Smack pack exploded! pls help soon

[nbspindel]

hey, i just smacked my smack pack, but the seam of the bag split and the contents sprayed everywhere! there's still some stuff left inside (not sure if it's yeast, the nutrients, or both). What should I do?

luckily i'm doing a 10 gallon batch, so have 2 smackpacks, but i fear one pack won't be enough for 10 g. I've folded the seam of the busted bag over, put a clip on it to prevent exposure to air, and sprayed well with sanitizer. should i empty contents into clean water (water that's been boiled and cooled to room temp) to let them activate like i've done with dry yeast? or should i just leave the bag as is and hope that there's enough in there to ferment? i'm gonna try to get a replacement from northern brewer, but it won't arrive til wed/thursday earliest. Should i add it then? wouldnt that just leave me with a stuck fermentation?

thanks.

 

[Parker36]

Take everything you can scavenge (including the unopened pack) and make a starter.

 

[BioBeing]

Make a starter with it. Boil up some DME in water, chill, and use that.

 

[Scimmia]

Wow. Many, many people have asked if the pack could explode, and the standard answer is usually that nobody has ever seen it happen.

You should be using a starter anyway, so just make the starter a little larger than you were planning and you should be fine

 

[nbspindel]

well, i realized my LHBS sells this, so just bit the bullet and bought another. but you're saying make a starter with the smack pack anyway? i thought this was just smacked, warmed up, allowed to expand, then pitched?

thanks for the help guys.

 

[BioBeing]

A smack pack is sufficient for 5 gallons of a lower OG beer. However, it is recommended to put in more cells for the best possible beer.

See the pitching rate calculator at www.mrmalty.com

 

[david_42]

Many, many people have asked if the pack could explode, and the standard answer is usually that nobody has ever seen it happen.

I've never seen a pack explode due to pressure, but I have ruptured one by smacking it too hard. The inner pouch wouldn't break so I hit it with the first handy thing - a 2x4.

 

[PintOfBitter]

write to wyeast and tell them what happened. i imagine they will make it right, and they will probably want to know about the incident.

 

[Louielizard]

I smacked one wide open. Made a starter with the left overs and cleaned the kitchen. Everything was fine!

 

[twst1up]

wow, i'd be wondering if something was wrong with that yeast, although i'm sure the Lot would have been flagged by now. that's just crazy

 

[nbspindel]

update: i notified northern brewer. they credited my account (offered a refund if i wanted), and asked for package details to notify wyeast about the issue.

thanks for the replies.

 

[Shooter]

In the end I think most brewing ingredients, including the yeast, are far more robust then we give them credit for. Sure, don't abuse them, but they can stand up to quite a bit of rough treatment and still make good/great beer.

 

[samc]

I've switched to dry yeast but when I did my last smack pack I sanitized it as per directions then put it inside a zip lock bag before smacking just in case.