Smack Pack - dead?

My smack pack did not swell in 12 hours. Maybe 10-25% max. It could possibly have frozen during the trip, but not sure. It was sent by mail. The date on the pack is 1 month ago.

I will make a starter, can anyone provide any tips?

Mr Malty says to use 3 liters of water, so I'll put in 1.5 cups of malt, and see what happens in 24 hours.

Any other recommendations, like maybe yeast energizer, or a little defibrillator will help these guys out?

I had this happen twice to me. The first time, it did swell a little like yours, but that was it, so I made a starter with it and all was fine. The second time, it didn't swell at all. I made a starter with it and nothing there either. The liquid/yeast just seperated and settled out. No bubbling at all.

I switched to dry yeast and make starters now.

You can see if it will start with a starter. But if it takes more than three days to start fermenting, tread carefully (smell it or taste it or something first) -- it might be wild yeast and bacteria. I made this mistake once and ended up dumping a batch.

3bals said:

I switched to dry yeast and make starters now.

Click to expand...

Sorry to jump in but wouldn't it be easier and just as economical to double pitch if you need more yeast? I mean, dry yeast is $1 and the time and materials it takes to make a starter would probably out weigh that expense...IMO.



Back to the thread!

I have had this happen to me, and just like the other guys said, I made a starter and things worked just fine.

Thanks.

Local brew store had the same yeast there, for once which is rare, so I'll grab it tomorrow and just double pitch.

SOB said:

Sorry to jump in but wouldn't it be easier and just as economical to double pitch if you need more yeast? I mean, dry yeast is $1 and the time and materials it takes to make a starter would probably out weigh that expense...IMO.



Back to the thread!

I have had this happen to me, and just like the other guys said, I made a starter and things worked just fine.

Click to expand...

It very well could be cheaper. I don't know alot, as I'm one of those Noobs here.
But, here a pack of dry yeast costs $2-$3, 650 ml of water is almost free (unless I dip it out of the lake, then it would be free) and a 1/2 cup of DME cant cost too much, when a 3 lb bag of it costs $11. The time that it takes is insignificant as is the little bit of natural gas it takes to heat it. Besides that by making a starter, then I know for sure even the dry yeast is valid.

I got it figured out why it did not swell up. I just made a starter for this failed smack pack, and when I opened the yeast pack, only one of those internal packs was open, one was still closed. I squeezed and squeezed and I though I got them both.

I should be on track now for a brew day tomorrow, hopefully when my starter takes off.