Yeast vial blowout

[cms]

So this morning I was in the process of making a starter for Sunday's brewday. I got a vial of WLP001 yesterday afternoon and kept it in the fridge until about an hour or so before I pitched it into my starter. I warmed it in my hands, shook it up, etc. Same thing I've done the previous 5-6 times I've use White Labs yeast, although maybe before I left a bit more time.

But anyway, this time, I twisted the cap, ready to pour it into my flask of cooler wort and it sprayed everywhere! It was foaming out of the top (still attached) so I held it over the mouth of the flask to try and catch as much as I could. I'm not sure how much I lost, but I guess about half of it was sprayed all over my kitchen, myself and the floor (which my dogs licked up, oddly enough).

My suspicion is that either I warmed it up too fast, or it was defective somehow (less likely than user error).

The good news, I think, is that I'm building a 2L starter and I can give it almost a full two days to build up before I pitch. So (and this is a wild guess) I can probably pitch the equivalent of a non-started vial in terms of # of cells but at least the yeast is warmed up and ready to go.

At this point, I think I will probably pitch the entire starter just to make sure I have enough yeast. But that's a lot of starter wort - I don't feel great about that.

So my questions are:
1. Why the heck did that vial spray yeast all over the place?
2. Should I pitch the whole starter, or chill it before pitching and try to decant (I've never pitched that much starter wort - will it make my batch taste bad)?
3. Should I dump my starter and buy a new vial?

 

[LakewoodBrew]

So my questions are:
1. Why the heck did that vial spray yeast all over the place?
2. Should I pitch the whole starter, or chill it before pitching and try to decant (I've never pitched that much starter wort - will it make my batch taste bad)?
3. Should I dump my starter and buy a new vial?

the yeast sprayed everywhere because after it was packaged it fermented enough to build CO2 pressure and saturate the storage medium. you shook it up and then tried to open it, so like shaking a bottle of beer, you got a gusher.

the yeast is fine, and you probably didn't really lose that much, so the starter will be fine. you should decant a portion of the liquid off of a starter... that funky oxidized beer tastes terrible, so you don't want a lot going in.

brew on my friend, brew on.

 

[FromZwolle]

i had yeast stored in a flip top bottle once. apparently there were still some sugars in there somewhere so when i opened it up, i got a yeast shotgun to the face. it was hilarious.

 

[tangofoxtrot308]

Opened my first tube of White Labs to make my first ever starter today and had that happen to me! Needless to say I was totally deflated towards starters at that point. Glad I'm not the only one that had this happen. My starter at 4hrs has no foam and a yeast cake at the bottom...so again I'm a little deflated hope everything turns out fine?

 

[chezzesteak]

It's just like beer. Takes at least 24 hours to get going. Just wait and pitch.it will be the fastest ferm you have ever had and healthy..worth the time and effort

 

[tangofoxtrot308]

My yeast is dead 36hrs without any gravity change! My have been the box to fridge temp change or the tube explosion but i ordered another tube and I'll try again Thur?

 

[samc]

Yeast tubes - keep cold, sanitize outside, slowly open cap a bit to release pressure, close cap shake, pitch. No need to warm up, works great on a cold pitch.

 

[Revvy]

My yeast is dead 36hrs without any gravity change! My have been the box to fridge temp change or the tube explosion but i ordered another tube and I'll try again Thur?

How do you know the yeast is dead and not still lagging?

As the sticky says, fermentation can take 24 to 72 hours.

Lat I heard, 36 hours is less than 72.

 

[MachineShopBrewing]

Yeast tubes - keep cold, sanitize outside, slowly open cap a bit to release pressure, close cap shake, pitch. No need to warm up, works great on a cold pitch.

You sure you want to pitch <40F yeast into ~72F starter wort? That is a good way to temperature shock those yeast. I always pull the vial out of the fridge when I start making my starter. By the time I have the flask all chilled, the yeast is up to temp and ready to pitch.

 

[samc]

from Danstar:

1) Cold Pitching, Why does it seem to work? In certain brewing forums there has been much discussion related to cold pitching yeast into ale worts. Basically, about a pint of yeast is harvested from the primary of a brew batch and stored in a sealed container at refrigerator temperatures (about 45F). At some later time (perhaps as long as 1-2 months), that yeast is pitched directly from the refrigerated container into a new batch of sweet wort @ 70-75F. Based on my experience (and observations) this method works quite well, and appears to reduce lag times (from 1.5 to 4 hours). Can you help us understand why the cold pitching process works? Or have we just been lucky?

-Mike Zapolski

RESPONSE:

1. I have not seen any studies done using this protocol. If I had to take a guess it would be centered around the Trehalose content in the yeast cell. Trehalose seems to be an all around stress related factor. Almost immediately upon the cold storage of the yeast, trehalose begins to build up to help the yeast to adapt to its new environment. Upon pitching this stress factor assists the yeast to adapt to its new environment; warmer temperature and higher osmotic pressure. If the pitching yeast is allowed to warm up for any appreciable time before pitching the carbohydrate reserve, trehalose being one of them will be quickly used up as an energy source. The yeast would then take a longer time adapting to its new environment in the wort thus increasing the lag phase.

Something similar happens when using Active Dry Yeast. The factory builds into each yeast cell an abundance of the stress factor; trehalose. Our recommendations is to rehydrate the yeast in warm water and pitch into the wort (or must) within 30 minutes, because the yeast will begin to metabolize its carbohydrate reserve including trehalose immediately upon reactivation and weaken the yeast if it is not in the presence of a new supply of energy. It will have also used up the stress factor that would have assisted it in adapting to the new osmotic environment. I am sure that there is more to the explanation than I have given.

Dr. Clayton Cone

btw - I am pitching the yeast cold into the starter and then I pitch the decanted starter cold into the wort.

 

[corkybstewart]

from Danstar:

1) Cold Pitching, Why does it seem to work? In certain brewing forums there has been much discussion related to cold pitching yeast into ale worts. Basically, about a pint of yeast is harvested from the primary of a brew batch and stored in a sealed container at refrigerator temperatures (about 45F). At some later time (perhaps as long as 1-2 months), that yeast is pitched directly from the refrigerated container into a new batch of sweet wort @ 70-75F. Based on my experience (and observations) this method works quite well, and appears to reduce lag times (from 1.5 to 4 hours). Can you help us understand why the cold pitching process works? Or have we just been lucky?

-Mike Zapolski

I did this once using a mason jar. I took it out of the fridge and within 2 minutes I hear a strange noise. I look at the jar of yeast and the lid is twisting visible as I watch. About then it twisted enough to spew a stream of very active(but still cold)yeast all over me and my garage. I took the other mason jar I had out of the fridge, put it in the trash can and listen to it blow up a few minutes later. I don't recommend this method.

 

[samc]

I use a starter, not the harvested yeast sludge. Your results happened because you still had fermenting yeast building up CO2 in the jar. Had you let that jar warm up it would have wound up on the ceiling I think! If you are going to put the harvested yeast in the fridge, I'd leave the top on loose until it is fully chilled then let the gas escape and close it up.

 

[tangofoxtrot308]

I appreciate the good spirit towards my starter, but with all the sh*t I had going wrong making the starter after 36hrs and no gravity change I'll call it and take it as a lost! I received a credit for the replacement yeast from Austin Homebrew. It'll be here Thur and I'll be very careful and extra attentive this time round. I'm going to take it from the box let it cool to room temp and pitch it into the 70 degree wort...simple enough???

 

[cms]

A quick follow-up on this...

I just brewed this evening and pitched the starter (2L) made from the yeast left in the vial after it sprayed everywhere. The starter was quite lively, and ate 2L of wort in about 2 days. I put it in the fridge for 2 days to separate. About an hour before I started to brew today, I pulled it out, decanted and left the flask (with just the yeast) on the counter to equalize to room/pitching temp. By the time I pitched, I could see that the yeast were already woken up, bubbling and foaming.

I have no idea how to estimate the # of cells I pitched because the flask doesn't have gradients that low (it was halfway up the curve on the bottom). But since the yeast was clearly ready to party, I have almost no doubt they will dig in and do what they do.

My lesson learned here is to crack the seal and de-pressurize the vial before shaking it up and warming it. I've used White Labs a few other times and didn't have this problem but in hindsight, that was probably just lucky.

 

[MachineShopBrewing]

1. I have not seen any studies done using this protocol. If I had to take a guess it would be centered around the Trehalose content in the yeast cell. Trehalose seems to be an all around stress related factor. Almost immediately upon the cold storage of the yeast, trehalose begins to build up to help the yeast to adapt to its new environment. Upon pitching this stress factor assists the yeast to adapt to its new environment; warmer temperature and higher osmotic pressure. If the pitching yeast is allowed to warm up for any appreciable time before pitching the carbohydrate reserve, trehalose being one of them will be quickly used up as an energy source. The yeast would then take a longer time adapting to its new environment in the wort thus increasing the lag phase.

I am guessing that he is talking about leaving the yeast out for longer than just getting it up to pitching temp. There is not way that the yeast is going to use up its Trehalose reserve in a few hours before pitching. If that was the case, we would all have trouble with yeast dying in the primary shortly after fermentation is complete. It was an interesting read though.

 

[wg_one]

+1 on the yeast being fine...This just happened to me a couple of days ago with a vial of WLP940 Mexican Lager yeast. I ordered it from Northern and kept it in the fridge until I was ready to brew. I brewed up a batch of what I considered a good Mexican beer, Light Malt extract and agave syrup, Simcoe for bittering. While I was brewing I took the vial out of the fridge and shook it up then set it on the counter. About 10 minutes before pitching I put the vial in my jeans pocket to warm it slightly so as to lessen the shock of temperature change on the yeasties. Then, just before pitching I gave it another shake...went to open it and ffffiiiisssshhhhhhhhiiiiifffeesssssshhhh, all over my kitched sink and myself. I thought I lost a significant amount but I pitched what I had left which didn't appear to be more that maybe a tablespoon...24 hours later and I have a good kreusen going. NO ISSUE!