About the liquid WYeast slap-packs

It says to refrigerate it until use. Then slap it to activate the yeast then let it sit for three hours. It doesnt need to be room temperature before i slap it does it?

For example, i can take it right out of the fridge, slap and activate it then let it sit for 3 hours till i pitch it in the wort?

Yes you can that is how most people do it.

or it says i can pitch it immediately after it has been activated. whats the difference between the choices?

why would one person wait three hours OR just pour it right into the wort?

Yep, that's it. You really don't even need to let it swell. That is just a quality assurance gimmick. By smacking you are releasing yeast nutrients and wort into the yeast. You could go straight to a starter from there.

Ahh ok. So i can boil the wort, let it cool, take the yest out of the fridge, smack and activate shake it up, then pitch itto the wort?

Or would it be safer to let it sit out and warm up a little as i boil everything?

brewd00d said:

Ahh ok. So i can boil the wort, let it cool, take the yest out of the fridge, smack and activate shake it up, then pitch itto the wort?

Or would it be safer to let it sit out and warm up a little as i boil everything?

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You can do it either way. But I think most guys smack it about 3 hours before they plan to pitch it..That's what I do.. I like to see it swell up so that I know the yeast is viable.. Letting it swell leads to a quicker fermentation start, at least in my experience..

I'd go with White Labs Yeast...Sure smack pack might be cool but its just dry yeast surrounded by what? Yeast nutrients... Essentially the same thing as Fermentis. I have never tried them but IM sure they work good.

In your situation I don't really think it matters much. With my liquid viles I leave them out before I start the brew day. With dry yeast I take it right outa the fridge and pitch. Or make a starter for high gravity brews.

brewd00d said:

It says to refrigerate it until use. Then slap it to activate the yeast then let it sit for three hours. It doesnt need to be room temperature before i slap it does it?

For example, i can take it right out of the fridge, slap and activate it then let it sit for 3 hours till i pitch it in the wort?

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Take it out and smack it immediately; take it out, warm to room temp, smack it; don't smack it...it's all good....these yeasties have been doing this for millenniums.

when I use a smack pack, I make a starter a few days before.

If you're not going to make a starter, I don't think there's much difference in when you remove the yeast from the fridge and break the nutrient inner-pack. Then pitch

could i just let it swell as im boiling? maybe an hour or so?

basically would let it swell even for a little bit be ok or is it either 3 hours or just pitch into wort?

Either way is fine. Personally, I'd make a starter like referenced above, YMMV

hugh_jass said:

either way is fine. Personally, i'd make a starter like referenced above, ymmv

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+1

GillandCo said:

I'd go with White Labs Yeast...Sure smack pack might be cool but its just dry yeast surrounded by what? Yeast nutrients... Essentially the same thing as Fermentis. I have never tried them but IM sure they work good.

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That is not at all true. Wyeast is liquid yeast, whether you break the nutrient pack or not.

Not from what the guy says from my LHBS...they dont sell the stuff but I hardly trust the red head when it comes to information. I have never looked into it and was going off what someone else said. Sorry, (I still like white labs).

I'd go with White Labs Yeast...Sure smack pack might be cool but its just dry yeast surrounded by what? Yeast nutrients... Essentially the same thing as Fermentis. I have never tried them but IM sure they work good.

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You sir, don't know what you are talking about.

brewd00d - if you buy the larger Activator packs you can pitch it directly into the wort. If you get a littler Propagator then you should make a starter to boost the cell count

If you read the post above I stated I was wronge, but thanks. I still recommend White Labs just because I like the viles over foil.

the main advantage of the smack packs is being able to determine viability before pitching. this is handy if you buy yeast mail order where shipping problems can affect yeast without you knowing it. if it inflates within a few hours you know its good.
many recommend a starter no mater what. this is probably good advice, but i rarely follow it myself. ive used the white labs vials, however i have had the vials seriously lag at times, which i attribute to a few things, poor viability, low cell count, no starter. two out of the three of these i can more easily validate with the smack packs than with vials.

from a packaging point of view, i see no benefit of vials over foil if properly stored.

funkswing said:

You sir, don't know what you are talking about.

brewd00d - if you buy the larger Activator packs you can pitch it directly into the wort. If you get a littler Propagator then you should make a starter to boost the cell count

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it was the larger activator. it says i dont need to wait for the whole pack to swell before i use it. but everything worked out fine though. i let it swell while i was boiling the hops and letting the wort cool down. its all good fellas!

thanks for the input guys. ill let you know in six weeks how the beer turned out.