Will my pack break?

[Kai]

A couple of hours ago, I smacked a pack of Wyeast 1056. It is now cartoonishly large, and I'm worried that if it gets much bigger, the pack will break. Has anyone ever heard of this happening? Should I be worried?

 

[Iordz]

I've never had one rupture, and wouldn't worry about it.

 

[BlindLemonLars]

A couple of hours ago, I smacked a pack of Wyeast 1056. It is now cartoonishly large, and I'm worried that if it gets much bigger, the pack will break.

I wondered the same thing, the first time I used a Wyeast pack and it swelled up like Barry Bond's head! Don't worry though, it will hold. When you snip it open, point it away from your eyes!

Next time you might want to consider skipping the Wyeast 1056, and substituting a $1.75 packet of Safale US-05. Same strain, same clean fermentation, no smacking or starters required, easy to pitch dry and much cheaper to boot. Just a thought.

 

[BierMuncher]

...It is now cartoonishly large...

That's what she said.......salute to Michael Scott...

 

[malkore]

Only time I've seen a smack pack break is when smacking it, not when its simply 'fully activated'

 

[Dude]

Dry yeast is really the way to go. Then you wouldn't have to worry about some stinking pack blowing up and spraying yeast all over your house.

 

[Schlenkerla]

Dry yeast is really the way to go. Then you wouldn't have to worry about some stinking pack blowing up and spraying yeast all over your house.

Dude - I've never heard of that!!! Did that happen to you?

I agree the dry yeast is easy although it if your after a particular style many times you need liquid yeast to get flavor right on the mark.

 

[Kevin Dean]

Dry yeast is really the way to go. Then you wouldn't have to worry about some stinking pack blowing up and spraying yeast all over your house.

NO! The way to go, seriously, is to make starters. The Activators contain 100 billion cells which, from what I've heard, is half what is "optimum" to pitch.

This might not mean much (but may in the future). The purpose of starters is, like smacking the pack, to ensure that you've got living yeast. Starters do this as well (they don't do anything if they're dead) but have the benefit of ramping up to desired pitch size. If you go one step further, you can even start harvesting them to save for later and cut down on your yeast costs.

As to the immediate issue, will your pack explode? I'd say the chances are small, but existant, like perhaps one in a thousand. They make three things: yeast, nurtrients and packages. I'm sure they've engineered all three to be suitable.

By the time the pack was ready to explode I'd think the CO2 would begin disolving into the nutrient solution causing the yeast to begin going dormant.

What that pack is telling you now is "Brew already!"

 

[RLinNH]

"What that pack is telling you now is "Brew already!" "


Same predicament here my. Just picked up my Grain bill on a whim (All of my beers are bottleds and I have nothing in Carboys) from my LHBS, and I smacked the Wyeast 1272 at the shop. Well, here I am 6 Hours later and the packet is swelled up considerably. So, I'll be brewing in a couple of hours. YESSUR!!!:rockin:

 

[RLinNH]

...and to answer your question, no.

 

[MikeyB]

I actually came here to ask a similar question....

I did a California Common last night, and used liquid yeast for the first time - anyone ever ruptured a smack pack while smacking it? I was getting a little nervous trying to break the inner pack that I was going to blow out the side or something.

The thing had about 4 hours and didn't swell to "cartoonish" proportions, but it did swell - no activity yet, but it's only been about 12 hours. When I pitched, I expected there to be a longer lag time than I'm used to because it hadn't exactly swollen to the point that I was afraid it might pop like a cheap balloon. We'll see what happens in the next day or so.

 

[TexLaw]

I've never had a smack pack burst on me.

I do make starters with them, though!


TL