My WL yeast exploded on opening

[AdvGroo]

I have WLP001 California Ale yeast I was prepping for a starter. I set out the Vial about 3 hours before doing the starter. I shook it prior to opening, as directed. Right as I broke the seal the yeast shot out everywhere, all over my hands and partially into my mini brew. There was none left in the vial afterwards, just some bubbles. Is this just something that happens time to time? what would cause this? I am sure glad I was making a starter and not trying to pitch into a full 5 gallons.

 

[h22lude]

That has happened to me before but I caught it. It is just like a bottle of soda, open it slowly after you shake it and close before the yeast bubbles get to the cap. Repeat until you can open it all the way.

After you shake it you can let it sit again and that should do it.

 

[ACbrewer]

the yeast I think is shipped but continues to live - ie doesn't go dormant - anyhow it has some food supply that it converts to CO2, which when you open the vial depresurises it. When I did that with mine, I'd forgotten to sanatize my hands and the vial but pitched it anyhow, and lost the brew to infection.

 

[AdvGroo]

now I know, errr.. But I did lose this yeast.

 

[tangofoxtrot308]

Welcome to the club!

 

[EROK]

I shook a vile once handed it to a friend and told him to open and pitch for me.......boom! All over his dark shirt, face etc.....priceless! A moment two homebrewers will remember forever! He may try to forget it ;-)

 

[Brandonovich]

When I take it out of the refrigerator to warm up, I crack the cap a little to let some pressure out. That seems to lessen the pressure some so that you can open it slowly once it is warm and not lose all your yeast.

 

[brettwasbtd]

Had my first experience with this tonight! Surprising since I have shaked WL vials pretty hard in previous use. Think I got about half of it in my starter! We shall see how it comes along, I might pitch the extra tube I have lying around on saturday if I think enough yeast hasn't been propigated

 

[eltorrente]

The way I deal with this issue is to pull it out of the refrigerator than shake the crap out of it immediatley. I hold it in my hand for a few minutes to warm it up a bit. I then just set it aside and brew my beer while it slowly warms up and the foam dies down.

When I'm ready to pitch, I swirl it gently to get everything into suspension. Swirling is much easier if it's been shaken earlier. Anyway, after swirling and resuspending, I crack the top slooowly, and I'm watching the vile very closely at this point. Usually it's best to reflexively retighten the cap immediately after cracking the seal. You want to open slightly, let pressure release slightly in the vile, the close it tight again. Do this a few times and the pressure differential will be low enough that you can open it up fully and pitch with no issues.

Morale of the story is to open it slowly and take a few precautions. White Labs has excellent yeast, but you gotta be careful with those timebomb viles.

 

[lumpher]

The way I deal with this issue is to pull it out of the refrigerator than shake the crap out of it immediatley. I hold it in my hand for a few minutes to warm it up a bit. I then just set it aside and brew my beer while it slowly warms up and the foam dies down.

When I'm ready to pitch, I swirl it gently to get everything into suspension. Swirling is much easier if it's been shaked earlier. Anyway, after swirling and resuspending, I crack the top slooowly, and I'm watching the vile very closely at this point. Usually it's best to reflexively retighten the cap immediately after cracking the seal. You want to open slightly, let pressure release slightly in the vile, the close it tight again. Do this a few times and the pressure differential will be low enough that you can open it up fully and pitch with no issues.

Morale of the story is to open it slowly and take a few precautions. White Labs has excellent yeast, but you gotta be careful with those timebomb viles.

+1 to this. flick open, back closed. lather, rinse, repeat until it stops hissing. pitch as directed

 

[dwarven_stout]

Haha. That happened to me once. After I shot yeast all over myself I noticed the "open with care" warning on the vial.

 

[Hopper450]

Happened to me on my last batch, luckily I was making a starter and got about half in the flask which apparently was enough judging by the final fermentation. Handle with care I guess.... Lol

 

[brettwasbtd]

Elsewhere online I found this from a Whitelabs newsletter from like 2004:

White Labs Question of the Month

Q: When I shake the vial after it warms up to pitch and then open it
explodes. What should I do to keep this from happening?

A: As the yeast warms up, it will develop pressure. The best thing to do is:

1. Remove the yeast from the refrigerator, 2-6 hours before brewing, and
unscrew cap a 1/4 of a turn.
2. Once an hour, close lid and gently shake vial to break up the slurry,
re-crack the cap a 1/4 turn after that. Have a sanitized jar or container
(that can be capped) ready in case the yeast foams out.
3. Before pitching, again shake vial to break up yeast. It is still very
concentrated, and depending on the strain, will enter the fermenter as a
clump. Shake the fermenter as best as possible to break up the yeast.
4. For very flocculant strain, such as WLP002 and WLP005, shake fermenter
once an hour until fermentation begins. Otherwise, the yeast clump will sit
at the bottom of the fermenter, and the lag phase can increase by 2-10
hours.