Wyeast panic

[brewingbryan]

I brewed a saison for which I bought a packet of Belgian saison yeast. I smacked it last night - or so I thought I did. Apparently not hard enough as the inner packer never broke and I didn't know. I had left it sitting out all night and was about to pitch when I realized what happened.

In a state of panic, I still pitched it anyway, which makes me worry terribly after I actually think of it. I probably just pitched a bunch of dead yeast into perfectly good wort.

I had a packet of Munton dry yeast sitting around, so I also threw that in. Am I officially screwed?

 

[bethebrew]

I brewed a saison for which I bought a packet of Belgian saison yeast. I smacked it last night - or so I thought I did. Apparently not hard enough as the inner packer never broke and I didn't know. I had left it sitting out all night and was about to pitch when I realized what happened.

In a state of panic, I still pitched it anyway, which makes me worry terribly after I actually think of it. I probably just pitched a bunch of dead yeast into perfectly good wort.

I had a packet of Munton dry yeast sitting around, so I also threw that in. Am I officially screwed?

Relax and have a home brew.

 

[brewingbryan]

Relax and have a home brew.

#BeginnerBrewProblems

Such is the paranoia I live with. Thanks for the encouragement.

 

[Tinga]

pitching a wyeast smack pack without smacking it is like pitching a wlp vial straight up. the yeast are most likely just fine and doing their work as we speak.

 

[brewingbryan]

pitching a wyeast smack pack without smacking it is like pitching a wlp vial straight up. the yeast are most likely just fine and doing their work as we speak.

Thanks - my biggest worry was that after sitting out for about 18 hours the yeast were dead without the nutrient pack being released. I'll be curious to see how fast they wake up.

 

[william_shakes_beer]

Do you worry when you pitch a packet of dry yeast to a 1L starter? think of it as doing a REALLY big starter. Its beneficial to redydrate the yeast, or activate it in the case of a smack pack, prior to pitching, but certainly not worth creating WW3 in minature with 2 competing yeasts.

 

[bethebrew]

Do you worry when you pitch a packet of dry yeast to a 1L starter? think of it as doing a REALLY big starter. Its beneficial to redydrate the yeast, or activate it in the case of a smack pack, prior to pitching, but certainly not worth creating WW3 in minature with 2 competing yeasts.

http://www.google.com/products/cata...a=X&ei=s5ljT6PaFIKoiQKS77iiDw&ved=0CEEQ8wIwAw

$1 yeast. You could have used two packs at that price. "Creates ester and phenolic notes". Can't wait Munton's. Should I ferment it closer to 75 F to really bring out the banana band-aid flavors?

:rockin:

 

[brewingbryan]

This is a follow up:

Everything seemed to be going well - yeast started going crazy about 12 hours after pitching and were steady for high krausen. I check the beer this morning and action has pretty much stopped and the high level of foam that had set on top tue beer is gone. Overall, it's been about 36 hours.

There's still gas coming off the beer, but nothing at all like before. I just expected the yeast to stay really active for a bit longer. This normal? The OG was about 1.065.

 

[jholen]

The most active stage of fermentation is typically done after the first 2-3 days, so I wouldn't be too concerned about 36 hours - let it keep working away and take a hydrometer reading at a set point in time.

I usually take my first sample/reading at 1 week, then another at 2 weeks, then confirm that fermentation is completely done prior to bottling. Hydrometer readings are your best method to determining fermentation completion.

 

[bethebrew]

This is a follow up:

Everything seemed to be going well - yeast started going crazy about 12 hours after pitching and were steady for high krausen. I check the beer this morning and action has pretty much stopped and the high level of foam that had set on top tue beer is gone. Overall, it's been about 36 hours.

There's still gas coming off the beer, but nothing at all like before. I just expected the yeast to stay really active for a bit longer. This normal? The OG was about 1.065.

Just remember the flame that burns the brightest goes out the soonest. Given the same amount of "wood" of course. What's your temperature of ferment? Also you did add a lot of yeast so that will speed things up...

 

[brewingbryan]

Just remember the flame that burns the brightest goes out the soonest. Given the same amount of "wood" of course. What's your temperature of ferment? Also you did add a lot of yeast so that will speed things up...

Fermentation is around 72. It's in a downstairs closet and the temp upstairs hasn't been above 75 the past week.

I did double pitch because of the yeast worries detailed above, which makes sense given the intensity of the krausen. What threw me off was how abrupt the yeast wen to sleep, as it were.

 

[jholen]

Take a sample if you're worried and see what reading you get on the hydrometer.