Holy smack pack Batman!

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Question:

It’s been my experience that even the freshest yeast packs take the better part of a day to swell. This morning I took a pack of 1275 dated 12 April 2000 out of my fridge and smacked it planning on making a starter for it tomorrow morning. Well, I happened to check on it at 10:30 and it had swelled about an inch by 12:00 it was looking like it might explode so I grabbed a flask and made a starter for it this afternoon. Anyone seen this before? I’m not complaining just curious.

I once smacked a one-month old pack in the parking lot of the store and it had barely, but just perceptibly, started to swell by the time I got it home (~45 minutes or so). You have to really admire those little yeasties; when I don’t re-use my yeast, I like to reward batches that have been very good by dumping the cakes from the fermenter into my back yard (instead of down the drain). This is my equivalent putting a retired old horse out to stud instead of sending it to the glue factory. — -Mike Ballistic Missile Coordinates 38N 41′ 28" 77W 19′ 41"

Response:

Just yesterday, made a starter from a White Labs vial (it was a couple of months old, so I decided a starter was called for). Within a couple of hours, I already had an inch of krausen in the starter flask… So, what do you do in these sorts of cases? Do you feed the starter, or refrigerate it?

Generally, I just don’t worry about it, and use it when I’m ready to brew. If something comes up, and the starter ends up sitting for more than a few days, I’ll re-feed it the day before I brew. I have yet to make a starter. For the last couple batches, I smacked the pack on brewing day, and let the wort sit cool until the pack was ready, and pitched the pack. It took about 1-2 days for fermentation to get going. Does this sound excessive? The batch size is 5 gallons.

If your sanitation is good, you can probably get away with this most of the time. But it is a bit of a gamble — if any other microbes get into the wort, you are giving them a big head start! So far, the beer’s been OK. The stout was great (one of the best I’ve had, in fact), and the Hefe-Weizen is currently bubbling away, smelling great. It’s just kind of annoying having to wait that long before knowing if I’ve killed the yeast or not[1]. Is a starter the "magic bullet" here?

Well, just smacking the pack a day or two beforehand would be a vast improvement over what you’re doing now. Then your wort would not have to sit — vulnerable to infection — until the pack swells. Starters allow you to build up the yeast population in an environment where they have less potential competition from other microbes. It also allows you to verify the quality of the yeast (i.e. smell and taste the starter). If you really like the spontaneous, "buy the ingredients today, brew tonight" way of doing things, I would recommend switching to White Labs pitchable vials, or even dry yeast. -Chris [1] I’m very good at doing that when making bread. Luckily, I usually make a slack enough dough that the oven spring makes up for dead yeast.

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Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I have yet to make a starter. For the last couple batches, I smacked the pack on brewing day, and let the wort sit cool until the pack was ready, and pitched the pack. It took about 1-2 days for fermentation to get going. Does this sound excessive? The batch size is 5 gallons. So far, the beer’s been OK. The stout was great (one of the best I’ve had, in fact), and the Hefe-Weizen is currently bubbling away, smelling great. It’s just kind of annoying having to wait that long before knowing if I’ve killed the yeast or not[1]. Is a starter the "magic bullet" here?

I always smack my pack 24 hours before brewing. If the pack swells too quickly just stick it in the fridge to calm the yeasties down and then pull it out a few hours before (you’ll get the timing down). On the other hand I have left a couple of packs swelling for 2 days before and the yeast always came out great. I think at the 5 gallon level of home brewing, attenuation is a little over stressed. I think the rule of thumb should be that the yeast waits on the beer, the beer should never wait on the yeast. — The view expressed above is of a chemist who uses computers alot, not of a computer which uses a lot of chemicals Before you buy.

Response:

I had one, Wyeast Pack, swell in about 6 hours by putting under my shirt. It really like the body heat. The girl at the brew shop recommended it, because I wanted to brew that night and they were out of White Lab Yeast. Good Brewing! ,Bart

Response:

Since my home is on the cool side in Spring, I put my Wyeast pack underneath the cabinet where I have a small halogen light mounted. The heat from the lamp seems to really speed up the swelling process. Carla Before you buy.

Response:

And my pack of German Wheat 3333 dated Jun 01 took ~12 hours to swell after I smacked it on Jun 02. Unpredictable little yeasties.

i love that yeast, makes a wonderfull weizenbock

Response:

I have yet to make a starter. For the last couple batches, I smacked the pack on brewing day, and let the wort sit cool until the pack was ready, and pitched the pack. It took about 1-2 days for fermentation to get going. Does this sound excessive?

I began using starters (sterile wort in a gallon jug) just in the last year or so, and it’s incredible how it can jump-start the fermentation process. I pitched a stepped-up packet of Wyeast American Ale into a five-gallon batch at 3:30 Saturday afternoon; by 7 p.m. it was at full krausen. — ZUZ Misfortune Cookie Co. "Islets of Langerhans" Vancouver, Wash. USA www.teleport.com/~mzuzel

Response:

I’ve had a couple that started that quick; but like you said, most seem to take at least a day. I recall one pack that I bought on my lunch hour, and smacked right in the store because I was planning on making a starter the next day. Stuck it in my coat pocket, and by the time I got home about 5 hours later it was already fully swelled up. Just yesterday, made a starter from a White Labs vial (it was a couple of months old, so I decided a starter was called for). Within a couple of hours, I already had an inch of krausen in the starter flask… — – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – It’s been my experience that even the freshest yeast packs take the better part of a day to swell. This morning I took a pack of 1275 dated 12 April 2000 out of my fridge and smacked it planning on making a starter for it tomorrow morning. Well, I happened to check on it at 10:30 and it had swelled about an inch by 12:00 it was looking like it might explode so I grabbed a flask and made a starter for it this afternoon. Anyone seen this before? I’m not complaining just curious. — Cheers Greg G.

Response:

And my pack of German Wheat 3333 dated Jun 01 took ~12 hours to swell after I smacked it on Jun 02. Unpredictable little yeasties. Perhaps its because my wife seems opposed to turning on the furnace in June, so it was sitting at ~60-63 degrees F, instead of the recommended 70-75. Just yesterday, made a starter from a White Labs vial (it was a couple of months old, so I decided a starter was called for). Within a couple of hours, I already had an inch of krausen in the starter flask…

So, what do you do in these sorts of cases? Do you feed the starter, or refrigerate it? I have yet to make a starter. For the last couple batches, I smacked the pack on brewing day, and let the wort sit cool until the pack was ready, and pitched the pack. It took about 1-2 days for fermentation to get going. Does this sound excessive? The batch size is 5 gallons. So far, the beer’s been OK. The stout was great (one of the best I’ve had, in fact), and the Hefe-Weizen is currently bubbling away, smelling great. It’s just kind of annoying having to wait that long before knowing if I’ve killed the yeast or not[1]. Is a starter the "magic bullet" here? -Chris [1] I’m very good at doing that when making bread. Luckily, I usually make a slack enough dough that the oven spring makes up for dead yeast.

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