Pre-inflated smack pack

Just a small worry.

I got a smack pack of 1056 shipped to me a few weeks ago, when it arrived, it was already swollen fully. I assumed the inner bag popped and my yeast was good to go. However, on brew day at pitching time, i opened it to find a thick chunky mess in the packet, with the inner bubble un popped. I popped it and tried to mix (hard to shake it up when its cut open!) and proceeded to pitch.

Smelled ok...

What do yall think? High shipping temps ramping up the yeast? Off flavor production in my beer?

Hmmm, with a pre-inflated smack pack, I would have definitely done a starter just to make sure it was still good to go.

I don't think you're likely to get off flavors due to the yeast activity that's already taken place -- there is so little that would have been produced inside the pack. But it's possible that you underpitched, depending on how viable the remaining yeast was.

I'm an abject n00b, but my thought is that if the fermentation takes off in a timely fashion, you'll probably be fine. What was the OG? If it was a high gravity beer, you may have yourself a problem.... Not an unfixable problem, to be sure, but...

You should make a starter with ALL liquid yeast. Whether the pack is smacked or not. That's how you know how your yeast is, whether it's viable or not.

Some yeasts look like a "thick chunky mess" so that doesn't mean there's anything wrong.

Revvy said:

You should make a starter with ALL liquid yeast. Whether the pack is smacked or not. That's how you know how your yeast is, whether it's viable or not.

Some yeasts look like a "thick chunky mess" so that doesn't mean there's anything wrong.

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What Revvy said! Those packs swell in shipping due to being warm, not cuz the nutrient pack broke. And a starters a good idea, ensures an appropriate pitch rate for your beer.

Yeah, I have been trying to make starters for every batch, this one was an unfortunate lapse of reason. Just wondering about opinions. Thanks yall!

Same thing happend to me. I got my 1056 smack pack in the mail swollen. Could not pop the nutrient sack for fear of popping the whole bag. I made a 2L starter with it and it was fine. It's now chugging away in my 1.110 Russian Imperail Stout.

Ironically I had a 1056 inflate while on the inside door of the refrigerator. Made a yeast starter as I always do with my liquid yeast and everything was fine. It's busy eating away in my latest IPA and seems to be very happy as the airlock has been bubbling away nicely for four days straight.

LCTitan said:

Ironically I had a 1056 inflate while on the inside door of the refrigerator. Made a yeast starter as I always do with my liquid yeast and everything was fine. It's busy eating away in my latest IPA and seems to be very happy as the airlock has been bubbling away nicely for four days straight.

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I've had the same thing happen. High temps does not make this occur. As long as you do a starter to know it's viable you should be fine.

Saw a thread about the same issue a couple weeks ago....seems like I have been seeing the issue pretty regularly discussed lately...long story short is that one LHBS has even posted a note on their web site that they will not honor waranty for the situation. Nobody is saying that the yeast is not good when used.

At my LHBS they often have packs like this swollen priced at 50% off. I've been buying them, propagating them in a starter and splitting the yeast from the starter into sterilized vials. So far I haven't had one bad one.

The best thing to do if you're unsure of your yeast, and what I do every single time, is make a starter. Taste your starter. Smell your starter. You'll know if you're about to throw a vial of infection into your wort.