Pitching Yeast Late?

[masteroflobsters]

I have a "smack pack" bag from wyeast, and I didn't know that it took 3 hours to swell. I put an airlock on my fermenter, but will it ruin the beer if I wait 3 hours to pitch the yeast?

 

[brew_ny]

I have been letting my wort cool overnight and pitching my yeast the next day, have not had a problem yet

S_M

 

[CA_Mouse]

As long as your wort is sealed up, there shouldn't be any issues.

 

[IslandLizard]

You'll be fine.

For the next brew with liquid yeast look into making a yeast starter a day or 2 before you brew. Pitching more yeast from a starter will usually give you better beer. So does controlling your beer fermentation temps.

You can also pitch from a yeast slurry you saved from a previous brew. Just keep good sanitation practices.

 

[Hackwood]

I will try to find my last thread that I made about a marathon brew weekend where I brewed 30 gallons starting Friday night and finished Saturday night. My last 10 gallon batch, amidst all the action, I forgot to get my starters going. Started them after the brew was done and let the 2-5 gallon fermenters sit for 3 days before pitching the yeast. Aerated both wort(s) and in went the yeasties.

Just bottled all 3 earlier today!

 

[boydster]

+1 that you'll be fine. You don't even need to wait for it to swell, really. The yeast is munching on some nutrients that were in the little packet you broke when you smacked it. You could just pitch the yeast/nutrient slurry right now if you are concerned about waiting. Either way you go, you'll be a-ok.

 

[dobe12]

+1 that you'll be fine. You don't even need to wait for it to swell, really. The yeast is munching on some nutrients that were in the little packet you broke when you smacked it. You could just pitch the yeast/nutrient slurry right now if you are concerned about waiting. Either way you go, you'll be a-ok.

+1. It's not a must to break the smack pack. It's only there to activate the yeast, which inflates the pack, which ensures you have yeast that are alive in there. You can still pitch without breaking the pack or waiting for it to swell.

It's also a good idea to make starters as someone else stated. Even at their freshest, smack packs are only good for 5 gallons of wort that's around 1.050 or less. Anything around 1.050 or above needs more yeast, hence the starter. And this is assuming the yeast pack is extremely fresh. Anything over a month or so and I'd make a starter regardless.