Using Nearly Spent Yeast

[Fenster]

I got a smack pack (WYeast 1098) as part of a kit that shipped across the country.
The pack wound up just barely swelling after 24 hours, and I figure the yeast just didn't survive the 6 day trip (the ice packs were actually hot to the touch).

LHBS was out of 1098 so I wound up with WLP005. Just made a starter for my brew tomorrow noon. Is there any point in adding the contents of the smack pack to the starter or should I just toss it in the trash?

 

[WBC]

You never know, some of them just might be OK. Make a small starter and see. I had this happen before and it still worked. Let us know what happens..

 

[Professor Frink]

Definitely pitch the starter. There are probably enough viable yeast in there to get it going.

 

[Bob]

You could also add the yeast from the smack-pack to the wort a few minutes before flameout. Then it's expen$ive yeast nutrient for the WLP005 starter.

That's what I do with out-of-spec dry yeast when I can get it. Yeast are horrible little cannibals.

Cheers,

Bob

 

[ajf]

Most of my Wyeast packs take much longer than 24 hours to start swelling, but they still work fine. Give it more time.

-a.

 

[Fenster]

Pitched the 005 starter and then threw in the contents of the 1098 smack pack for good measure, and saw that I had not really broken the inner pouch open when I smacked.

So to summarize, I pitched a whole lot of yeast into that 6.5 gallon carboy following 60 seconds of O2...can you say vigorous fermentation?

We'll see how it tastes. One thing I know...I will hit my FG!

 

[mysteryberto]

Most of my smack packs poof up fully in a few hours. However some packs smack easy and others very hard.

 

[toastermm]

From my experience, working in a yeast genetics laboratory, yeast are one of the most resilient microorganisms out there. They may not take well to competition from another organism, but they have a few abilities up their sleeves to with stand harsh environments.

Without food, yeast will either do one of two things. They will enter a "quiescent" stage where they just sit there, alive, but not metabolizing. When the right conditions return, they will reluctantly start metabolizing. (a few more hours than normal).

The other thing they do is form spores. Like any other fungus, they will start the cell-division cycle, but stop half way and instead of duplicating their DNA, they will just cut it in half and form two spores of two different mating types. When they bump into another spore of the other mating type, they will essentially make a yeast cell if the conditions are right.

Basically, unless you have exposed the yeast to high temperatures, high pressures, or high alcohol content, I would give'em a chance. But give them some time in the beginning. But if you don't see CO2 being generated within 1-2 days, try repitching the yeast.

Hope that helps!