The yeast I plan to brew with this weekend was well past the Best Use date, but it is what the store had. I smacked it last night, and there is no real swelling. I plan on putting it into a starter tonight, but was wondering if people have succeeded under such circumstances? Is there still possibly enough viable yeast to take off in a starter?
And as I use a stir plate and foam stopper for my starters, I won’t see bubbling; once settled, how many mm of yeast typically collect in the bottom of a 2000ml flask?
I had a pre-smacked smack pack delivered to me a few weeks ago; I stuck it in the fridge and it deflated quite a bit, so I was nervous about pitching it. However, after a day of lag time, it’s fermenting nicely. The wee yeasties are a resilient lot; I think you’ll be ok.
Also note that, at least for my smack pack, there are two things which one must smack: The yeast pack, and the food pack. If you didn’t smack the right pack, give it another crack.
yeah I had the same thing happen with some belgian wyeast. I made a starter with it but pitched a white labs tube as well. Fermented nicely, although I can’t say whether or not the yeast from the smack pack did much.
I think a starter will do the trick. You’d have to do something awfully wrong to completely kill a smack pack. Those yeasties are alot tougher than you think.
I pitched a non-inflated pack a few weeks back. I could hear it fizzing, but it hardly swelled. Hoped I was having a long lag, but it picked up an infection. Irritated, but I guess one lives and learns to make a starter.