Substitute dry yeast for liquid?

I ordered my 2nd Williams Brewing kit a couple weeks ago. It uses Brewer's Choice "Activator" from Wyeast Labs which comes in a foil package. You smash the activator inside the package and it swells up to alert you it's ready to use. My first kit about 6 months ago worked fine. The package from my 2nd kit failed to swell so they sent me another one free of charge.

It's been 3 days and I don't think it's swelling yet. I'm not sure if it's me or the yeast. I have beaten the crap out of it to make sure I broke the inner package. We keep our house pretty cool in winter, 68 for maybe 5 hours and 64 the rest of the time. The package says it should be at 70-75. If this one doesn't work, I won't have the nerve to ask for another.

Can I substitute dry yeast (which I have used in Brewer's Best kits)? The kit is English bitter. What kind of yeast should I get for an English bitter?

Dry yeast will work fine in a bitter. I've got a batch clearing that I used Salale-04. Windsor is also a good choice, although it won't ferment out as far.

Or you can stick the Activator in a bowl of warm water.

david_42 said:

Dry yeast will work fine in a bitter. I've got a batch clearing that I used Salale-04. Windsor is also a good choice, although it won't ferment out as far.

Or you can stick the Activator in a bowl of warm water.

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Agreed. S-04 will make a fine bitter.

lmacmil said:

I have beaten the crap out of it to make sure I broke the inner package.

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It's not a game of probability based on the number of beatings you can give it. All I'm really getting at is you either burst the inner pouch or not. Can you say for sure? If you did it may take several days and yes 70-75 degrees will speed it up but 64 will work. I've ordered many smack packs and never a problem. Even brewed with one that was over 11 years old.

Agree. You don't have to smack the crap out of the Activator pack. Move the bladder to towards the upper left corner of the package and either press down hard or give it a few good thwacks with the palm of your hand. Wyeast has a video on their site that shows how to do it. Make certain to shake the pack up every hour or so and that will get the yeast going. Even if the package has not swelled up like a ballon the yeast is still viable. My home (upstairs) is generally 68' at best and quite often cooler and my Wyeast has always been fine. Montanandy

Montanaandy said:

Even if the package has not swelled up like a ballon the yeast is still viable.

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This is the most important piece of information in this thread. The inner smack pack just contains additional nutrients that get the yeast excited before you pour them into your wort. If you pitch the contents of the Activator pack into your beer, you will get beer. The yeast are still there, they just haven't been coaxed into a highly active state if you can't get the smack pack to swell. Don't worry about it!

khiddy said:

This is the most important piece of information in this thread. The inner smack pack just contains additional nutrients that get the yeast excited before you pour them into your wort. If you pitch the contents of the Activator pack into your beer, you will get beer. The yeast are still there, they just haven't been coaxed into a highly active state if you can't get the smack pack to swell. Don't worry about it!

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Thanks. That's exactly the kind of info I was looking for.