Brew day White Labs screwup

Sort of crappy brew day today. Making a dark IPA - first of all couldn't get a good boil outside on a windy cool Chicago afternoon. Just weakly roiling without a hot break for over an hour. Eventually brought it inside, started a real boil on the stove, hopped appropriately, cooled, etc, etc. Went to pitch the White Labs yeast and (stupidly) opened it right over the bucket. Of course, it sprayed all over the place, dripped down my hands and the vial and into the fermenter. Anyone else ever done this? What do you think my chances of a non-infected batch are? I was just looking at a stirrer at the LHBS literally yesterday thinking I should be making starters, but here we are. After all that almost-boiling, it ended up with an OG of 1.080, if that matters at all. I know you're going to say just finish it and see if it works, but I was wondering if anyone else had done this.

Not personally....but this is where great brewing stories come from.

You have 3 - 4 weeks of patience to learn. Trust in your process and you just might be alright.

I always dunk my hands and the whole vial in sanitizer before opening.

I'd be more worried about pitching only 1 vial of yeast in a 1.080 OG batch. Mr.Malty recommends 3 vials for that OG.

Yeah ive gotten yeast on the fingers with no problem. 1 vial for a 1.080 isn't the recommended amount, but if you aererate the hell out of your wort it should work. Believe me Ive done 1.080 wort a few times with one vial and no starter.

The White Labs vials always blow up like that. Kinda like a can of coke that got shaken.

I dunk them in Star San along with my hands and open them very slowly. I just crack them enough to get them to hiss and reseal. I do that about 5 times to purge all the CO2. It takes a few minutes, but it's better than getting sprayed in the face.

Ugh. It's probably even more underpitched than just a single vial, since the vial didn't even empty all the way because it was so foamy. Is it worth re-pitching? It's fairly well aerated, but do you think it's worth opening it to do a better job? Dunking your hands is a good idea. I don't know why I didn't, given that I had an open 5 gallon bucket of StarSan within arms reach. Sigh, we'll see I guess. Relax and have a homebrew, right?

Skinner!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I *hate* the white lab tubes for this very reason. If I don't shake it, then I leave yeast behind, if I shake then it's a foamy mess. Unless I *have* to have the WLP yeast I use wyeast activator; self proofing and easy to pour.

BTW, my very first homebrew had this issue and it turned out fine; ie no infection.

You'll be fine.

Next time, crack the WL yeast vials while they are cold, just enough to allow the condensed CO2 to escape. Put the vial in a sterile beaker or glass standing up and allow it to come to room temp (while you're brewing, as usual) and occasionally re-crack as the brew goes on to allow any more CO2 to be released. If you can't get all the yeast out of the vial upon pitch, add some room temperature boiled and clean water to the vial, not all the way, and mix up the slurry, then pitch the rest!

SuperNintendoChalmers said:

Ugh. It's probably even more underpitched than just a single vial, since the vial didn't even empty all the way because it was so foamy. Is it worth re-pitching? It's fairly well aerated, but do you think it's worth opening it to do a better job? Dunking your hands is a good idea. I don't know why I didn't, given that I had an open 5 gallon bucket of StarSan within arms reach. Sigh, we'll see I guess. Relax and have a homebrew, right?

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I'd put more yeast in there personally if it's not a huge pain to get another vial. It might help it finish out more fully.

I also open my vials as soon as I get them out of the fridge and then try to repeatedly release CO2 as I let them warm up. Once I'm about ready to pour it out I retighten the cap. Shake it quickly and then pour out the contents. Doing this I get the yeast slug out of the bottom reliably.

I've had the vials kinda hiss and spray a little, but I am a consistent White Labs user. I used to use them 100% of the time, but over the last few years since the dry yeast strains have gotten so good, I find myself using them about half of the time.

As far as the mess-up goes, it should be fine.

cheers

~rc~

topherm said:

skinner!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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lol

Aerated it a little (got antsy when it hadn't started after 24 hours), but now it's bubbling away. I guess time will tell. I'll have to go by the brew store later this week, so I'll get another vial. I don't want it to attenuate early.

I had a vial do this to me ONE TIME.

From then on I figured out how to open it without a problem. It's not rocket science.

I had two vials do this to me, but not just foam up, it was closer to pulling cork out of a bottle of champagne while it is hot and been shaken. Hit me in the face and hit the ceiling and light fixture. I got a mouth full on vial number two. Sent an email to whit labs to complain, they sent me coupons to replace the vials for free and gave me hints on how to open them, open when cold to release CO2, open and release CO2 as they warm up. when ready to pitch release co2 reseal and shake, then pitch.

SuperNintendoChalmers said:

Went to pitch the White Labs yeast and (stupidly) opened it right over the bucket. Of course, it sprayed all over the place, dripped down my hands and the vial and into the fermenter. Anyone else ever done this? What do you think my chances of a non-infected batch are?

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I did this. I was brewing a "Southern Cross 2xIPA" with all Australian and New Zealand ingredients and I ended up wearing both of the vials of yeast.

Luckily, I had a friend with Wyeast Belgian Abby Ale II on hand and pitched that instead. Turned into a great IPA.

At any rate, I wouldn't sweat it too much as long as you covered the fermenter with something sanitary and then pitched new yeast shortly thereafter.

Just slightly crack the top on the vials every hour or so before so much pressure builds up.

Or you can hit the wyeast smackpack once, and cut it open and pour with no mess. Each to their own, but one of these yeast packs requires less interaction to prevent a mess.

I would pitch 2 more vials...not only will you be pitching the proper amount of yeast, but if you pitch a lot , you will lessen the chance of infection because the yeast will outnumber / take over any wild yeast that may or may not have got in the fermentor. Seems like it would be worth $13 insurance, and it certainly won't hurt the beer. On a side note: I have had this happen to me a few times as well...I think most who have used white labs have experienced this.You have to employ a "process" to keep that from happening. My process was to switch to wyeast and it has never happened since.

Homercidal said:

I had a vial do this to me ONE TIME.

From then on I figured out how to open it without a problem. It's not rocket science.

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How many loads of White yeast to the face do you need to take before learning?

1. Shake the **** out of the vial.
2. Throw whole vial in Star San to sanitize the top
3. Open slowly over kettle. It'll fizz and drip into the kettle. Tell people you are 'oxygenating the yeast'
4. Add 1 tsp of distilled/RO water. Close cap, reshake, repour, done.

Keep the vial! I store my washed yeast in the original vials and it's hugely convenient since it is already labeled and whatnot.

Carefully crack it open when it's still cold.

Leave it cracked open as it warms up.

Close tight, shake, open cap, pour.

I just let the vials warm up for a couple hours and shake it to mix it up. I leave it upside down to get that bottom stuck yeast to come down then shake some more and leave it sit upside down until I am ready for it. Then I sanitize my hands and the vial and crack it open over my flask (I do starters) and let the overflow drip slowly into the flask until the pressure subsides, then open the rest of the way and pour it in.

This has worked well with no issue.

homercidal said:

carefully crack it open when it's still cold.

Leave it cracked open as it warms up.

Close tight, shake, open cap, pour.

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+1

Update: In case anyone's still following this, I finally bottled it last night (brewed 2/27, dry hopped in secondary 3/13, bottled 4/2). It took about 36 hours to get going, but I got a good vigorous fermentation in the primary. Had almost a full pint uncarbonated/room temperature last night, and it was fantastic! (since it's 8.4%, that's pretty much enough for a work night). We'll see if there are any off-flavors from under pitching once it's carbonated, but for now I'm very happy with the results. The "don't worry, have a homebrew" philosophy wins again!