• Please visit and share your knowledge at our sister communities:
  • If you have not, please join our official Homebrewing Facebook Group!

    Homebrewing Facebook Group

how do you smack your yeast?

Homebrew Talk

Help Support Homebrew Talk:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

mdf191

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 12, 2007
Messages
165
Reaction score
0
Location
State College Pa
How long before brewing time do you all smack your wyeast packs. The packets say a min of 3 hours prior to pitching. I do it several hours longer then that myself, but I just wanted to see if what you all do.
 
As humorous as it is to see the way you actually all “smack” your yeast. Does anyone actually have any opinion on my original question.
 
mdf191 said:
As humorous as it is to see the way you actually all “smack” your yeast. Does anyone actually have any opinion on my original question.

I'm surprised nobody actually answered you. I've only done it like twice, but I used to try and locate the internal pack. Once I found that, I tried to keep it in place and pound it in that spot. If you break it open successfully, you should be able to hear what sounds like carbonation inside the pack...
 
I have never heard the sound i just check to see if i can feel the inner pack.

Ohh, and i smack the crap out of it with a round house kick like i know Chuck Norris would.
 
Right. Feel for the inner pack and then I tilt it into one corner of the pack and give it a crack or two. I shake it up throughout the day. I usually smack the pack the morning that I brew. So maybe 6-10 hours before I actually pitch it.
 
ok ok, sorry, ive smacked and pitched as early as 1.5-2hrs prior to picthing with those wyeast packs and they have turned out fine
 
Smack Pack Video tutorial from Wyeast.

I know the first time I used a smack pack I was way too tentative. It took half a dozen tries or so. Now I locate the inner nutrient pack, move it to the upper left corner and whack it with the heel of my hand.

Chad
 
Ike Turner style. I smack my yeast and say "You like that? Ya like that you dirty girl? You're a dirty b!tch, aren't you, you filthy dirty huuah!"

My wife looks at me with the "Dear lord, I married a moron" look that women perfected 10,000 years ago.
 
If I am using a liquid, about 2 days before I brew so the starter has time to take off.

I am more of a Vinnie Jones style smacker than a Norris. "The fact that you've got "Replica" written down the side of your gun... And the fact that I've got "Desert Eagle point five O"... Written down the side of mine... Should precipitate your balls into shrinking, along with your presence. Now... F off!
 
actually on my first one, I was so weak on the smack, it never activated. I was afraid I would bust it open and make a mess. It was time to pitch and it had not activated. I sanitized it and cut it open and put it and the ingredients in a sanitary glass container with an airlock on it overnight and pitched it the next morning and everything seemed to work ok. Got good activity for 4 or 5 days in the fermenter. It is in the bottle now, but when I sampled it, it tasted just fine. True test will be when it has been in the bottle for a couple more weeks.
 
All joking aside the guys are right, you really need to smack that thing and bust open the inner pouch. Squeeznig it and making a small hole for the nutrients to escape from won't cut it. You can smack the pack 2 to 3 days ahead of time if needed, but I wouldn't use it if it is any older than that.

I like to smack it in the morning and then put it in my pants so it can feel my body heat and work harder.

Seriously though I do put them in my pants so they warm up.
 
Anywhere from 6 to 12 hours prior to need. Last batch was a Cali-common using Wyeast 2112 - I don't have a wort chiller, and I was skeered to pitch too soon, so I let the carboy sit overnight in a cold water bath, and pitched the 2112 about 16 hours after giving it a good spanking. Didn't take long for it to start bubbling away...
 
I don't smack the yeast anymore, ever since I sprayed yeast all over the wall like a ketchup packet. The guy at the LHBS said to just open it and toss it into the starter, so that's what I do, and it works great.
 
I try to smack mine in one of the top corners...since everyone that breaks the outside bag seems to do it at the bottom.

If i'm not making a starter, I do it when the boil starts, so about 90 minutes before my wort gets chilled, so I have some leeway.

but i'm getting big on making starters lately for all the obvious reasons.
 
i isolate the inner pack in one of the upper corners, hold against the counter, and give it a good whack. that usually does the trick. i can always feel the pack inside to assure that it's broken. i've never had a pack that's older than 2 months, and i always get a bit of swelling within an hour or so. i usually pitch within 4-6 hours. i recall reading that you should allow 3 hours per week from the culture date for it to swell. it's never taken that long for me. i always pitch big starters into my wort, so i'm usually not too concerned if the swelling hasn't gotten to perfect.
 
I lay it flat on the counter, trap the pack between my fist and the counter, and bear down with my knuckles until it breaks.
 
Drunkensatyr said:
I am more of a Vinnie Jones style smacker than a Norris. "The fact that you've got "Replica" written down the side of your gun... And the fact that I've got "Desert Eagle point five O"... Written down the side of mine... Should precipitate your balls into shrinking, along with your presence. Now... F off!
:off: This is one of my favorite quotes ever. I worship Vinnie Jones like I worship malt based fermentables.
 
the_bird said:
No wonder she left you...

So wait a second....when she says "spank me babe" she really means "don't you fracking dare or I'll leave you?"

:p
 
I smack the hell out of it pre-boil with the palm of my hand and put it on top of the fridge where it is warm. By the time I am ready to pitch it has expanded.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top