Hops and dry yeast at room temp

Without getting into a long story as to why this happened, I just opened a brew order from an e-tailer that has been sitting at room temp for 4 days, plus 2 days in transit.  I’m concerned about the integrity of the pellet hops and the dry yeast (us-05).  Anyone ever have any bad experiences with this much time at warm temperatures?

Both the hops and yeast are in the refrigerator now.  The yeast and half the hops will be used this weekend, the other half next weekend.  I’d hate to waste the ingredients, but would hate to waste my time even more.

I don’t think any of us can avoid this sort of thing really.  We don’t know how long things are unrefrigerated on the way from manufacturers or distributors to retailers.  Assuming the shipment never got hot enough to kill the yeast (a fairly safe assumption,)  and assuming the hops were properly packaged (sealed in the usual oxygen barrier type pouch, vacuum sealed or nitrogen purged,) I wouldn’t worry.  A few days is fine, long term storage at room temperature is where the trouble is.

I agree. I can only imagine the conditions these agricultural products go thru before they get to me.

The most conscientious wholesalers and retailers are probably fellow brewers, but so many others are simply handling another commodity.

The shipment companies surely have no idea that the package that is moving thru their system contains our precious cargo.

Even with it being routinely mishandled, I haven’t had a problem with dry yeast doing a great job.  I can’t say the same for liquid.

Yeah, no worries. OTOH, I just received 2 packs of Hornindal liquid yeast that was in transit 5 days! (Hint: order early in the week, so it doesn’t sit in Illinois for the UPS weekend holiday). Trying to revive this stuff now in a 3 liter starter. Fingers crossed!

I think those Kveik strains take abuse in stride. Let us know how it goes.

Speaking of abusing this yeast, I placed the little packages they were giving away at the conference into my wallet and they have been there ever since.

Mine is on my nightstand.

They dry the yeast on wooden ring, then pithch to he ringninto the wort.

I thought it was a stick they stir with, but same idea.  The dried residue on the wood can last indefinitely – like till next year’s brewing – and be perfectly viable.  Reminds me of an old technique of smearing a thin layer of sourdough starter on a sheet of paper or a kitchen towel and letting it dry out.  Crumbled up months later it will go to work, no need to keep feeding it.  I once heard of someone whose ancestors similarly brought over dried yogurt cultures on a rag from Scandinavia.  These microbes are far tougher than we give them credit for.  All the more reason to ignore cell counts and viability estimates in calculators.  As long as they are desiccated into suspended animation and haven’t been baked by excessive heat, they’ll find a way to survive.  (Just ask NASA!)

I am not sure where I got the idea, but I always imagined this woven wooden circle — like a crown — that the alewives would toss into the wort.

You’ve got it.

Yep. That’s what I remember.