Wyeast Question

used wyeast for the 1st time in a weizen beer i did saturday. i really did not read the direction on the back till i was about ready to pitch. of course it said to "smack" the pack and let it set for 3 hrs or i could "smack" the pack and direct pitch it into the wort. the latter is what i did. was that the wrong thing to do? it is now bubbling at about 1 per 3 secs. so all cannot be to bad. my brewing partner used dry yeast, and his is bubbling faster, is that usual? both are side by side, same temp. (we are 28hrs since pitching yeast). any thoughts?

You are most likly having the less active ferment since you did not make a starter. There are at least twice as many yeast in the dry pack as in the smack pack, even if you let the smack pack swell for the 3 hours.

There is some useful info on Jamils site:
http://www.mrmalty.com/pitching.php

The inner smack pack contains some nutrients which get the yeast into a active phase and that it why the pack swells. The idea being that the yeast are very active when pitched into the wort and will get to it quicker. Your will likely take a bit longer but there is no harm.

thanks, i really don't see the benefit to the "smack". like you said, "get to it quicker". but the result should be the same, right?

thenatibrewer said:

thanks, i really don't see the benefit to the "smack". like you said, "get to it quicker". but the result should be the same, right?

Click to expand...

The benefit of the "smack" is to release yeast nutrients, and in essence, you are doing a mini starter if you allow it to swell. The end result of your method is just a lag in ferment time. You will indeed have fermentation, just not as quick.

The main thing you want is to lower the time it takes to begin your primary fermentation, by introducing yeast that will go to work asap, and start chomping on sugars. This is what Wyeast believe will happen with the smack packs, and it does indeed work.

Depending on the recipe, I use Wyeast, and still make starters with it. I smack the pack and allow it to bloat up a bit, then sanitize the package, then pour it into my starter.

The smack pack also gives you peace of mind to know that your yeast is actually working. When starts to swell you know that they're alive and kicking. Also, go with the activator pack vs. the propagator pack IMO. It has four times the yeast as the propagator and really seems to get going.

Actually IIRC the nutrient inside the smack pack just wakes the yeast, causing it to swell, so you know the yeast is viable. It don't increase the yeast count. To do that you need to make a starter, and I recommend that one be made with any liquid yeast, unless you are doubling up on the packs.
Pitching a smack pack without making a starter will increase the lag time and also underattenuate the wort due to less than optimum pitching rates.

when you say increase in lag time??? the airlock started to bubble in less than 12 hrs. is that a good time or not. i was under the impression it was. my brewing partner used nottingham dry yeast. we brewed the same beer at the same time. the only differences have been the dry yeast was bubbling faster (2 a sec) and the liquid was 1 per 2 sec. now 72 hrs later the liquid and still bubbling and the dry yeast is done. is this typical??

The dry yeast could be finished all right. A 12 Hr lag time is OK indeed. Most liquid yeast worts don't start as quick as that. Might be that your fermenting tempertures are a bit higher resulting in a faster start.
Different yeasts react to different wort, so yours may take longer to ferment out and may not attenuate as well as it could have done with a proper pitching rate.
But the end product will be BEER.

ptiching temp is 68f. "may not attenuate as well", does that mean it will not ferment fully, possible leaving some unferment sugars? not sure. let me know.