Dry Yeast Sanitiation Question

[Helms]

Until now I have only ever used Wyeast packs, and have meticulously sanitized the outside of the package and scissors before opening. The other day, I had to hit up my local home brew shop for some Nottingham to help a stuck fermentation. The shop is also a busy brew on premises so they buy Nottingham in bulk and then sell pre-measured quantities into little zip-lock bags (20g).

Should I worry about the risk of contamination when using this? I ended up pitching a little over half of it into my beer, but was extremely nervous doing it.

 

[jfrizzell]

Never sanitized a packet of dry yeast and I've never had an infection...so probably not.

 

[Cpt_Kirks]

I wouldn't think so, and never have. The dry yeast is still dormant when you open the pack, the liquid is live and in an active grow medium. That makes the liquid more likely to get infected.

I just dump the dry yeast into some boiled, cooled water and let it rehydrate a bit. Rehydrating seems to make the fermentation start quicker and harder.