Smack Pack not Smacked

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trgriffin

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Hello all,

I brewed my first batch of beer this morning, and besides the fact that my ancient electric stovetop can't keep a boil going on 3 gallons of wort, everything was going fine until I pitched the yeast.

I used a Wyeast Smack Pack. I dutifully removed it from the refrigerator @3 hours before I needed it, and smacked, popped, crushed and spanked it as directed on the pouch.

3.5 hours later, I tear it open to find that the little pouch inside that all my abuse was supposed to rupture is still intact, the yeast un-nourished!!

In my haste to get the fermenter going as soon as possible (and because of my lack of any yeast alternative) I tore open the little nutrient pack and poured the whole thing into the fermenter, then stirred it heartily to get the oxygen in.

My question is this. Is my first batch destined to die because I screwed up the yeast?

I guess I could wait a day or two to see if the airlock is bubblin, but I'm worried like a mother already.

Am I screwed?
 
Nope you should be fine... the little packet is just a little wort (I believe) to get the yeast active. If you did exactly what you said you did then you will be just fine. Congrats on your first batch!
 
I've worried about that before too so I generally smack the hell out of the smackpack. Think like a pimp and the smackpack owes you money.
 
Haha, thanks for the reassurance!

Now im just worried that the fingers I used to pick the un-popped pouch out of the wort might have been not competely sanitized......
 
Here's what I do to make sure the pack gets smacked:

1. Take the pack and start running it down the edge of a counter or some other sharp right-angle corner, letting the liquid yeast inside squirt past (you can feel it going by).

2. When you get to the end, you will have the nutrient pack forced into the top, because it can't squeeze by that corner.

3. Give that top part a good smack with the heel of your hand.

I started using this method within a few times of starting to use the Wyeast smack-packs, and it works every time.
 
Yeah, if you feel around you can tell if the nutrient pack is ruptured or not.
Like they said, you should be fine either way.
 
I also find the corner of the inner bag, lay it on the table after i smack it and make sure i squeeze all the wort out of the package. I have heard experiences from people who got the inner pack open but the majority of the grown yeast is inside of the little packet.
 
The little bit of wort that the yeast get in the smack pack don't really do anything. It's not there to prepare the yeast for pitching. It's just there to get a little activity going, just enough to poof out the package and let you know the yeast aren't dead. So long as the pack wasn't old and didn't sit on the radiator for a few hours, you're probably just as good as you'd have been if you smacked it and broke the inner packet.
 
From the horse's mouth.

From the Wyeast FAQ website:

3. Does the package need to be fully swollen before pitching?

No, The package can be pitched before activating, or at anytime during the activation process. The activation process "jump starts" the culture's metabolism, minimizing the lag phase.
 
The directions on the smack pack state that you can smack the pack and then add everything right into the wort without waiting - which is essentially what you did.

I have done this several times with no problems.
 
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