Under Pitched Liquid Yeast

Hello,

Today was the first time I've used liquid yeast, and unfortunately when I opened the vial approx. 1/2 of it came spewing out. Apparently I didn't open slow enough or something; possibly the altitude change? (Went from CA to MT, 4700 ft change).

I have 3 options and I'm wondering what would be recommended.

1 - Wait it out
2 - Pitch some Dry Yeast (Nottingham or Safale US-04/05)
3 - Get some of the same Liquid Yeast from LHBS (Tuesday Night)

The OG of the beer is 1.061 and it was pitched well aerated at ~74 degrees.

Thanks for the help.

Wait to see. You didn't make a starter? Always make a starter with liquid yeast, always make a bigger starter with a beer over 1.060.

I'm going to say you way underpitched, the yeast might take off but it will be slow and they will be highly stressed. If you can't secure yeast until Tuesday night then I vote to let it go and see what happens. If fermentation hasn't started by then (per a gravity check) then I would pitch more yeast, dry or liquid.

I'd wait . . .

Don't really have a reason other than patience usually pays off and panic doesn't.

Thanks for the responses. I had figured the same.

Woke up this morning to airlock activity as well as about 3/4 inch layer of foam up top. Hoping I come home to an even more active fermentation.

Cool, Happy it worked out. . .

It happens. Always crack those vials with caution. I like to sanitize the outside of the vial first, too.

Pressure builds as it warms up on those vials. The best procedure is to open it as soon as you take it out of the fridge, and then every 15 minutes or so as it is warming to room tamp. This slowly releases the pressure instead of all at once.

Or use Wyeast packets which expand full of air, and a tear will let the air escape without the yeast foaming out of the package.

What about starters? Both the Wyeast and White Labs say no starter is necessary for 5 gallon batches below 1.070 OG.

I noticed a few replies mentioning starters.

if you are decently certain that your home brew shop has fresh yeast, you shouldnt need a starter. it obviously doesnt hurt, and many people always do it just to be safe.

a starter pretty much just verifies that the yeast is healthy and bulks up the numbers. if for whatever reason you dont need or want that verification, then you can skip it.

If that was a 5 gallon batch, the Mr. Malty pitching rate calculator says that you should have used 2.2 vials of yeast, or a starter of at least 1 liter. And that's if the yeast was packaged by the manufacturer YESTERDAY. I would definitely recommend a starter next time.

Don't worry, it'll make beer. Not as good as a one mil per ml pitch but it will be more than quaffable if I had to venture a guess. Tue it will have more than enough cells generated so don't repitch then. Keep an eye on temps and slowly raise to the high end when it starts to slow to get the attenuation offset that may suffer from a lower pitch though.