Do you think this yeast is ok? (help!)

[sunvalleylaw]

I am brewing a fresh hopped IPA from extract. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f37/fresh-wet-hop-ipa-recipe-comments-please-431509/

I ordered my stuff Tuesday night from Williams and got it yesterday. I am brewing tomorrow. Unfortunately, when I unpacked it last night, the Wyeast 1056 I ordered seemed to be already expanding, and I could not find a packet to smack inside. It looks now like this:

Dare I trust it? It seems like it went off in transit. I was intending to do a starter, but I won't be able to get to that until tomorrow morning. Or, I can just wait and get some new yeast. It is a bummer not to have a home brew store in town. Getting new will take some time. but pitching bad yeast after going to the effort of brewing would be worse. Thoughts?


this was this morning. Seems to be getting more full, which would indicate the yeast is doing what it was supposed to do, but maybe got a head start on me.

 

[Yooper]

It should be fine.

Can you get your starting going this evening, and so it'll be ready for your brew tomorrow?

 

[smccarter]

I've thrown away two Wyeast smack packs this summer. Since that time, I spoke with a fellow brewer with about 20 years experience. He told me never to throw it out. That there will always be some living yeast cells in the package. To go ahead and do a starter and put the contents into it. Good advice I think. I threw about 14 bucks in the trash. I've since ordered several Wyeast liquid packs, and have done starters with all of them, and every single one of them ended up fermenting the beer that I brewed.

I'm no expert, but I'd say you're okay, but you'll probably want to do a starter. Even if you collect the finished wort and wait a day or two to pitch the yeast. As long as the wort is in the fermener and you were certain to sanitize everything beforehand, you can always wait to pitch your yeast when it is ready... not before.

 

[sunvalleylaw]

It should be fine.

Can you get your starting going this evening, and so it'll be ready for your brew tomorrow?

There is a chance I can do it later. We have a family gig to go out to now. I was hoping getting it done first thing in the morning, and letting it go until in the afternoon would hopefully be good enough. Seemed to say so in the starter thread in the beginner section.

 

[MarcusKillion]

Seems to me that if the pack swelled then the yeast is viable . Could have some dead ones if it got real hot maybe but it does take a higher than normal weather temp to kill yeast I do think .
Should not need a starter if not above 1.060.
so says me any way .

 

[sunvalleylaw]

In the "how to make a starter - pictorial thread ( https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/how-make-yeast-starter-pictorial-76101/ )it was said

"This method can be used the day of brewing. It's best to do it the night before, but getting a starter going in the morning or even a few hours before you brew will ensure that your yeast are awake and ready to rock once you're ready to pitch."


I am planning to go ahead and do this. I can pitch late in the afternoon and get 8 or 9 hours on the starter. I do not have one of those stir things so it will have to be a traditional starter, probably using one of my growlers. On brewer's friend, it says I am between 13 Bil and 61 Bil short depending on if I am using mfr's recommended rate or rate plus 0.5, so hopefully I will get enough cells over that 8 or 9 hours. Anyone think this is a horrible idea? My OG is estimated by Brewer's friend to be 1.063.

 

[sunvalleylaw]

Belay that thought on the late starter. I am going to reduce the OG to within the smack pack's capabilities and focus on hop flavor rather than a higher gravity. 7 lbs of DME now for a starting OG of 1.056.

 

[Yooper]

Belay that thought on the late starter. I am going to reduce the OG to within the smack pack's capabilities and focus on hop flavor rather than a higher gravity. 7 lbs of DME now for a starting OG of 1.056.

You still need a starter! I know the package says "good for up to 1.050 (or 1.060, I forget) but they aren't truthful really. That's in absolutely ideal conditions, with NO loss of any yeast at all in the package. A smack pack is probably ok for up to 1.040 without a starter.

Check out mrmalty.com's yeast pitching calculator: http://www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html Punch in the date on the package, and the OG of your beer, and see the actual amount of yeast that should be used for a good healthy fermentation.

For example, say your yeast is super fresh and the date is 9/2/13. With an OG of 1.056, a 5 gallon batch needs 195 billion cells. Since the smackpack contains, at most EVER, is 100 billion cells you can see for yourself that you need two packages without a starter.

 

[austinb]

If you have a stir plate you should be fine starting the starter as little as 18 hours ahead of time. In the future as a backup since you have to mail order yeast I would keep a few US-05 dry yeast packs in your fridge. US-05 is the same strain as wyeast 1056 but he dry yeast packs have enough yeast to pitch in 5 gallons without having to do a starter when you properly rehydrate the yeast in warm water before pitching. That way if you are ever unsure about the liquid 1056 you got in the mail, or if your yeast didn't arrive in time you always have a backup so you don't have to delay your brew day. Personally I never buy 1056 or wlp001 because us-05 is the same strain and much cheaper than its liquid counterparts.

 

[MarcusKillion]

I agree with US05 . great stuff . I also agree with your idea to go for more hop flavor and a bit less gravity . Sounds like a tasty alternative to me

edit : Question : If people trust Wyeast so much then why is it that you do not trust their expert judgment on how much yeast it takes to do a 5 gallon batch ? they say direct pitch for 5 G . to me that means they have done their R&D and have tested this . So why trust another opinion of how many cells it takes over theirs ?
I know they probably used perfect lab controlled conditions and not what we use .

I think I will test this out myself the next time I do a batch of what ever that I use US 05 or notty in .