Used my first one today, they are just cool. I like WL don’t get me wrong but something kind of entertaining with using the smack packs.
Maybe I’m easily amused. I do like knowing if my yeast us viable or not before pitching
I had one pack fail to expand after smacking and allowing at least 4 hours. I decided to pitch it into the wort anyway, but it was a dud. So yeah, lesson learned.
And on the other side of the coin I’ve had smack packs that did not expand and then worked perfectly well.
It’s kind of like adding sugar to dry yeast when making bread. If the yeast is fresh it’s totally cool to watch it start foaming but it works the same if you proof it or not. Unless the yeast is dead, then uh oh. No foam.
Just be sure to pitch enough yeast wether it swells or not. A starter for any beer over 1.045 is a great idea and for lagers is mandatory.
And on the third side of the coin (???), I’ve used smack packs that were way past that their “Best Buy” date and they blew up and fermented fine.
I really do like them for making sure the yeast is viable. If I have Omega or White Labs packages I feel like I always have to make a starter even for 5% ales. If I am making a 5% ale with a Wyeast pack, I smack it, wait for it to swell and pitch right from the pack. For a lager of any brand… starter.
Frequently.
This is interesting. I definitely have had some packs that did not swell as much as others and they worked fine. Maybe only as little as 1/4 of the way to full blown.
My only DOA pack did not inflate at all, nothing, remained perfectly flat. I’d be hard pressed to ever again use a pack that didn’t show at least some signs of life.
We got airlock activity can’t wait to see how it tastes
And on the fourth side of what seems to be a die more than a coin at this point, I have gotten smack packs that were already swelled up so much that I couldn’t smack them to break the packet inside. The yeast still worked fine.
As it should. The swollen pack shows healthy yeast.
I recently bought a smack pack of 1272 and never inflated and was a dud in my starter. Luckily my lhbs had it and since I was pressed for time I didn’t want to do a starter so I bought two packs… they inflated real quick and with a healthy dose of pure O2 I had activity just a few hours later.
I have never successfully “smacked” the envelope open in a smack pack. I’ve tried repeatedly. Watched videos, etc.
That said I have always had very fresh yeast that took off like a rocket, so it hasn’t really been an issue. Just annoying that I haven’t figured this out.
I’ve found it works best to trap the packet in a corner of the package. Then keep it there with one hand and use the heal of my other hand to compress the packet and pop it. Some are more difficult than others but trapping it always gets the job done.
Paul
I find if the packet has started to swell at all it can be very difficult to trap and pop the internal pouch.
I’ve sometimes struggled just a bit with the smack part of the equation - difficulty getting the packet to burst rather than shoot off to one side - but generally like the smack pack yeasts just fine. There was the one time I applied too vigorous a force to it and blew the corner out. Still managed to salvage yeast though ;D
In which case, why bother? If the packet is swollen, you already know the viability.
How’s that? If the pack arrives slightly swollen and I stick it in the fridge and don’t use it for a month, how do I know what condition the yeast is in? I have taken packs out of the fridge that are still slightly swollen. I doubt that is a sign of active yeast.