It’s been five years but I’m going to start brewing again. Ordered most of my supplies online. The wyeast arrived warm despite the ice pack(which was unfortunately a warm pack). Is it still ok to use?
How warm is warm? It takes pretty high temperatures to kill yeast. But it is best to buy liquid yeast in the summer from a LHBS. They should be getting the shipments overnight and keep the yeast in a refrigerator.
I always make a starter when using liquid yeast. Even from a LHBS you never know how the yeast was handled before you get it. Besides almost all my brews require more yeast cells than are in a Wyeast Smackpack.