Hi all,
I went to go activate my Wyeast Weihenstephan 3068 packs and they were a bit swollen prior to smacking. Instead of being the normal 1cm thick, they were 2cm thick.
The production date is December 2012, so they're 9 months old, but I bought them from the store myself and put them in the Fridge at 4°C since.
A bit of poking about on Wyeast's site and I find:
"Activator packages will sometimes swell slightly, or moderately during shipping or later while properly stored. This is not an indication of deterioration if the package is less than 6 months old and has been properly handled. This is result of trace amounts of nutrients, still available at the time packaging, causing small amount of culture activity and CO2 production. Some strains are more prone to this than others."
Now, both 3068 packs are a bit swollen, but the Bavarian Wheat (3068) packs aren't showing this behavior, and they're the same age.
So, is the pre-smack swelling and age of packs anything to worry about in your collective experiences ?
Thanks,
Awfers
I went to go activate my Wyeast Weihenstephan 3068 packs and they were a bit swollen prior to smacking. Instead of being the normal 1cm thick, they were 2cm thick.
The production date is December 2012, so they're 9 months old, but I bought them from the store myself and put them in the Fridge at 4°C since.
A bit of poking about on Wyeast's site and I find:
"Activator packages will sometimes swell slightly, or moderately during shipping or later while properly stored. This is not an indication of deterioration if the package is less than 6 months old and has been properly handled. This is result of trace amounts of nutrients, still available at the time packaging, causing small amount of culture activity and CO2 production. Some strains are more prone to this than others."
Now, both 3068 packs are a bit swollen, but the Bavarian Wheat (3068) packs aren't showing this behavior, and they're the same age.
So, is the pre-smack swelling and age of packs anything to worry about in your collective experiences ?
Thanks,
Awfers