Forgot to activate and incubate yeast

[sprocketmaker]

Newbie fail moment, brewing my Hefe right now, 10 minutes till boil is over, and realized the yeast is still in the fridge... Smack pack activated and warming in sanitizer... How long till I can pitch this? Any I'll effects with this mistake?

 

[marubozo]

As long as you wait until the yeast reach about the same temp as the wort you're pitching into the only ill effects may come from the fact you didn't make a starter. Otherwise, as long as you don't shock the yeast with a major temperature differential there shouldn't be much of an issue.

 

[TipsyDragon]

wait till the pack is fully inflated. no ill effects.

 

[Revvy]

wait till the pack is fully inflated. no ill effects.

From the horse's mouth.

From the Wyeast FAQ website:

3. Does the package need to be fully swollen before pitching?

No, The package can be pitched before activating, or at anytime during the activation process. The activation process "jump starts" the culture's metabolism, minimizing the lag phase.

 

[sprocketmaker]

Initial panic has passed, cooling wort and allowing yeast to warm up and grow a little.
Thanks for everyones patience and advise!

 

[david_42]

I used to buy makings, including the yeast, and start brewing when I got home. Smacked the pack and rarely had a problem. There's an ideal way to do anything and hundreds of ways that are okay.

 

[sprocketmaker]

All is well, took 35 mins to get temp down to 75, that gave the yeast almost an hour to get ready to pitch... FG was spot on, and now I wait!

 

[sprocketmaker]

Bit of an update; everything is fine with this yeast, I awoke to bull frogs down the hall... took me a minute to realize what was going on... thank god I setup a blow off tube, as it was raging, even scared the dog into hiding.