it's like christmas in june.....

[Dave6187]

came home from fishing today, and my room had 4 large boxes crammed inside it

Only thing I was kinda concerned about was my wyeast propagator bag was already kinda swollen, I stuck it in the fridge right away, but will I have any problems with this?

 

[Scut_Monkey]

That stinks you had to buy bottles. I've been there though. For my first batch I was determined not to buy them even though I had accrued ZERO. I finally found a bottle shop that does tastings once a week and saved the bottles for cheap skates like me.

I don't have much experience with Wyeast just white labs so I can't give you much advice. If you are worried about you could make a starter assuming you have the time and materials. This could buy you some time for when you can brew.

 

[Hellfire_studios]

I think the Wyeast bag should be alittle swollen and not flat but feel around in the bag for the interior protein package and feel if it is broken if so than you have a problem. I just switched from bottling to kegging and am just about to keg my first batch. I am so happy that I don't have to bottle any more. I do have about 200 bottles accrewed though :-( dont know what to do with them all.

Josh

 

[Yooper]

From Wyeast's own website:
Activator™ packages will sometimes swell slightly, or moderately during shipping or later while properly stored. This is not an indication of deterioration if the package is less than 6 months old and has been properly handled. This is result of trace amounts of nutrients, still available at the time packaging, causing small amount of culture activity and CO2 production. Some strains are more prone to this than others.


Even if the shipping caused the nutrient package to be broken, it's still fine! The only purpose of the "smack pack" is to ensure that the yeast are viable. If it's swollen, it's viable for sure.

Don't worry- the yeast is fine!

 

[JLem]

I do have about 200 bottles accrewed though :-( dont know what to do with them all.

If you send them to me, I'll recycle them for you

 

[marubozo]

That stinks you had to buy bottles. I've been there though. For my first batch I was determined not to buy them even though I had accrued ZERO. I finally found a bottle shop that does tastings once a week and saved the bottles for cheap skates like me.

I didn't plan ahead when I started brewing and realized I hadn't saved a single bottle. So, I've taken one (or about 100) for the team and spent the better part of a month building up my bottle collection. My liver and waistline are cursing me

 

[Munsoned]

Smack pack should be fine. Toss it in the fridge. Sometimes they over-stuff them at the lab and they come "swollen" even though the interior pack hasn't popped. In any event, even if it has popped, it's no big deal, just toss it in the fridge to slow them back down. You should definitely use a starter with that pack anyway.

Congrats on all the great stuff. Welcome!

 

[Munsoned]

BTW, I just noticed you're in Central NJ. I have a few friends in the WHALES homebrew club up there. They do great work--you might want to check them out if you haven't already.

 

[HossTheGreat]

I bought a 3 cases of bottles when I first started just to get the ball rolling as I drank some and hand friends start saving them for me. That was about 2-3 months ago and I'm probably at 11 or 12 cases now.

 

[android]

how stoked are YOU? congrats on all the new gear man, have fun with it!

 

[KillerKellers]

Very nice! Enjoy it, I am sure you will =)

 

[Stratotankard]

I bought 2 cases of bottles back when I started brewing and have slowly collected about another case over the last year. Recently i found myself with about 20 gallons to bottle at once and most of my bottles already full. When I went down to the LHBS to get more, they recommended I check out the local recycling center for empties. The city doesn't mind since i save them the cost/energy to recycle and I get free bottles. I think I picked up about 100 last week and maybe 50 more yesterday. Think I'm set for a while.

 

[Scut_Monkey]

When I went down to the LHBS to get more, they recommended I check out the local recycling center for empties.

That is very nice that they would skip a sale to make you a more happy customer overall. Must be a well run store.

 

[BrandonB]

I got a kit from Midwest with the Autumn Amber Ale as well. Is yours the "everything" kit?
The Wyeast was bloated a bit, BUT the inner packet did not completly pop. Smack it well so it does what it's supposed to. Mine swelled some, about 2" thick but not completely.


Mine has been in the primary for a couple days now (see my other thread just down the page with some of my questions/concerns).

 

[Dave6187]

Thanks guys I'm realllll excited to get this going, I'm just waiting on my copper tubing to come in the mail (should be today) and then I need to pick up a funnel and a mixing spoon, and we're in business.

I figured with the 3 cases of bottles, plus any empties I can acquire, and a hefty thirst, I can keep it so I have something constantly brewing, with only about a month lag time between brews for bottle conditioning, then again with my college friends I may just kill 5 gallons in a weekend, although I'd rather not do that with my homebrews

 

[nutty_gnome]

I see you have the "Weird NJ" book on your shelf. I love that book!