Ordered liquid yeast, it arrived warm...

I am preparing to start my first brew. I ordered a vial of liquid Burton yeast. When it arrived and I took it out of the mailbox, the package was warm and the included ice pack had thawed. Should I be worried that the yeast is dead and will not work properly? I did get it in the fridge as quickly as possible, but it may have been in the hot mailbox for a day or 2...

It's always a good idea to make a starter with your liquid yeasts, especially when ordered via mail in the summer. Yes, the pack loses some viability, but it won't kill off all the yeast. The starter will get the yeast going plus help increase the total number of cells you'll be able to pitch.

Only way to know for sure is to make a starter. If the starter gets going, your yeast is OK. That being said, an issue like this is exactly why I only get liquid yeast at a LHBS...

When you make your starter, you will be making one won't you?, you will know.
How hot does it get in the mailbox. I think that unless you got over 100° it should be ok.

You have a few options .... Go buy another vial of yeast locally, use the one you have and definately make a starter always make a starter or lastly pitch the tube or pack the way it is ( not reccomended ). Good luck.

IffyG said:

Only way to know for sure is to make a starter. If the starter gets going, your yeast is OK. That being said, an issue like this is exactly why I only get liquid yeast at a LHBS...

Click to expand...

+1

I made the mistake of ordering a couple Wyeast smack packs during that really nasty heat wave that hit most of the country last summer. They were hot to the touch and already swollen once I got them. Made starters with both, one was extremely sluggish to start, and the other was DOA. Last time I make that mistake, and always buy em locally or at least online ordering only during cool weather.

Don't know how hot the OPs yeast got, there's a good chance that it'll still be viable, but you'll absolutely want to make a starter.

It's probably fine. Remember, when it's hot out, there's still active yeast all over stuff in nature. A big pile of yeast in a container probably isn't going to be any worse off than yeast baking under the sun in the middle of summer.

hot mailbox? hot damn.

funny story.. I pitched high quality yeast into gallons and gallons of hot liquid ... probably around 105F and it was not a cellular holocaust, no. It was good, and the townspeople rejoiced a few hours later when the yeast pumped out co2 like there was no next day.

I love being a noob.

I would guess that it is impossible to determine how much the viability of the pack has reduced even with a starter, am I correct? To make a starter and get to a good cell count you would need to have a good ballpark of the viability ... or what do you guys say?

Ok so I tried making a starter... 5.25oz of DME in 1.5ltr of water that had been boiled, moved to a sanitized glass container, pitched the yeast at 75F, covered loosely with sanitized foil, gave it some good shaking, and waited... Then waited some more. 24 hours later, absolutely no activity. Same color, 0 bubbles, no line on the glass. I'm thinking the vial must have just been completely dead... A shame, really... At any rate, I could not wait another 24 hours to get the brew started, so I bought a fresh vial from a nearby-ish brew shop. Pitched it, and first bubbles seen 5 hours later. 24 hours later and my airlock sounds like an analog clock on crack.

I guess I got lucky then.

I bought 2 kits from AHS then had them shipped to the Canada/US border. Went to pick them up when they got there (about a week after ordering) proceeded to drive home, got suckered in for some beers on a rooftop patio in Winnipeg then to a buddy's house where I got them in a fridge. It was a hot day outside with a black car and the ice packs melted a long time ago. Finally got home the next day after a night on the town. Did the brew and pitched the yeast.

The yeast finally took off after 48hrs....for awhile I thought they were dead. I have the other vial in the fridge for another brew I will be doing this Thursday. I'm thinking I should make a starter for that one.

Did anyone suggest you make a starter? Back when I was buying yeast I always bought it from the LHBS. If I were forced to by my supplies online, I'd probably stick with dry.

Generally speaking, dormant yeast is tolerant into 90F+ territory. It's when you start getting 100F or above that it becomes a problem.

Always make a starter!

MC

Not sure if this has been mentioned before, but you should always make a starter when using liquid yeast.

when not making a starter with liquid yeast, i like to make sure that i have an extra pack (or two) of dry yeast in the fridge. when emergencies like this flare up, it id good to know i have a US-05 or a T-33 stashed away. and since they are dry yeasts, they do not require a starter - unlike liquid yeast, which really do need one.