Membership questions? Log in issues? Email info@brewersassociation.org

Author Topic: Yeast shipped warm.  (Read 7786 times)

Offline Phil_M

  • Senior Brewmaster
  • ******
  • Posts: 1760
  • Southern Maryland
Yeast shipped warm.
« on: July 02, 2015, 06:54:30 am »
So, I'm in a bit of a bind when it comes to yeast, I'm having trouble getting healthy packets during the summer.

I do most of my brewing in the summer, since I've got night school pretty much the rest of the year. LHBS is 1.5 hours away, and getting up there to get yeast isn't always feasible. They do ship, but generally I find that they don't go through yeast that quickly and sometimes I'll get older yeast. Shipping still has the same issue I get when I buy yeast from NB: by the time the yeast get to me the ice packs have melted and the yeast packets are warm.

What can be done to "de-stress" yeast that have sat at warm temps?

I'm working towards being able to store slants, that's my future plan for having healthy yeast on hand for the summer. I suppose ordering a bunch of yeast and getting overnight shipping *might* be an alternative, but if the yeast show up warm I'm in the same boat and I'm out a wad of cash.
Corn is a fine adjunct in beer.

And don't buy stale beer.

Offline morticaixavier

  • I must live here
  • **********
  • Posts: 7781
  • Underhill VT
    • The Best Artist in the WORLD!!!!!
Re: Yeast shipped warm.
« Reply #1 on: July 02, 2015, 06:57:37 am »
are you talking about dry or liquid yeast cultures?

with dry I wouldn't stress unless you are noticing issues related to poor yeast health. With liquid making an appropriate sized starter with some nutrient included is your best bet for revitalizing the yeast.
"Creativity is the residue of wasted time"
-A Einstein

"errors are [...] the portals of discovery"
- J Joyce

Offline Phil_M

  • Senior Brewmaster
  • ******
  • Posts: 1760
  • Southern Maryland
Re: Yeast shipped warm.
« Reply #2 on: July 02, 2015, 07:20:36 am »
Liquid yeast. Dry I don't worry about, but I don't normally use it. I do like to keep some on hand for unplanned brews though.

So do warm temps just kill yeast? Or does is stress/do funky things to them? I'd thought about a starter, but I didn't want to propagate yeast with some sort of problem.
Corn is a fine adjunct in beer.

And don't buy stale beer.

Offline theDarkSide

  • Official Poobah of No Life. (I Got Ban Hammered by Drew)
  • *********
  • Posts: 3041
  • Derry, NH
Re: Yeast shipped warm.
« Reply #3 on: July 02, 2015, 07:30:19 am »
Since the yeast are dormant in their packaging and there are no sugars or oxygen, I'm guessing the heat will kill off a few of them.

Have you tried getting your yeast from Morebeer?  With their distribution center in Penn., the transit time to Maryland should be minimal.  Keystone Homebrew has pretty quick turnaround time too. 

Other than that, doing a starter would be your best bet.
Seacoast Homebrew Club - Portsmouth, NH
AHA Member
Stephen Mayo
------------------------------------------------

S. cerevisiae

  • Guest
Re: Yeast shipped warm.
« Reply #4 on: July 02, 2015, 07:32:27 am »
I would like to offer you a word of advice with respect to summer brewing and slants, don't.  The airborne microflora count is extremely high in Maryland during the summer months.  I avoid culturing in the summer for that very reason.

With that said, your best bet is dry yeast or serial repitching.  Other than a batch made with a vial of WLP022 that I rescued from being sent to yeast heaven, I have been repitching a culture that I started from slant earlier this year.  I used dry yeast last year for the two batches that I made during the summer months.
« Last Edit: July 02, 2015, 08:02:41 am by S. cerevisiae »

Online reverseapachemaster

  • Official Poobah of No Life. (I Got Ban Hammered by Drew)
  • *********
  • Posts: 3778
    • Brain Sparging on Brewing
Re: Yeast shipped warm.
« Reply #5 on: July 02, 2015, 07:48:58 am »
I wouldn't be too concerned about dry yeast enduring heat. Remember that dried baking yeast sits out on shelves in the grocery store for an indeterminate amount of time and who knows what conditions they experienced before getting on the shelf. Ideally you want that cold-stored, fresh dry yeast but you are fine to use dry yeast with some age or less than ideal temperature experience.

As far as liquid yeast, perhaps plan on buying yeast once and repitching through the summer.
Heck yeah I blog about homebrewing: Brain Sparging on Brewing

coastsidemike

  • Guest
Re: Yeast shipped warm.
« Reply #6 on: July 02, 2015, 07:55:46 am »
Have you tried getting your yeast from Morebeer?  With their distribution center in Penn., the transit time to Maryland should be minimal.  Keystone Homebrew has pretty quick turnaround time too. 

MoreBeer will wrap the yeast in ice for shipment.  In talking to the rep at NHC, one recommendation was to order two ice packs per vial of yeast:  http://www.morebeer.com/products/ice-liquid-yeast.html  Would be nice if they made this option more obvious; need to scroll the page to see it.

Personally trying dry-yeast as well this summer.

S. cerevisiae

  • Guest
Re: Yeast shipped warm.
« Reply #7 on: July 02, 2015, 08:01:57 am »
Since the yeast are dormant in their packaging and there are no sugars or oxygen, I'm guessing the heat will kill off a few of them.

Actually, the yeast cells in a White Labs vial or a Wyeast package are not dormant in the truest sense.  They are a in state known as quiescence (kind of like a deep sleep).  During quiesence, yeast cells undergo changes in order to lengthen the amount of time that their stores last.  The temperature at which a culture is stored affects how quickly a yeast culture burns through its stores.  That's why we refrigerate liquid cultures. 

With respect to temperature, an attribute that distinguishes ale yeast from lager yeast (S. pastorianus) is the ability to replicate at 37C, which is the human body temperature for those of us who are stuck in Fahrenheit land.  Hence, ale strains can physically survive summer heat.
« Last Edit: July 02, 2015, 12:09:02 pm by S. cerevisiae »

Offline Phil_M

  • Senior Brewmaster
  • ******
  • Posts: 1760
  • Southern Maryland
Re: Yeast shipped warm.
« Reply #8 on: July 02, 2015, 08:08:32 am »
Have you tried getting your yeast from Morebeer?  With their distribution center in Penn., the transit time to Maryland should be minimal.

Might have to try that.

I would like to offer you a word of advice with respect to summer brewing and slants, don't.  The airborne microflora count is extremely high in Maryland during the summer months.  I avoid culturing in the summer for that very reason.

Bummer.

Have you tried getting your yeast from Morebeer?  With their distribution center in Penn., the transit time to Maryland should be minimal.  Keystone Homebrew has pretty quick turnaround time too. 

MoreBeer will wrap the yeast in ice for shipment.  In talking to the rep at NHC, one recommendation was to order two ice packs per vial of yeast:  http://www.morebeer.com/products/ice-liquid-yeast.html  Would be nice if they made this option more obvious; need to scroll the page to see it.

Personally trying dry-yeast as well this summer.

I've been ordering more ice packs, even when I order from the LHBS. Between shipping time and being on the end of the UPS/fedex route things are always warm when they get here.
Corn is a fine adjunct in beer.

And don't buy stale beer.

Offline denny

  • Administrator
  • Retired with too much time on my hands
  • *****
  • Posts: 27095
  • Noti OR [1991.4, 287.6deg] AR
    • Dennybrew
Re: Yeast shipped warm.
« Reply #9 on: July 02, 2015, 09:30:54 am »
Liquid yeast. Dry I don't worry about, but I don't normally use it. I do like to keep some on hand for unplanned brews though.

So do warm temps just kill yeast? Or does is stress/do funky things to them? I'd thought about a starter, but I didn't want to propagate yeast with some sort of problem.

Temp needs to be over 114F to kill yeast.
Life begins at 60.....1.060, that is!

www.dennybrew.com

The best, sharpest, funniest, weirdest and most knowledgable minds in home brewing contribute on the AHA forum. - Alewyfe

"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts." - Bertrand Russell

Offline Joe Sr.

  • Official Poobah of No Life. (I Got Ban Hammered by Drew)
  • *********
  • Posts: 4467
  • Chicago - NORTH SIDE
Re: Yeast shipped warm.
« Reply #10 on: July 02, 2015, 10:02:37 am »
with dry I wouldn't stress unless you are noticing issues related to poor yeast health. With liquid making an appropriate sized starter with some nutrient included is your best bet for revitalizing the yeast.

I think this is your answer here.  You're making a starter anyway, I assume, so give it a little extra love, start it small and step it up.

As with many things, I think there's a greater margin of error than you might expect.  Making a robust starter should be enough to account for any handling/shipping issues with the yeast on its way to you.
It's all in the reflexes. - Jack Burton

Offline brewinhard

  • Official Poobah of No Life. (I Got Ban Hammered by Drew)
  • *********
  • Posts: 3272
Re: Yeast shipped warm.
« Reply #11 on: July 02, 2015, 12:07:18 pm »
+1 to making a starter.  It will allow you to "proof" the yeast and see how healthy they are via their fermentation. 

Offline beersk

  • Official Poobah of No Life. (I Got Ban Hammered by Drew)
  • *********
  • Posts: 3721
  • In the night!
Re: Yeast shipped warm.
« Reply #12 on: July 02, 2015, 03:18:55 pm »
I'd also favor ordering dry yeast in the summer months.
Jesse

Offline Steve Ruch

  • Senior Brewmaster
  • ******
  • Posts: 1743
Re: Yeast shipped warm.
« Reply #13 on: July 02, 2015, 03:34:12 pm »
I'd also favor ordering dry yeast in the summer months.

Order your liquid yeast in the late winter/early spring, store them properly and make starters.
I love to go swimmin'
with hairy old women

Offline Phil_M

  • Senior Brewmaster
  • ******
  • Posts: 1760
  • Southern Maryland
Re: Yeast shipped warm.
« Reply #14 on: July 03, 2015, 10:01:06 am »
I'm going to try the starter route. I make starters anyway, so it's not much more effort do do them with a little more care than normal. I mainly use Wyeast, so I'll step up packs that don't want to swell, packs that do swell will just get pitched into a big starter.

I'm not a fan of US-05, which is why I usually use liquid yeast. I've just never cared for the beers I've made with US-05 as much as the ones made with the liquid "version" of that strain. That being said, I've got a batch made with S-04 that's getting kegged this weekend, we'll see how that one turns out.

The other issue with using dry yeast is that the beers I prefer to brew aren't always possible to make with dry yeasts.

Mark, what is your max recommended storage time for reused yeast kept under beer in the fridge?
Corn is a fine adjunct in beer.

And don't buy stale beer.