Thoughts on shipping yeast across the country?

[mikesalvo]

So, I ordered a bunch of yeast and other stuff from morebeer.com to take advantage of their free shipping deal. I ordered 2 smack packs, and a tube of White Labs WLP002.

I brewed an Oatmeal Stout yesterday and pitched @ 5 pm. White labs tubes say fermentation in 5-15 hours. As of now (18 hours later) there NOthing happening, and there's no Krausen/foam or anything on the surface...Do you think its not good to ship yeast across the country, at risk of it going bad? It went from California>Vermont and spent about 6 days in transit....thoughts?

 

[TomRep]

Shipping yeast is typically okay until the really hot summer days hit. Even then, most places will ask if you want to upgrade to have a cool pack shipped with the yeast. If you didn't make a starter with the White Labs, your fine, things are going as expected. For me, White Labs tends to be slow to kick off. If you make a starter with it, it takes off a lot quicker.
tom

 

[BrewKnurd]

The biggest concern is what sort of temperatures it sees on the truck between morebeer and you. If it got very hot in there, it could cause issue. Of course, everything could be fine as well.

My other thought is that if you make a starter in the future when you use liquid yeast, you won't have to worry is its any good or not when you pitch it into your beer.

 

[kh54s10]

Yeast doesn't go by our timetables. It will often take longer - up to 72 hours before you see signs.

You should make starters for liquid yeast. A vial will ferment your beer but must build up cell counts before they really start the fermentation.

This time of year there should be no problem with shipping liquid yeast. It can be a problem mid summer when the packages can get too hot. Also mid winter if there is a layover and the delivery truck sits and lets the yeast freeze.

Check out mrmalty.com for information on making starters.

Again you should get fermentation soon but it is still too early for concern.

 

[mikesalvo]

awesome, thanks! I did opt for the 88 cents cold pack, which they packed in there nicely..I guess with all else brewing, I need to be more patient...

 

[BrewKnurd]

awesome, thanks! I did opt for the 88 cents cold pack, which they packed in there nicely..I guess with all else brewing, I need to be more patient...

I really question how much good the cold packs do. especially on any shipment that spends a couple days or more in transit. Directionally, they obviously can't hurt.

 

[tennesseean_87]

This free shipping deal, it's only on the $59+ orders, right? Or are they running a special on even small orders?

 

[mikesalvo]

ya it was the $59+ free shipping deal. Seems like a good deal, especially when ordering extracts/grains that are heavy and expensive to ship....

 

[jonmohno]

I would check temps before odering and even get a cold pack. I would think they put it in an insulated box or something? And stock up on yeast and skip yeast shipping in the summer .Otherwise i would drive to the nearest homebrew shop,with a cooler.
18 hr lag isnt anything to worry about yet,it may not have been that viable though and would possibly think about pitching some dry yeast after another day or two of no activity. I would look back and check those peak temps where it had been being shipped.Thats why its good to have some dry yeast on hand.
I had some hop rizomes sent from the west coast last april that didnt survive-it must have gotten too warm on a 7 day journey.

 

[mikesalvo]

I would check temps before odering and even get a cold pack. I would think they put it in an insulated box or something? And stock up on yeast and skip yeast shipping in the summer .Otherwise i would drive to the nearest homebrew shop,with a cooler.
18 hr lag isnt anything to worry about yet,it may not have been that viable though and would possibly think about pitching some dry yeast after another day or two of no activity. I would look back and check those peak temps where it had been being shipped.Thats why its good to have some dry yeast on hand.
I had some hop rizomes sent from the west coast last april that didnt survive-it must have gotten too warm on a 7 day journey.

what would be a good dry substitute for WLP002?

 

[TimTrone]

Safale 04. I believe it's the same strain

 

[ReverseApacheMaster]

Where's that Revvy wall of text about waiting 72 hours?

 

[passedpawn]

Where's that Revvy wall of text about waiting 72 hours?

haha. I've got my own colossal column of incredulity.

 

[jonmohno]

yes o4 would be very good. Im getting a bit worried about my almost 24 hr lag, as i knew i had some thin washed wlp051 caliV yeast which i would have like to make a starter but had nothing to start it with.Im thinking of pitching some 05 dry tomarrow if nothing happens.It was sitting at 70 deg also which has me more concerned it hasnt started yet. I havent had anything over a day for a lag yet besides my lager i did which took two.
Welp,i just checked on it and see a start, i see a white froth forming around the edges,so its beginning.So its hitting 24 hrs currently,thats ok but i feel i have underpitched though.Im not going to worry about it though,i have faith in conditioning. i have a good low temp going so hopefully that helps also.

 

[bruin_ale]

Safale 04. I believe it's the same strain

Safale 04 is a dry english yeast, but definitely not the same as WL002.

 

[afr0byte]

So, I ordered a bunch of yeast and other stuff from morebeer.com to take advantage of their free shipping deal. I ordered 2 smack packs, and a tube of White Labs WLP002.

I brewed an Oatmeal Stout yesterday and pitched @ 5 pm. White labs tubes say fermentation in 5-15 hours. As of now (18 hours later) there NOthing happening, and there's no Krausen/foam or anything on the surface...Do you think its not good to ship yeast across the country, at risk of it going bad? It went from California>Vermont and spent about 6 days in transit....thoughts?

How come your location says NJ? Did you recently move to Vermont?

 

[TimTrone]

Safale 04 is a dry english yeast, but definitely not the same as WL002.

You're right. I think 04 is the whitebread strain, but either way it's pretty close. They're both lower attenuating English strains

 

[jonmohno]

I like windsor also.04 and windsor were pretty subltle to me. That could have been due to my ferment temps/recipes.Ive not tried liquid o2 but i think these are the closest options for dry.