Yeasty Mess (Do I need to re-pitch?)

I just got done brewing an English IPA.. I dipped my vial of liquid Wyeast (London Ale Yeast) into my star-san bucket and began opening the cap when yeast started fizzing out like a shaken soda.. I tried as best as I could to have the foamy yeast drip into the carboy.

I would say I lost about 50% of the yeast to the side of the carboy and my hands

Should I go to my LHBS and pick up another vial of yeast to re-pitch or should I RDWHAHB? Also, I think the LHBS said that it was their last vial of the London Ale yeast... if they don't have any more, what else would be suitable?

Thanks in advance everyone.

rule 1: always barely crack those vials so they can vent. they always have pressure and will spray out on you.

rule 2: while supposedly pitchable, its better to make a starter with those vials.

that said, if you oxygenated your wort thoroughly, the half vial of yeast should not have a problem increasing its cell count to sufficient levels for a good, healthy fermentation.

malkore said:

that said, if you oxygenated your wort thoroughly, the half vial of yeast should not have a problem increasing its cell count to sufficient levels for a good, healthy fermentation.

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And if you go this route, don't be surprised if you have a longer lag time. Don't freak out if you get up tomorrow morning and don't see fermentation taking off yet.

ChshreCat said:

And if you go this route, don't be surprised if you have a longer lag time. Don't freak out if you get up tomorrow morning and don't see fermentation taking off yet.

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Hypothetically, when should I start worrying? If I don't see any signs of fermentation in 3 days or longer?

24 hours, no sweat.
48 hours, a little concern, but no rush.
72 hours, start looking at repitching options.

Thanks for the help guys. I checked on the carboy after work yesterday and it was full of krausen and actively fermenting..

So it looks like everything turned out OK after losing about half of the yeast.