How long?

[bairsbrewing]

Ok, I was going to brew a lager on Saturday night so I smacked the wyeast pack and life happened. Now it's Tuesday night and still haven't brewed. Should I toss the yeast and buy another? The most I've ever gone is two days after activating. How long have you gone? Am I good? The yeast is in my garage at a cool temp of 50 degrees. It's still very solid and doesn't seem to have lost and swelling. Thoughts?


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[lukebeulah]

I would pitch it into a starter. That buys you a few days and you will have a healthy start for brew day.


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[djfriesen]

I would pitch it into a starter. That buys you a few days and you will have a healthy start for brew day.


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Especially good advice, assuming a 5 gallon batch, since one smack pack is a pretty severe underpitch for a lager.

Other than that, it would probably be ok. That smackpack is really just a marketing device: it does little more than (maybe) indicate viability.

 

[kh54s10]

One pack is nowhere near enough yeast for a true lager.

Take that pack, check mrmalty.com and make a starter. It is ok but needs to be stepped up for your lager.

 

[sandyeggoxj]

It just indicates the yeast are alive and haven't been cooked to death during shipping or poor storage. Those things are not mini-starters as many people say.

That being said, I hope you were planning on making a starter for your lager. You will need a ton of yeast for a lager. So that would be my advice, go make a starter, it will buy you time and help make a better beer.

Some facts to consider:
5 gallon lager SG @ 1.054 would need 400 billion cells at pitch.

Smack pack that is very fresh and perfect health: 96 billion cells

3-liter starter with a stir plate (JZ formula) with net you ~370 billion cells. A slight underpitch, but probably fine.

3-liter starter with intermittant shaking will net you ~300 billion cells

3-liter starter with no treatment will net you ~250 billion cells

 

[Espresso]

I always recommend using a yeast starter calculator before brewing (days before). So go ahead and make that starter.

 

[bairsbrewing]

Ok, good to know on lager pitch rates. I guess that I will have to do something different next time. I just pitched what I had without making a starter. Hopefully it will just take longer to ferment. That being said, what should it look like during fermentation? This is my first lager.


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