Wyeast left on counter over night; issue?

[jasonshave]

So in my haste I forgot to put my Wyeast in the fridge after picking up my latest recipe. I woke up in the middle of the night and remembered it was on the counter in my supply box so I put it in the fridge.

Will this ruin the yeast since the home brew shop typically keeps it in the fridge?

Will having it at room temp then putting it in the fridge change it's characteristics in any way?

If so, for $10 I'm more than happy to not waste my time and get a new bag. I'd like to trust my local brew shop but their response may be financially motivated.

 

[brewkinger]

It will be fine. You are talking a matter of hours.
I used to routinely allow the smack pack to come to ambient room temperature before pitching to prevent temperature shock.
I currently make yeast starters and still do the same thing.

As long as the temp didn't get up into the danger zone above 100 degrees, you have no worries .

 

[Qhrumphf]

Warming up and then cooling down will have a detrimental impact on viability, but if it was only overnight and only at room temp, the impact should be very minimal, but it does make it a bit more important to make a starter even if only a small one. But you should be fine.

But I also let my yeast warm up for a few hours to room temp before pitching into a starter/batch.

 

[Orthobrewsky]

It will be fine. You are talking a matter of hours.
I used to routinely allow the smack pack to come to ambient room temperature before pitching to prevent temperature shock.
I currently make yeast starters and still do the same thing.

As long as the temp didn't get up into the danger zone above 100 degrees, you have no worries .

What he said. Regardless of what you are planning to do with this yeast or when you are planning to do it, the event described above should have no significant effect upon it.

 

[dk21]

Yeast is much tougher than it is made out to be. Would it have been better to not leave it out? Yes, but I'd imagine that you'll be just fine.

If you want to be sure that you're good to go each time, take a look at making starters. They're worth the relatively minor effort. Not only can you be sure that your yeast is alive and well, your beer will be better too.

Good luck!

 

[flars]

So in my haste I forgot to put my Wyeast in the fridge after picking up my latest recipe. I woke up in the middle of the night and remembered it was on the counter in my supply box so I put it in the fridge.

Will this ruin the yeast since the home brew shop typically keeps it in the fridge?

Will having it at room temp then putting it in the fridge change it's characteristics in any way?

If so, for $10 I'm more than happy to not waste my time and get a new bag. I'd like to trust my local brew shop but their response may be financially motivated.

Just so you are not surprised on brew day with to little yeast. What is the OG of the beer planned for this yeast? What is the production date, on the package, of the yeast?
http://www.brewersfriend.com/yeast-pitch-rate-and-starter-calculator/

 

[giant]

Use a starter just to be sure. It's worth doing anyway.

 

[jasonshave]

Good info. Any good posts on making a starter? I thought the liquid wyeast didn't need to be pitched in a starter??

 

[Qhrumphf]

Liquid yeast contains far less cells than dry yeast does (at least the average Wyeast or White Labs yeast, some smaller suppliers do offer larger cell counts that you can pitch without starters), and will almost always need a starter for a 5 gallon batch. If you're brewing a session beer (maybe 1.035 or less) and it's more yeast-forward (Belgian or English), or if you're brewing a smaller batch size, you might be ok without a starter, but anything higher gravity or cleaner yeast character wise will need a starter.

And if you follow the standard pitching rates, basically ALL beers will need starters with a 5 or more gallon batch.