Yeast emergency!

[carrisr]

Two weeks ago I bought some ingredients including some WLP001 yeast from Brewmaster's Warehouse. That was during that warm spell, with temps in the 70's. I paid the extra to have them ship with an ice pack to protect the yeast. Well, it shipped with no ice pack, and when it arrived it felt warm. I immediately threw it in the fridge. I called the shop and they didn't seem too concerned, and said I could make a starter if I wanted to.

Well, kind of last minute, friends of mine wanted to come over yesterday and watch me brew. I didn't have time to make a starter, I've never done a starter, and didn't even have any extra DME anyway. So I decided to let the vial warm up to room temp and pitch when the wort was at 68 or so.

Well it's been 24 hours and there is no activity that I can see. About an hour ago I decided to re-shake the fermenter to try and rouse it up and get some more oxy in there. I don['t have high hopes that this will work and I'm pretty worried I'm going to lose the batch.

Any advice would be appreciated. Should I try to track down some more yeast? If anyone has any I can grab today, or can offer me quick advice I could use it. I'll be going to my Mom's house so call my phone at:

seven two one two four four two

Thanks!

[tony b]

Sorry, dude, no help here. I have no yeast on hand.

If no one else in the Club has any handy, I scurry over to HyVee drug on Center Pt./Blairs Ferry and see what he has. Plan B, Benz.

Good luck,
tb

[carrisr]

Well, it seems to have kicked into gear now, so the shaking seems to have worked. The temp rose a little on it's own and it's bubbling away now. So now the question is, will sitting stagnant at 66-68F for a day cause anything off?

[tompb]

It might have been working that whole time. I haven't used 001 before, but different yeasts act in different ways. Some take off and boil like crazy, others are slower more controlled ferments.

[brownbeard]

That was 33 hours? You should be fine. This is why I like wyeast. You get to smack that pack and see that it is viable, before you pitch it. I try to always make a starter a few days in advance.

[Matt F]

You should be fine. I also prefer the Wyeast smack pack so you can see in balloon. I usually do my starters 12-18 hours in advance and typically pitch while it has a large kreusen. You should not have to do a starter using a whole package on 2.5 gallons but it is nice so you know your yeast is awake.

[carrisr]

Yeah, I agree about wyeast. That has been very nice and reliable in the past. This recipe called for the white labs yeast, so I thought I'd give it a try.

So I feel a little embarrassed that I panicked. I'm thinking of keeping a packet of dry yeast on hand for emergencies. So now my question is:

At what point should I start to be concerned that the ferment isn't showing obvious signs? So no krausen, bubbles rising, or airlock activity? Or how long before the wort begins to go bad or risk infection?

Thanks for the reassurance guys!

[tompb]

I like to see activity by the next morning, but I pitch an active starter. I haven't ever used the White Labs so I'm not sure on the lag time from a vial. The Wyeast smack packs give you an active yeast when you pitch so I would think lag time would be less.

[BrewHound]

My thoughts are you should always do a starter, even if it is a small one. Your ferementations take off quicker and the more healthy yeast cells working the better and the less off flavors you will get.

In your case Randy (especially if using white labs) you could always do a 250ml or 500ml starter.

[Matt F]

I agree with Jeremy, no matter what I am brewing I feel a starter makes for a good fermentation. I didn't use a starter for the first time in years on my Irish Red (I was out too late that night with a few of you) and I notice it just seems off from my usual results.

[carrisr]

Matt,
That's my competition strategy: handicap the contenders!