme sachet and as such had to spend £6.24. Could use just one sachet?
Many Thanks
Rob

[Mr and Mrs luvpie]

Hi Rob,

welcome to what I think is one of the best sites ever!!. I've just finished the last of my ish beer a couple of days ago and I think I had the same query with the yeast and I think I compromised with two sachets. It might be worth checking out with the others on here (Stonehead knows loads about homebrewing) but fresh yeast is supposed to be easy to make - see the breadmaking threads.

Good luck

Rob

[tim_n]

When you finished fermenting your ish brew, did you notice the gunk at the bottom of whatever you brewed?

That's yeast that is.

You can use that to start the next brew. What you don't use, feel free to freeze. Once you've made your next batch however I'd only use that yeast the once more - so from an original packet, you can re-use it twice (so three brews from one packet)

So if you do freeze it, mark the 'generation' on it. I used to freeze mine in ice cube trays, stick it in a plastic bag awaiting use with the generation number on it, then just pop it in your fermenting bin. Leave the brew an extra day to allow it to defrost and get off from a cold start - should work fine.

If you've got too much leftover yeast, just stick it on the compost heap and dig it in a little (otherwise it attracts flies)

[borischarlton]

Many thanks to you both. Yes, lots of gunk that I washed away
Is ale yeast that much different from the fresh yeast that you make bread with? I choose the Muntons as it has been said that it clears very well. I am going to start my next lot this weekend, I may try just one sachet and see what happens??
Rob

[tim_n]

One sachet is all you get with a 5g kit, so I wouldn't worry. The more yeast I guess the quicker the start to fermentation, but I'd not worry too much.

My current 5g has been left in an allotment shed for almost two weeks now. I tried it last week and it was still very 'green' (which means young). This week it's much clearer and has a much better flavour. By next week it should be excellent!

Nevermind about washing it away - just keep the next batch. Stick it in a jar in the fridge if you're not going to use it straight away...

[Cheezy]

Firstly I'm supprised you need as much as 20g. I would normally lob a packet in, It is just a matter of time as the yeast will grow .

I would not use bread yeast, yeasts have been developed for different functions, and flavours. Bread yeast usually dies after an alcohol level of around 5%, not so much a problem with beer, but not good for cider and wine. The yeast used here have been selected to be alcohol tolerant.

[The Riff-Raff Element]

In theory you could just start with the merest pinch of yeast since it "breeds" like, well, yeast in the brew. I've never used that kind of amount; the only thing is that the fermentation could take a little longer.

I'm torn as to what is the great home-grown miracle: potatoes or homebrew

[tim_n]

definately homebrew... More moneysaving, less chemicals and a fascinating hobby.

[CyberPaddy66]

For those that require a bit of a more technical approach to brewing here's a good site with information on the life cycle of the yeast

http://www.beer-brewing.com/beer-brewin ... _cycle.htm

I found it interesting to read and it re-enforced what I already believed about the way yeast grows and works, as has already been said you don't need lots of yeast to brew beer and wine but you would do better if you had the correct type of yeast. While bread yeast will ferment and make beer it will not be the same as a beer made from beer specific yeast, I personally have made cider with wine yeast and bread yeast and the bread yeast didn't taste as nice as the wine yeast did.

If your making beer with a 'good' beer yeast you can always split your yeast into several batches to allow you to make more beer with the initial yeast and collecting the yeast from the bottom of the bucket is also possible but requires you to ensure a fully sterile environment for further culturing or you could end up making vinegar without realising it.

As an occasional poster over at Jims Beer Kit forum there's lots of helpful advice on yeast but this guide that Jim made on splitting a liquid yeast is by far the best bit of advice anyone can give, yeast can be stored in a fridge for up to 6 months (even longer) after being split using this method.

http://jimsbeerkit.co.uk/liquid_yeast.htm

Have a look, you won't be disappointed if you do :D