First timer - Yeast Not Refrigerated

Decided to try the fun of home brewing and started my first batch tonight. Enjoying the process so far but when it came time to pitch the yeast my stomach dropped as I realized the liquid yeast was supposed to be kept in fridge since I bought it. Don't know how I could over look this but I bought one of the all-in-one kits and just sort of went with the flow and didn't think about what was in it until tonight.

What do you think - it has been in my garage at 55-70F for 10 days since I bought it. Will the yeast still work? I am going to hope - mmm beer. I will monitor the air trap and SG. My OG SG was 1.056. Hopefully some bubbles in the next 24 hours.

Thanks Adam

You've probably got a percentage of that yeast that is still viable, so while it might take a while longer for the fermentation to kick in, I bet it's going to be OK.

Was it a smack pack, or a White Labs vial? If it was Wyeast, did you smack it, and did it swell?

RDWHAHB.

Thanks. I will watch it. It was a White Labs Vial. I shook it to suspend.
If I get no action over the next 2 days or so can I salvage the batch by adding another yeast vial?

to head a future post off at the pass. if your brewing in a bucket you may not see any airlock activity. buckets are well known for not getting an airtight seal around the lid and the CO2 escapes that way instead of the airlock. if in two days you don't see any bubbling stick your good ear up to the side of the bucket and listen. if you hear hissing then you have fermentation going. if you don't hear any hissing take a SG reading. if its gone down then you have fermentation and should just put the lid back on and walk away for 3 weeks.

Ok - I panicked and was worried about contamination so went to my local brew store and he told me to just put in a pack of dry yeast (dry ale yeast). So about 15 hours after the first pitch and before I put in the 2nd yeast there was still no airlock bubbling (this was before Tipsy's Post) and I threw in the dry yeast. Now 24-30 hours from the 1st pitch (and 12 hours from the 2nd), the thing is bubbling nicely.

So now that I have 2 packs of yeast in my batch (and the first yeast may have been fine as the activity started fairly quickly after adding the 2nd pack) do I need to adjust my timeline? I was planning on changing over to a secondary at 6days and then 2 weeks in secondary. But after Tipsy's post and reading the various forums on this site regarding the lack of need for a secondary fementation process, it sounds like I can just do one fermentation for 3-4 weeks in this bucket?? Sounds good.

Another issue that is arising is the temp strip on the side of the primary bucket got above 74 with the all the fermentation. I did not anticipate this and was actually worried about it being too cold as the temp have been cool recently in our area. I had it all wrapped up in blankets. The air temp is 68. Do I aim for the air temp being in 60's or follow the bucket temp (and do I believe the little strip thing).

The best way to know the temp is to put a thermometer in a glass of water where you ferment.
If you are fermenting in a bucket, a fermstrip is pretty useless.
Your ambient temperature should be 6-10 degrees less than your target fermentation temperature.
15 hours is nowhere near long enough to judge the vialbility of your yeast. I have had many batches not take off for around 24 hours. Give your friends time to gear up before you pitch more yeast. Some say as long as 72 hours.