White Labs Oopsie

I just dropped my white labs container into my fermenter while pitching my yeast. How screwed am I?

Couple of thoughts - If you are using White Labs you probably should have made a starter Second, go ahead and ferment the thing. So many stories here about this or that being dropped into the wort and it turning out fine. No reason to panic at this point.

We sanitize to reduce the population of undesirable microbes to a level where the yeast can out-compete them and anything they may develop will then be below our taste threshold.

Sanitizing still leaves microbes in the containers.

By dropping something that has not been sanitized into fresh wort, you just make the competition between the microbes and the yeast a little more exciting.

Provided the yeast get off to a decent start, you should be fine.

Post boil you sanitize EVERYTHING. That includes the yeast vial. If using dry you should sanitize the packet and scissors used to open it.

I thought WhiteLabs made an oopsie, which would be shocking to me.

Your situation? You'll be fine. The cell count will be a bit low without making a starter but pretty sure your beer will turn out just fine.

Please follow up this thread with the results of the final brew.

Yeah there's definitely nothing I can do now except wait. I'll keep you guys posted.

Did it still have the label on?

vtbeerman said:

Did it still have the label on?

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A better question is "did you still have the LID on"

I want to let y'all know i didnt forget about you. But I just x'fer to the secondary and it smells alright. I think I'm in the clear.

Yes the label was on, and no the cap was not on

I've dropped a vial in one of my first times with WL. Shook it too much, so that upon opening it the cap went flying off, causing me to drop the whole thing into the bucket. Lost about half the yeast, too. Quite upsetting (and stupid).

I think the beer turned out OK, definitely not the best. Don't think I had an infection, maybe a few off flavors from under pitching if anything.

splobucket said:

I just dropped my white labs container into my fermenter while pitching my yeast. How screwed am I?

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I just pitched a white labs where I shook it and let it sit too long and it exploded over my fermenter but it end up fermenting anyway. I still have it fermenting for another 2weeks. Next time I will shake then open into the fermenter. I usually use Wyeast anyways.

Dan said:

I thought WhiteLabs made an oopsie, which would be shocking to me.

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Ha, I had the exact same thought.

Anyways, OP, i agree with those who say you'll probably be ok, and even moreso with those who say you should sanitize the vial before opening, which would reduce the concern if you happened to drop it in the bucket.

BrewKnurd said:

Ha, I had the exact same thought.

Anyways, OP, i agree with those who say you'll probably be ok, and even moreso with those who say you should sanitize the vial before opening, which would reduce the concern if you happened to drop it in the bucket.

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Even Danstar says to sanitize the package and scissors on their dry yeast sachets.

WhiteLabs vials tend to kind of burst after you shake it for pitching.

Before anything went really wrong, I modified my approach to prevent any possible problems. I wear saran gloves or put each of my hands in a ziploc bag. I sanitize my gloved hands along with the whole vial. I open the vial so that any bursting will hit my gloved hand and drip into the fermenter below. I might even gently rinse my hand into the wort.

Oh and by "fermenter" I do mean the 8L glass container I use to make starters, unless it was an unscheduled brew and then I always pitch two vials to give it a chance... (I do check MrMalty for calculations).

I shake mine when I get them and several times to make sure everything is loose well before I have to pitch. When pitching I don't have to shake as much and just ever so slightly crack the seal. Worked on the past few I've gotten anyhow.

Yeah, if you just do the crack and reseal a few times to vent off pressure, you should be able to avoid any explosions.

Tried that but on occasions, some vials seem to want to juice out along with any gaz that comes out...

(and I'm not talking about turista) B-)

atreid said:

Tried that but on occasions, some vials seem to want to juice out along with any gaz that comes out...

(and I'm not talking about turista) B-)

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Mine are cold when I get them and I keep them cold. Try cracking them while still cold. That should help, but as you say, maybe some are just more prone to it than others.

Might be a good trick since CO2 is more soluble when cold... crack them before warming them... Might try that sometime...

Finally, an update.

I just kegged the beer last night and everything is A-OK. No off flavors what so ever. Hooray!!