Should have got a ice pack 🤦🏻

[MHBT]

Well ordered some yeast i was gonna add a ice pack but times are rough and I decided to take a chance without one, bad mistake , the pack took a week yo get here and was warm on arrival, if i had to guess only a small amount of the culture is alive if at all, and its an imperial stout i was gonna brew too , if you were me would you buy a new pack or do you think it can be stepped up and revitalized? Was gonna start with a low gravity 1030 1 liter, then to a 1035 2 liter then proceed as if it was a fresh pack, what would you do in my shoes? Cheers

 

[GilSwillBasementBrews]

I’m lazy. I’d probably buy another pack and pitch both.

 

[MHBT]

I’m lazy. I’d probably buy another pack and pitch both.

Im lazy too, but broker then i am lazy

 

[Deadalus]

Try stepping it up. If it is a smack pack you could smack it to see if it starts swelling. I'd go smaller than a liter if you think it's viability is heavily compromised, about 1/5 of what you will be bumping it up to second round. Be sure you have activity and don't bump up too fast. The DME will cost less than a new pack (+ an ice pack) for which you might have to wait a week to get. You can potentially still brew on Sat if you get it going today. You could get two 36 hour periods in and then cold crash Friday night to decant Saturday. I'm not sure though how much you want to pitch in terms of liters? The recommendation I have as a reference suggests 5-10X a step. But you don't really know what's inside the pack as far as viability. If you went with 400ml and it seems revived, you could bump it to as much as 4000ml.

I frequently don't include yeast nutrient but I would definitely make sure I added if I was concerned it was almost dead.

 

[MHBT]

Its alive, just barely but its alive

 

[hout17]

I would just get some Nottingham or US-05 and go with that instead and avoid the risk.

Good luck on your brew!

 

[Kickass]

I’d step a couple starters up as well.

Another reason for dry yeast. I’m going to get some hate here but for a majority of styles, liquid yeast is a complete SCAM.

 

[MHBT]

I hear ya, i have no problem using dry yeast for certain styles but i dont think us05 is as clean as 1056 or 001, yeah i know same strain blah blah, us05 throws more esters does not produce same results from my experience

 

[SanPancho]

make a small starter, 250ml. if it takes off, you're good.. make 3x as much, and dump that in on top. now you're at 1L. after that, crash, and do whatever you need to to get to the amount you had planned originally. (2nd 1L starter? 2L starter?)

also, assuming you have an o2 set up, aerate the starters right when you pitch the yeast at every step.

 

[hout17]

I hear ya, i have no problem using dry yeast for certain styles but i dont think us05 is as clean as 1056 or 001, yeah i know same strain blah blah, us05 throws more esters does not produce same results from my experience

Yeah for me when I ferment US-05 at 65°-66° it comes out super clean but whatever works for you and I hope you can get a starter built that works well if you go that route. I like Nottingham and Wyeast 1084 for my stouts too.

Edit: oh and Ringwood too lol.

 

[IslandLizard]

its an imperial stout

You definitely need a recent, healthy starter, and a big fat one for that too. You're not brewing until the weekend, if you're lucky.

http://www.brewunited.com/yeast_calculator.php
I'd say you need 2 steps, possibly 3, depending on how well the first step goes: 1 liter ~ 1.030 on a stir plate, or S-n-S.

Was that sleeve of yeast the only thing they shipped to you? How was it packaged?
How hot was it on the journey?

The ice pack, if you had included one, would have been melted too, within a day. Then being on a truck cross country for 3-5 days... The only thing the ice pack would have offered was a temperature buffer. Other packages on the truck, tightly surrounding yours could have helped too with temp buffering.

 

[MHBT]

You definitely need a recent, healthy starter, and a big fat one for that too. You're not brewing until the weekend, if you're lucky.

http://www.brewunited.com/yeast_calculator.php
I'd say you need 2 steps, possibly 3, depending on how well the first step goes: 1 liter ~ 1.030 on a stir plate, or S-n-S.

Was that sleeve of yeast the only thing they shipped to you? How was it packaged?
How hot was it on the journey?

The ice pack, if you had included one, would have been melted too, within a day. Then being on a truck cross country for 3-5 days... The only thing the ice pack would have offered was a temperature buffer. Other packages on the truck, tightly surrounding yours could have helped too with temp buffering.

Oh yeah as of now i have no brew day planned until i feel this yeast is ready to go to work

Yeah for me when I ferment US-05 at 65°-66° it comes out super clean but whatever works for you and I hope you can get a starter built that works well if you go that route. I like Nottingham and Wyeast 1084 for my stouts too.

Edit: oh and Ringwood too lol.

Oh definitely us05 is clean and great yeast i love it but i prefer 1056, thank you cheers

 

[MHBT]

You definitely need a recent, healthy starter, and a big fat one for that too. You're not brewing until the weekend, if you're lucky.

http://www.brewunited.com/yeast_calculator.php
I'd say you need 2 steps, possibly 3, depending on how well the first step goes: 1 liter ~ 1.030 on a stir plate, or S-n-S.

Was that sleeve of yeast the only thing they shipped to you? How was it packaged?
How hot was it on the journey?

The ice pack, if you had included one, would have been melted too, within a day. Then being on a truck cross country for 3-5 days... The only thing the ice pack would have offered was a temperature buffer. Other packages on the truck, tightly surrounding yours could have helped too with temp buffering.

They shipped it like they hate their job, no sleeve nothing,just tossed in the box, it was warm on arrival if i had to quess it was 80+ F, very compromised but its alive and gonna build it up best i can

 

[IslandLizard]

They shipped it like they hate their job, no sleeve nothing,just tossed in the box, it was warm on arrival if i had to quess it was 80+ F, very compromised but its alive and gonna build it up best i can

Sorry to hear that.

I had White Labs send me a tube from their Yeast Vault. It came in a silver bubble envelope with one ice pack. It took a week on the Southern Route to get here, in March. It was hot too.
Took 3 starter rounds to build it up and having some left over after the first pitch. Worked fine as expected.

Estimating 20-25% viability left, after the first round at 1.030, and a crash, you should have 80-120 billion cells. That's a good start for round 2, and may produce enough, depending on how Imperial it is.
If borderline, a vitality starter on brew day or the day before, pitching at peak vitality, together with good oxygenation, may well be all you need.

 

[MHBT]

Sorry to hear that.

I had White Labs send me a tube from their Yeast Vault. It came in a silver bubble envelope with one ice pack. It took a week on the Southern Route to get here, in March. It was hot too.
Took 3 starter rounds to build it up and having some left over after the first pitch. Worked fine as expected.

Estimating 20-25% viability left, after the first round at 1.030, and a crash, you should have 80-120 billion cells. That's a good start for round 2, and may produce enough, depending on how Imperial it is.
If borderline, a vitality starter on brew day or the day before, pitching at peak vitality, together with good oxygenation, may well be all you need.

Only bringing this one to 8-8.5% so not too crazy, thanks appreciate the input

 

[MHBT]

Its creamy 12 hours later, i think 1 more step, then to main pitchable starter and i should be ok

 

[bwible]

I had White Labs send me a tube from their Yeast Vault.

You actually managed to get something out of the White Labs vault? They have a couple I tried to order more than once and going back 4 years. I fillled everything out, gave them my credit card. Never heard from them once. I figured the vault was on some kind of time lock set for the year 3065 or something.

 

[IslandLizard]

You actually managed to get something out of the White Labs vault?

I forgot to mention, that was 3 years ago, in 2019. Before they changed things to make yeast access to vault strains "quicker and easier," which never happened, AFAIK.

Haven't looked at it lately... Oh, the site got overhauled, again, not for the better, again.
Hope they're coming up with a better idea, soon.

 

[bwible]

Every time I try to order out of their vault it says something like “only 219 more orders until we ship…”

 

[MHBT]

I think i got somewhat lucky with this pack, some yeast looks dark but seems 1056 is like that

 

[MHBT]

Just did step #2 1030 1 liter SNS and its hissing/ foaming 45 mins later, i think i might not need a 3rd step for a 3 gallons 8.5%er, i guess it wasn’t as compromised as I thought

 

[IslandLizard]

Just did step #2 1030 1 liter SNS and its hissing/ foaming 45 mins later, i think i might not need a 3rd step for a 3 gallons 8.5%er, i guess it wasn’t as compromised as I thought

I'd save some out to use for another starter, at some later time.

 

[MHBT]

I'd save some out to use for another starter, at some later time.

Yeah great idea, anyway to keep some cost down in this day in age is a win, was even thinking about slanting some

 

[IslandLizard]

Yeah great idea, anyway to keep some cost down in this day in age is a win, was even thinking about slanting some

For the long run, yes, slanting (or freezing) is the best way to keep a strain around.

I've also successfully run 10+ generations over 5-10 years from a single vial/pack of yeast, with very few problems.

But I've noticed some strains becoming less flocculent after multiple starter generations. (WY1968 / WLP002) being a prime example of that. It's a bit puzzling what causes that change in behaviour.

 

[MHBT]

For the long run, yes, slanting (or freezing) is the best way to keep a strain around.

I've also successfully run 10+ generations over 5-10 years from a single vial/pack of yeast, with very few problems.

But I've noticed some strains becoming less flocculent after multiple starter generations. (WY1968 / WLP002) being a prime example of that. It's a bit puzzling what causes that change in behaviour.

Yeah thats cool, i never ran a yeast anywhere close to that , really got your money’s worth thats for sure, prices are climbing so i think yeast repitching and storing is a great practice esp these days

 

[MHBT]

Well i pitched that sns starter( minus a little bit i saved) into 3 gallons of 1080 wort about 18 hours ago it took off already , bubbling and fermenting like crazy, im by no means a yeast or even a brewing expert but if it was badly underpitched i think the lag time would have been longer, im in good shape i think, thanks everyone for the input

 

[T Murph]

Sounds like success. Good luck with it and post how it turns out. Sometimes this type situation results in a fantastic beer.

 

[MHBT]

Sounds like success. Good luck with it and post how it turns out. Sometimes this type situation results in a fantastic beer.

Thank you, i most certainly will cheers

 

[MHBT]

Almost at FG already 1080 to 1020 in 3 days

 

[MHBT]

I normally dont take gravity readings this early but i was curious how the yeast was performing and im surprised how good the sample tasted , i hope It doesn’t drop in gravity too much more cause it has a good bit of sweetness dont want it mega dry

 

[MHBT]

Down to 1.012 its gonna be a 9%er, yeast was not compromised at all , some age its gonna be a winner

 

[yohoe]

If it makes you sleep better at night - I ordered yeast in April (CA to TX so ~70s ambient temp) with a insulated envelope and two ice packs (paid extra for this), took four days to arrive, and arrived warm. I used to live one exit from White Labs in San Diego and picked up my yeast from their lab. I miss those days...

 

[MHBT]

If it makes you sleep better at night - I ordered yeast in April (CA to TX so ~70s ambient temp) with a insulated envelope and two ice packs (paid extra for this), took four days to arrive, and arrived warm. I used to live one exit from White Labs in San Diego and picked up my yeast from their lab. I miss those days...

Oh man being that close to WL must have been awesome, mega fresh