Wyeast Activator "Smack Packs"

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UnderPressure

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This will be my first brew using liquid yeast. I plan to brew this weekend, and I am finding a lot of conflicting information on incubating and activating these "smack packs". I don't plan on using a starter. (This is a Wyeast Activator 1056 for American Ale, BTW) So, how long in advance do I need to activate this thing? I've found information that instructs anywhere from a few hours to a few days before the brew.

Also, do I need to incubate the pack before or after I smack it?
 
I've used them for most of my brews the past year and a half. What I'll do it keep in in the fridge until brew day. Then I crawl out of bed and remove it from the fridge, Then get everything ready for brewing and get dressed and blah blah. By then it's usually warmed up or if not I'll wait. Then smack it. It usually is swollen in ~3 hours. It doesn't have to necessarily be bulging to pitch, even if it's swelling a little it's done it job in proving the yeast is viable. I've read where some people don't even smack them.
Not sure what you mean by "incubating it".
 
I would take it out of the fridge and smack it, first thing brewday morning. Then set it aside on a counter. Usually they seem well puffed up and ready to pitch in 8 hours or so.

Disclaimer: I've only ever pitched into a starter, but the process should be similar.
 
Just make sure when you pitch, the little pouch doesn't come out and go into your wort. And don't be afraid to smack the crap out of it. You want to make sure the pouch pops.
 
I've been using smack packs lately and I really like them. I smack mine the night before, cover with a dish towel and leave it on the counter. By the time I'm ready to pitch the next day, it's very swollen and works perfect.
 
UnderPressure said:
This will be my first brew using liquid yeast. I plan to brew this weekend, and I am finding a lot of conflicting information on incubating and activating these "smack packs". I don't plan on using a starter. (This is a Wyeast Activator 1056 for American Ale, BTW) So, how long in advance do I need to activate this thing? I've found information that instructs anywhere from a few hours to a few days before the brew.

Also, do I need to incubate the pack before or after I smack it?
Click to expand...

Safale US-05 (dry) is cheaper, is the same strain of yeast, and you won't be underpitching with it by not making a starter.

You can really smack the pack whenever, as noted above the main point of that is to test and make sure the yeast is viable. It's not growing extra cells or anything. I've done the morning of brewday and the night before both successfully.
 
I had a smack pack where the "activator" wasn't broken when I went to pitch, (I was sure I had gotten it!) so I just chucked the yeast and nutrient into the cooled wort and hoped for the best. Fermentation took off in 12 hours.
 
The pouch in the smack packs is strictly for verifying your yeast is alive. I rarely wait until they're swollen.
 
For my five gallon batches I usually use dry yeast or make a starter with a White Labs vial. However, I've been using Wyeast smack packs quite a bit lately for extract recipes in my two gallon Mr. Beer fermenter. Sometimes, I'll smack and pitch immediately. Other times, I'll smack and do the three hour wait before pitching. I haven't noticed too much of a difference in lag time either way.
 
i generally just smack mine when get the ingredients ready to go and set it on the counter. by the time I'm done its swollen a bit and at about room temperature, which in my house is usually about 68.
 
IrregularPulse said:
... It doesn't have to necessarily be bulging to pitch, even if it's swelling a little it's done it job in proving the yeast is viable. ...
Click to expand...

+1 on this. Also, check the date on the package, the older it is the longer it might take to start swelling and if it is > 2-3 months old I'd do a starter.
 
IrregularPulse said:
I've used them for most of my brews the past year and a half. What I'll do it keep in in the fridge until brew day. Then I crawl out of bed and remove it from the fridge, Then get everything ready for brewing and get dressed and blah blah. By then it's usually warmed up or if not I'll wait. Then smack it. It usually is swollen in ~3 hours. It doesn't have to necessarily be bulging to pitch, even if it's swelling a little it's done it job in proving the yeast is viable. I've read where some people don't even smack them.
Not sure what you mean by "incubating it".
Click to expand...

As much as I hate to admit it, IP is pretty much correct. :D
 
How much do the smack packs expand?

I'm using one for the first time. I smacked it about 6 hours ago when I took it out of the fridge. (it's one of the Belgian ones; "1762 Abbey II")

It has expanded slightly, but that might be just from warming up. The packet is a few months old, but has been refrigerated the whole time.

My beer is in the carboy and ready to pitch. OG is 1.07. Not sure whether to wait another couple of hours, or use a packet of dry T-58 instead.
 
You should be able to make a fine beer without it being fully inflated. But, it's probably better if it is fully inflated. It would most likely be best if you made a starter to go with it. The way I see it, I've never heard of anyone regretting making a starter. The worst thing that can happen is that it wasn't all that necessary, but it won't hurt the beer. Not making a starter could.
 
I smacked this exact yeast last night. I let it warm to room temp, smacked it, and the pack was about as big as it gets two hours later. Pitched it into a starter at that point.
 
Z-bob- Don't want to be a negative nelly, but if you are pitching one smackpack in a 1.070 wort, then you are pretty drastically underpitching. If you are ready to go and don't have time to do a starter, then I would pitch both the WY1762 AND the dry T-58 together.
 
The Smack Pack might swell a little or a lot, even if it doesn't swell that doesn't necessarily mean the yeast is dead.

There are about 100 billion cells in a very fresh pack. Most 5 gallon brews need 200 billion or more for optimum fermentation.

Make starters, you will have a better chance of making that "great beer".

Corrected million to billion...
 
But.... to answer your question, the smackpacks don't need to inflate to use them. The yeast is in the big pack and a nutrient in the little pillow part. When you pop the pillow it releases the nutrient and kicks the yeast in the butt. The yeast will or will not be active whether you activate it or not. It's level of activity is more dependent on it's 'use-by' date and the temperature.
 
JimRausch said:
Z-bob- Don't want to be a negative nelly, but if you are pitching one smackpack in a 1.070 wort, then you are pretty drastically underpitching. If you are ready to go and don't have time to do a starter, then I would pitch both the WY1762 AND the dry T-58 together.
Click to expand...

It's only 3 gallons, so I thought one pack would be enough.

As soon as I posted, the pack started swelling up like a balloon. It had just sat there all day doing nothing, mocking me.
Do you still think I should pitch a packet of dry yeast too? I thought slightly underpitching was a good thing with Belgians -- but I've never brewed a Belgian before. (the only thing I've brewed is American pale ales with dry yeast)
 
z-bob said:
It's only 3 gallons, so I thought one pack would be enough.

As soon as I posted, the pack started swelling up like a balloon. It had just sat there all day doing nothing, mocking me.
Do you still think I should pitch a packet of dry yeast too? I thought slightly underpitching was a good thing with Belgians -- but I've never brewed a Belgian before. (the only thing I've brewed is American pale ales with dry yeast)
Click to expand...

Sorry didn't realize it was a 3G. Just ran it through 'Mr. Malty' which said you would need 1.5 smackpaks, or 3/4 of a drypack. So, if no time to do a quick starter, what do you do? Go with 1 smackpack, knowing that it's an underpitch? Or add some of the T-58? I don't know- your call. Good luck!
But- at least it's a good sign that the smackpack decided to behave.
 
SumnerH said:
Safale US-05 (dry) is cheaper, is the same strain of yeast...
Click to expand...

This statement is simply not true. As I've stated in posts before; dry yeast, especially safale, leaves an off flavor in beer.

On thanksgiving my cousins husband had a pale ale he brewed. I thought it started well until the finish and then belch. There was the unforgettable flavor of the dry yeast. I asked if he brewed it with safale dry yeast, specifically 05. Surely it was.

I've heard many people don't notice that flavor or they actually like it. Since I started using wyeast I will not use dry yeast again because of that off flavor.
 
This statement is simply not true.

brewprint said:
This statement is simply not true. As I've stated in posts before; dry yeast, especially safale, leaves an off flavor in beer.

On thanksgiving my cousins husband had a pale ale he brewed. I thought it started well until the finish and then belch. There was the unforgettable flavor of the dry yeast. I asked if he brewed it with safale dry yeast, specifically 05. Surely it was.

I've heard many people don't notice that flavor or they actually like it. Since I started using wyeast I will not use dry yeast again because of that off flavor.
Click to expand...

I use Wyeast, White Labs, Lallemand yeasts including Safale. All of them work very well when used properly.

I have never tasted anything bad using dry yeasts. Side by side they may be a little different....

OP At 3 gallons it is probably a bit of an underpitch. But, I would use the Wyeast alone.
 
kh54s10 said:
This statement is simply not true.



I use Wyeast, White Labs, Lallemand yeasts including Safale. All of them work very well when used properly.

I have never tasted anything bad using dry yeasts. Side by side they may be a little different....

OP At 3 gallons it is probably a bit of an underpitch. But, I would use the Wyeast alone.
Click to expand...

As I mentioned some people don't notice what myself and many others notice. So obviously to yourself it's not a bad flavor. To me it is. I don't believe it was in the 04 but that has been a while since I've used it.
 
brewprint said:
As I mentioned some people don't notice what myself and many others notice. So obviously to yourself it's not a bad flavor. To me it is. I don't believe it was in the 04 but that has been a while since I've used it.
Click to expand...


Not me and from what I can tell MOST others.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew
 
smizak said:
The pouch in the smack packs is strictly for verifying your yeast is alive. I rarely wait until they're swollen.
Click to expand...

^^^This is true. The more important part about the wait time is letting come to room temperate gradually, so you don't shock the yeast when you pour it into your wort.
 
JimRausch said:
Sorry didn't realize it was a 3G. Just ran it through 'Mr. Malty' which said you would need 1.5 smackpaks, or 3/4 of a drypack. So, if no time to do a quick starter, what do you do? Go with 1 smackpack, knowing that it's an underpitch? Or add some of the T-58? I don't know- your call. Good luck!
But- at least it's a good sign that the smackpack decided to behave.
Click to expand...

It got off to a slow start, but it's bubbling nicely in the carboy now. :)

Since this is a big beer and I underpitched it a little, I might need to figure out a sanitary way to get more oxygen in there before it totally stalls. But I'm not going to worry about that yet; it might be fine like it is.
 

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