Northern Brewer mailed me WYEAST without ice

I don't remember seeing an option to have it shipped cold. It just came in a padded envelope. It sat in that envelope at room temperature for 2-3 weeks before we used it yesterday. I smacked the pack and it didn't expand, but we called a local store and they said it was fine. It also sat outside after we smacked it in 55 degree weather. We're total rookies. Do I need to pitch more yeast today or should I give it the full 36 hours?

Make a starter with it. Also, it wouldn't matter if they shipped it with ice or not if you left it at room temp for a couple weeks.

did you make a starter? If not give it a bigger window to see visible signs. the yeast and the beer are both fine

onthekeg said:

Make a starter with it. Also, it wouldn't matter if they shipped it with ice or not if you left it at room temp for a couple weeks.

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A starter? Pardon my ignorance...

Is that the powder yeast you put in warm water for 15-20 minutes?

We've done 5 brews. 2 WYEAST smack packs and 3 of what I described above.

A starter for liquid yeast is basically a mini-brew to get the yeast population up. I believe the process is described in the stickies somewhere. With the dry yeast, the process is rehydration...placing it in warm (about 104F) water for 20-30 minutes to bring the yeast out of their "sleep state".

Starters generally require a couple days of lead time before you brew since the yeast need to get through the first couple phases of fermentation before use.

I've used smack packs before that didn't swell. Fermentation started off a bit slower but still caught just fine and the beer was great!

Since yeast normally lives at room temperature, it's probably ok.

Its also plenty cool this time of year anyway. If it were being shipped in August, you defiantly want a ice pack.

I don't know for sure but they may not offer ice packs during the winter, since there really isn't a need.

60 hours in, no visual activity...

Here's hoping to major lag time!

Hate to ask it, but have you checked the gravity? Best way to actually find out if there is any fermentation.

In the future if you're unsure about a yeast in anyway or just for peace of mind just make a small 1Liter sized starter.

Take 100 grams of Dry Malt Extract, add that to a little over 1 Liter of water and boil it for 10 minutes or so. Chill it down to room temps (70ish) and put it into a 1 gallon or 1/2 gallon cleaned and sanitized jug. Dump the yeast in and put some sanitized foil over the top and shake it like a red headed step child.

After a few days when the yeast has fallen to the bottom stick the jug in the fridge for a day or so. Brew your beer up. While the beer is chilling take the original jug out of the fridge and pour off most of the liquid in the jug, leaving all of the nice white yeast cake at the bottom in place. Pour that white cake into your beer.

Did you expect the ice pack to last 3 weeks?

Ibrewaletx said:

Hate to ask it, but have you checked the gravity? Best way to actually find out if there is any fermentation.

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No, I haven't. I don't have a beer thief or flask for the sample and I don't have an OG. I'm a bad, bad homebrewer. I plan on buying those things for the next batch to be more detailed about the process.

SwampassJ said:

Did you expect the ice pack to last 3 weeks?

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There was no ice pack, but as others stated, it doesn't matter. I got the box of ingredients from NB and just put it in a cupboard without opening it up. I didn't think to open it up and take out the smack pack. Next time I think I am just going to buy the dry yeast like I've done before. It's cheaper and worked a lot faster.

I posted my last post at 4:30am this morning (I know, I was worried about it) and there was this on top of the beer.



At 8:00am this morning I noticed a small amount of bubbles/churning in the carboy. I am hoping that the yeast army has amassed and begun their raping and pillaging.:rockin:

Looks like the beginnings of krausen to me! Glad to hear the yeast were still viable. Here's to hoping they make something tasty!

elvestinkle said:

Looks like the beginnings of krausen to me! Glad to hear the yeast were still viable. Here's to hoping they make something tasty!

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Cheers. I'm a Raleighite too!

Lots of Krausen going and lots of churning. Good to go. I am supposed to rack off into the secondary a week after, should my week start when the fermentation actually began? I guess a few days sitting on the yeast cake after it's completed won't hurt it, right?

themack22 said:

Lots of Krausen going and lots of churning. Good to go. I am supposed to rack off into the secondary a week after, should my week start when the fermentation actually began? I guess a few days sitting on the yeast cake after it's completed won't hurt it, right?

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what you should do is wait until the FG is stable for a few days before racking to secondary, whether that's a week, two weeks, whatever, you want fermentation to be completely finished before you remove a beer from primary.