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swh127 · 08-10-2005, 07:58 PM

I just got my kit in the mail today and I ordered the German Wheat beer kit from morebeer with the white labs yeast. However, looking at the site today I see they ship it with ice. I did not get that option. Is my yeast ruined. Is there anything I can do to save it or do I just have to order some more?

vtfan99 · 08-10-2005, 08:04 PM

Where do you live in relation to the place you ordered from? My opinion of ice packs is this....how much can it possibly do? The ice packs are relatively small and given the summer temperatures they will melt quickly....so I feel they are pointless. Just order from some place relatively close to you. The place I usually order from ships it same day (generally) and I get it the next day (standard UPS ground). I never get ice and have never had a yeast problem.

cowain · 08-10-2005, 08:06 PM

I don't know where you live or where morebeer is located, so I don't know how hot or cold the yeast got in transit.

However, I live in AR and ordered some stuff from Austinhomebrew (TX) and it had to sit on my front porch from 1 to 7 when I got home in the 100 degree heat (stupid UPS). It was shipped with an ice pack, but it was not even moderately cool when I got it. I put it in the fridge and then got it out 2 days later for brew day and pitched the tube as I normally would. Fermentation didn't start for like 3 days and then it needed some good swirling of the primary (about every 2 hours day before it started) to get it going.

Long story short, some of the yeast cells may be dead, but some will have survived. If you want to have fermentation start like it should, do a starter a few days before you brew and it'll be ready to rumble.

swh127 · 08-10-2005, 08:22 PM

Thanks, i guess I will have to make a starter. Too bad the only thing I have is a 12oz mason jar to put in in. Is that big enough for a starter?

I live in PA, morebeer ships from CA

**DyerNeedOfBeer** · 08-11-2005, 12:18 AM

I had a shipment sent to Tennessee from morebeer and it took a week to get here. This was just recently so the temps were way up there for its travel. It was not shipped with an ice pack and I think that would have been futile anyhow with this lengthy journey. I made a starter and it was alive and kicking in about 24 hours. At the 22 hour point when I was getting ready to brew, I was worried and started another starter and was going to use another yeast but low and behold... just a couple more hours and I started seeing the tiny bubbles rising in the wort. I went ahead and brewed that day and now my porter is well on its way.

As far as the mason jar, I would go for something larger than the approximate 30oz of an average starter.

Rhoobarb · 08-11-2005, 01:01 AM

I think you'll be okay if you make a starter a couple of days prior. I once bought a vial from my homebrew store, then ran a bunch of errands on an 85oF+ day. I kinda spaced out and forgot I had a vial of yeast in the trunk of my car!

Twelve hours later, I got it into the fridge. No harm; things went fine.

I agree with Dyer; I'd go with something bigger than the mason jar, if at all possible. I use a 1/2 gallon growler that I got from a brewpub, much like the one shown below. Besides, it gives you a good excuse to go to a nearby brewpub! (Like I'd need one!)